Data for: Contrasting response of native and non-native plants to disturbance and herbivory in mountain environments

Aim: Climate warming and increasing human disturbance are expected to promote non-native plant invasions in mountain ecosystems. Although biological invasions are also expected to be modulated by biotic interactions, it is still not clear how invertebrate herbivores can affect plant invasion dynamics. Using a large manipulative experiment, we aimed at testing: 1) the effect of soil disturbance and elevation on native and non-native plant communities, and 2) the effect of plant-herbivore interactions, nitrogen deposition, and elevation in driving plant establishment after soil disturbance.

Location: European Alps, NE Italy

Taxon: Vascular plants

Methods: We selected remote, uninvaded dry semi-natural grasslands along the core elevational range of non-native plants in the European Alps (0-1330 m) and manipulated soil disturbance, nitrogen deposition, and invertebrate herbivory. Then, we followed the natural establishment under real field conditions of both native and non-native p...