Understanding and predicting invasion of exotic species
presents one of the greatest challenges in ecology today. In fragmented
landscapes, habitat connectivity may play a key role in determining the
locations that are most susceptible to invasion. This research examines exotic
plant invasion in forest patches in two national battlefields in Maryland. Our goal was to identify the relationship
between habitat patch connectivity and invasion of exotic species. We used
graph theory to quantify habitat connectivity in a variety of ways, using local
metrics such as degree (the number of patches directly connected to a patch) as
well as landscape metrics such as betweenness and
closeness, which measure spatial pattern at a larger scale. Connectivity was
measured for a variety of dispersal distances, and distance between patches was
measured using both Euclidean distance and cost-path distance. Plants were
grouped according to species traits such as life form, seed size, and dispersal
mechanism. Results suggest that configuration of habitat patches can either
facilitate or inhibit spread of invasive species, depending on their dispersal
abilities. We found that plant communities in isolated habitat patches differed
from plant communities in more connected patches. The best connectivity metric
for predicting invasion varied according to species traits, but in general the landscape-scale
metrics predicted invasion better than local-scale metrics. This graph theory
approach holds great potential for predicting future invasions as well as for focusing
management and eradication efforts.