Elizabeth Wandrag

• PhD
• Senior Lecturer at University of Tasmania

Active restoration often aims to accelerate ecosystem recovery. However, active restoration may not be worthwhile if its effects are overwhelmed by changes that occur passively. Moreover, it can be challenging to separate the effects of passive processes, such as dispersal and natural succession, from active restoration efforts. We assess the 24‐ye...

Lack of ecological knowledge is a major challenge for effective conservation of threatened plant species in Australia as disturbance events, such as wildfire, increase in frequency and magnitude. Rapid on‐ground surveys are increasingly important to inform recovery strategies for rare and threatened plants in response to extreme wildfire events, ye...

There is a growing demand for graduates with environmental and/or ecological knowledge. Those pursuing careers in these disciplines are required to demonstrate practical skills and even achieve professional accreditation for those skills. Consequently, the need for undergraduates in many biological disciplines to gain practical and field experience...

Our understanding of plant functional trait variation among populations and how this relates to local adaptation to environmental conditions is largely shaped by above‐ground traits. However, we might expect below‐ground traits linked to resource acquisition and conservation to vary among populations that experience different environmental conditio...

Fast-growing, stress-tolerating tree species belonging to the genera Acacia, Eucalyptus and Pinus have historically been introduced to many tropical and sub-tropical regions to support various economic and environment-regulating functions. While these non-native tree (NNT) species are often highly useful, many are simultaneously invasive, generatin...

Changes in some combination of niche availability, niche overlap and the strength of interspecific interactions are thought to drive changes in plant composition along resource gradients. However, because these processes are difficult to measure in the field, their relative importance in driving compositional change in plant communities remains unc...

Genetic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity jointly shape intraspecific trait variation, but their roles differ among traits. In short-lived plants, reproductive traits may be more genetically determined due to their impact on fitness, whereas vegetative traits may show higher plasticity to buffer short-term perturbations. Combining a multi-t...

The global threat of plant invasions to native ecosystems mandates an understanding of the mechanisms that determine invasion success. While some exotic species establish, spread and impact native ecosystems, others establish with little or no measurable impact. Competitive ability has been highlighted as a key mechanism influencing invasion succes...

Phenotypic plasticity can mask population genetic differentiation, reducing the predictability of trait-environment relationships. In short-lived plants, reproductive traits may be more genetically determined due to their direct impact on fitness, whereas vegetative traits may show higher plasticity to buffer short-term perturbations. Combining a m...

This book contains 23 chapters divided into seven parts. Part I reviews the key hypotheses in invasion ecology that invoke biotic interactions to explain aspects of plant invasion dynamics; and reviews models, theories and hypotheses on how invasion performance and impact of introduced species in recipient ecosystems can be conjectured according to...

1. The removal of seeds by granivorous ants can affect plant recruitment through either seed loss from predation or the dispersal and recruitment of seeds that are removed but not consumed. Consequently, variation in ant selection preferences can influence patterns of seed removal and affect plant community composition, including the spread of exot...

The strength and direction of plant–soil feedbacks are commonly estimated using log response ratios. Ratios have the benefit of being readily comparable across taxa and studies, but calculating the uncertainty associated with a ratio is not always straightforward. Many studies do not report estimates of uncertainty for feedback ratios despite this...

There is strong evidence for a phylogenetic signal in the degree to which species share co‐evolved biotic partners and in the outcomes of biotic interactions. This implies there should be a phylogenetic signal in the outcome of feedbacks between plants and the soil microbiota they cultivate. However, attempts to identify a phylogenetic signal in pl...

The availability of compatible mutualistic soil microbes could influence the invasion success of non‐native plant species. Specifically, there may be spatial variation in the distribution of compatible microbes, and species‐specific variation in plant host ability to associate with available microbes. Although either or both factors could promote o...

When plants establish outside their native range, their ability to adapt to the new environment is influenced by both demography and dispersal. However, the relative importance of these two factors is poorly understood. To quantify the influence of demography and dispersal on patterns of genetic diversity underlying adaptation, we used data from a...

This book contains 23 chapters divided into seven parts. Part I reviews the key hypotheses in invasion ecology that invoke biotic interactions to explain aspects of plant invasion dynamics; and reviews models, theories and hypotheses on how invasion performance and impact of introduced species in recipient ecosystems can be conjectured according to...

Non‐native species can dominate plant communities by competitively displacing native species, or because environmental change creates conditions favourable to non‐native species but unfavourable to native species. We need to disentangle these mechanisms so that management can target competitively dominant species and reduce their impacts. Joint‐spe...

Aim Mutualisms are often disrupted for plants introduced to new ranges, yet many of these plants have managed to obtain effective mutualistic associations in their new ranges. There are two potential pathways for non‐native plants to reassemble mutualisms: cointroduction (i.e. familiar associations with cointroduced mutualists) or ecological fittin...

Imperfect detection can bias estimates of site occupancy in ecological surveys but can be corrected by estimating detection probability. Time‐to‐first‐detection (TTD) occupancy models have been proposed as a cost‐effective survey method that allows detection probability to be estimated from single site visits. Nevertheless, few studies have validat...

Niche availability, niche overlap and competitive ability are key determinants of the distribution and abundance of species. However, quantifying each of these components is difficult because it is not always possible to identify or measure relevant environmental gradients (niche axes) along which species might partition or compete for niche space....

Socio-economic factors often determine the extent to which different global regions have been invaded by non-native plant species, yet few studies examine whether such variables are similarly important for native species richness. In contrast to previous studies that have assembled regional floras for comparison, we examine global patterns of non-n...

1.Non-native plant species can dominate communities by competitively excluding native species. However, quantifying the competitive impact of non-native species is difficult because they may simply be abundant where native species are not due to different environmental requirements, meaning that the effects of environmental and competitive variatio...

Significance Dispersal is considered a key process underlying the high spatial diversity of tropical forests, with the seeds of most tropical tree species dispersed by vertebrates, particularly birds. Although it has proven very difficult to quantify the contribution of dispersal to tree species diversity, it is increasingly important to do so in t...

The global decline of mutualists such as pollinators and seed dispersers may cause negative direct and indirect impacts on biodiversity. Mutualistic network models used to understand the stability of mutualistic systems indicate that species with low partner diversity are most vulnerable to coextinction following mutualism disruption. However, exis...

Landscapes differ in the composition and configuration of habitats, and this heterogeneity can influence the manner in which invasive species spread in complex ways. To understand this complexity, we outline a framework that identifies how landscape heterogeneity influences spread by causing dispersal behaviour and local population growth to vary a...

The accumulation of seeds in the soil (the seedbank) can set the template for the early regeneration of habitats following disturbance. Seed dispersal is an important factor determining the pattern of seed rain, which affects the interactions those seeds experience. For this reason, seed dispersal should play an important role in structuring forest...

Aim Interactions with pollinators and pre‐dispersal seed predators are important determinants of reproductive output and could influence the success of plant species introduced to areas outside their native range. We identified the role of these interactions in determining reproductive output and invasion outcomes for species of Australian Acacia i...

The ability to form effective mutualisms with nitrogen-fixing bacteria (rhizobia) is implicated in the success of introduced leguminous plant species, such as Acacia. While Acacia appear to associate with rhizobia where introduced, there is evidence that the extent of this may limit success during early stages of colonization. We examine three Aust...

Aim Reproductive traits are important mediators of establishment and spread of introduced species, both directly and through interactions with other life-history traits and extrinsic factors. We identify features of the reproductive biology of Australian acacias associated with invasiveness. Location Global. Methods We reviewed the pollination biol...

In order to establish successfully into a new area a plant species must be able to flower, set seed, germinate and survive; its ability to do so is mediated by positive and negative biotic and abiotic interactions. There is increasing evidence that release from natural enemies is not sufficient to explain why some plants are so successful in new en...