The interactions between alien species and native communities under environmental heterogeneity

Together with the waves of globalization, more and more species have been introduced, either intentionally or unintentionally, across geographical barriers into novel regions as alien species. How introduced alien plants interact with the species they encounter in these novel regions remains one of the key questions in ecology. Environmental heterogeneity, which generally describes the unevenness in environments, is ubiquitous in nature. Previous studies have found that alien species benefit more from heterogeneous environments than native species do. Nevertheless, how environmental heterogeneity influences the interactions between alien and native communities and thus the invasion process still remains unclear. To address these research gaps, I designed and conducted four experimental studies to disentangle the small-scale environmental heterogeneity effects on the interactions between alien and native communities. In summary, my thesis highlights the important role of environmental heterogeneity in understanding the invasion process under future climate change.