We tend to think that native species have no chance at survival if nonnative species are introduced to an area. Because introduced species often create an imbalance of nutrients and competition, they can create a monoculture and takeover land, but is this always true? In this study, scientists compiled species survival data. They compared seed to seedling survival, early seedling survival, and survival to adulthood under nature conditions for over 200 native and 60 introduced species. Even they were surprised to find that nonnative species generally did not have significantly higher rates of survival. After accounting for seed mass and longevity, they found that introduced species and native species in all cases do not differ significantly in survival.
Introduced plants may have specific advantages like phenotypic plasticity or the ability of species to produce different characteristics when exposed to various environments. They also may spread disease that native plants are not resistant too, but native plants have existed in their ecosystem for a long time and have higher adaptation to the conditions. According to the literature, biological advantages of these two types of plants even out on a large scale.
Full Article:
A Comparison of the Recruitment Success of Introduced and Native Species Under Natural Conditions
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