Human factors and plant characteristics are important drivers of plant invasions, which threaten ecosystem integrity, biodiversity and human well-being. However, while previous studies often examined a limited number of factors or focused on a specific invasion stage (e.g., naturalization) for specific regions, a multi-factor and multi-stage analysis at the global scale is lacking. Here, we employ a multi-level framework to investigate the interplay between plant characteristics (genome size, Grime's adaptive CSR-strategies and native range size) and economic use and how these factors collectively affect plant naturalization and invasion success worldwide. While our findings derived from structural equation models highlight the substantial contribution of human assistance in both the naturalization and spread of invasive plants, we also uncovered the pivotal role of species' adaptive strategies among the factors studied, and the significantly varying influence of these factors across invasion stages. We further revealed that the effects of genome size on plant invasions were partially mediated by species adaptive strategies and native range size. Our study provides insights into the complex and dynamic process of plant invasions and identifies its key drivers worldwide.

Biodiversity Macroecology and Biogeography University of Goettingen Göttingen Germany

Campus Institute Data Science Göttingen Germany

Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use University of Goettingen Göttingen Germany

Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany Department of Evolutionary Plant Biology Průhonice CZ 25243 Czech Republic

Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany Department of Invasion Ecology Průhonice CZ 25243 Czech Republic

Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences University of Milan Via G Celoria 2 1 20133 Milan Italy

Department of Biosciences Durham University Durham UK

Department of Botany Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 1760 České Budějovice CZ 370 05 Czech Republic

Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 Prague CZ 12844 Czech Republic

Department of Evolution Ecology and Behaviour Institute of Infection Veterinary and Ecological Sciences University of Liverpool Liverpool UK

Division of BioInvasions Global Change and Macroecology Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research University of Vienna Vienna Austria

Ecology Department of Biology University of Konstanz Universitätsstrasse 10 D 78457 Konstanz Germany

Research Center for Global Change and Complex Ecosystems School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences East China Normal University 200241 Shanghai P R China

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Richmond Surrey TW9 3AB UK

Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco Restoration School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences East China Normal University 200241 Shanghai P R China

Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Taizhou University Taizhou 318000 P R China

Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences East China Normal University 200241 Shanghai P R China

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Stage dependence of Elton's biotic resistance hypothesis of biological invasions

Plant invasion and naturalization are influenced by genome size, ecology and economic use globally