A central question in ecology is why alien species naturalize successfully in some regions but not in others. While some hypotheses suggest aliens are more likely to naturalize in environments similar to donor regions, others suggest they thrive in regions where certain characteristics are different. Using the native (i.e., donor) and recipient distributions of 11,604 naturalized alien plant species across 650 regions globally, we assess whether plants are more likely to naturalize in regions that are ecologically similar or dissimilar to their donor regions. Our results show that species are more likely to naturalize in recipient regions where climates are similar and native floras are phylogenetically similar to those of their donor regions, indicating that pre-adaptation to familiar biotic and abiotic conditions facilitates naturalization. However, naturalization is also more likely in regions with lower native flora diversity and more intense human modification than in the species' native range. Among all predictors, climate similarity and difference in native flora diversity emerge as the strongest predictors of naturalization success. In conclusion, ecological similarity in some factors but dissimilarity in others between donor and recipient regions promote the naturalization of alien plants and contribute to their uneven global distribution patterns.

Biodiversity Macroecology and Biogeography University of Göttingen Göttingen Germany

Campus Institut Data Science University of Göttingen Göttingen Germany

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

Department of Biology University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras San Juan Puerto Rico

Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Department of Environmental Science Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences Radboud University Nijmegen The Netherlands

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

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

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 Konstanz Germany

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle Jena Leipzig Leipzig Germany

Research Center for Global Change and Ecological Forecasting Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station Zhejiang Zhoushan Island Ecosystem Observation and Research Station Institute of Eco Chongming School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences East China Normal University Shanghai China

Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Restoration of Damaged Coastal Ecosystems School of Life Sciences Taizhou University Taizhou Zhejiang China

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

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