Complex community responses underpin biodiversity change following invasion

Abstract How do invasive species change native biodiversity? One reason why this long-standing question remains challenging to answer could be because the main focus of invasion literature has been on shifts in richness (a measure ?-diversity). As underlying components community structure—intraspecific aggregation, interspecific density and abundance distribution (SAD)—are potentially impacted different ways during invasion, trends provide only limited insight into mechanisms leading biodiversity change. In addition, these impacts can manifested distinct at spatial scales. Here we take advantage new Measurement Biodiversity (MoB) framework reanalyse data collected an front Brazilian Cerrado hotspot. We show that, by using MoB multi-scale approach, are able link reductions invaded sites restructuring SAD. This takes form lower evenness pines relative without pines. Shifts aggregation also occur. There is a clear signature scale linked presence species. These results demonstrate how approach play important role helping ecologists, field biologists conservation managers move towards more mechanistic detecting interpreting changes ecological systems following invasion.