1
Appendix A
2
Table A1: Results of our literature review, showing only the studies that explicitly
3
compared seed or plant abundance and/or diversity between linear gaps (LG) and
4
adjacent habitats (AH).
Study
Alexander et al. (2009)
Arévalo et al. (2010)
Plant
origin
Native &
Exotic
Native &
Exotic
LG type
AH type
Gravel
road
Agricultural
fields & forest
Scrubland &
pine forest
Agricultural
fields & forest
Road
Abundance
Diversity
LG > AH
LG > AH
Azcárate et al. (2013)
Native
Road
LG > AH
Baltzinger et al. (2011)
Native
Road,
patch &
tractor rut
Mixed forest
LG > AH
LG > AH
Native &
Exotic
Native &
Exotic
Road
Pine forest
Haul road
& skid trail
Campos et al. (2011)
Native
Trail
LG > AH
Catling and Kostiuk (2011)
Christen and Matlack (2009)
Native
Exotic
Davies et al. (2013)
Exotic
Sagebrush
LG > AH
Dickens et al. (2005)
Dong et al. (2008)
Exotic
Exotic
Native &
Exotic
Trail
Road
Unpaved
road
Trail
Road
Deciduous
forest
Field & open
woodland
Boreal forest
Oak forest
Bergès et al. (2013)
Buckley et al. (2003)
Dubé et al. (2011)
Power line
Flory and Clay (2006)
Exotic
Road
Fowler et al. (2008)
Exotic
Road
Gabbard and Fowler (2007)
Exotic
Road
Gelbard and Belnap (2003)
Exotic
Road &
4WD track
Hall and Kuss (1989)
Native
Hansen and Clevenger (2005)
Exotic
Hewitt and Miyanishi (1997)
Native &
Exotic
Trail
Transport
corridors
Trails
Heymann et al. (2014)
Native
Trails
Hoffmann et al. (2004)
Exotic
Road
Hovd and Skogen (2005)
Native
Road
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
Mixed forest
Mixed forest
LG > AH
Bog & fen
LG > AH
Deciduous
forest
Pine forest
Mixed forest
& grassland
Grassland,
scrubland &
forest
Oak forest
Mixed forest
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
Marshland
Tropical
rainforest
Tropical
forest
Agricultural
land
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
Native &
Exotic
Exotic
Trail
Urban parks
LG > AH
Road
LG > AH
Maheu-Giroux and De Blois
(2007)
Exotic
Road
Pine forest
Agricultural
land, urban
land & forest
Manier et al. (2014)
Exotic
Highways,
roads,
power lines
Grassland
LG > AH
LaPaix et al. (2012)
Lu and Ma (2006)
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
& railways
Marcantonio et al. (2013)
Native
Road
Meekins and McCarthy (2001)
Exotic
Forest road
Mortensen et al. (2009)
Exotic
Road
Native
Native &
Exotic
Native &
Exotic
Road
Mixed forest
Deciduous
forest
Deciduous
forest
Open forest
Road
Rangeland
Norton and Smith (1999)
O'Farrell and Milton (2006)
Pauchard and Alaback (2006)
Ribeiro et al. (2014)
Rotholz and Mandelik (2013)
Stroh and Struckhoff (2009)
Not
specified
Native &
Exotic
Suárez-Esteban et al. (2013)
Native
Tiébré et al. (2008)
Exotic
Tyser and Worley (1992)
Vasconcelos et al. (2014)
Veldman and Putz (2010)
Wagner et al. (2014)
Zeng et al. (2011)
Zielińska et al. (2013)
Baret and Strasberg (2005)
Craig et al. (2010)
Gieselman et al. (2013)
Exotic
Native &
Exotic
Exotic
Native &
Exotic
Native &
Exotic
Native
Exotic
Native &
Exotic
Native &
Exotic
Trails &
firebreaks
Road
Scrubland
Unpaved
road
Road &
railway
Road
Grassland &
riparian forest
Mediterranean
scrubland
Agricultural
& urban land
Grassland
Road
Cerrado forest
Horse trail
Forest road
Power line
Road
Road
Forest trail
Dry tropical
forest
Deciduous
forest
Oil field &
grassland
Forest
Tropical
rainforest
Road
Scrubland
Road
Grassland
Irl et al. (2014)
Native
Schramm and Ehrenfeld
(2012)
Exotic
Trail
Not
specified
Not
specified
Road &
ditch
Laurel & Pine
forests
Deciduous
forest
Agricultural
land
Road
Not specified
Freemark et al. (2002)
Native &
Exotic
Road &
ditch
Gorchov et al. (1993)
Native
Gorchov et al. (2013)
Native
Guariguata and Dupuy (1997)
Native
Tang et al. (2014)
Zhou et al. (2009)*
Kemper and MacDonald
(2009)
Larson (2003)
Lee et al. (2012)
Tikka et al. (2000)
Vasconcelos et al. (2014)
5
Native
Pine forest &
scrubland
Tropical
rainforest
Road
Native
Native &
Exotic
Native
Not
specified
Native &
Exotic
*Information based solely on the study’s abstract.
Road
Forest
clearing
Forest
clearing
Logging
road
Seismic
line
Road &
trail
Road
Road &
railway
Road
Mixed forest
& agricultural
land
Tropical
rainforest
Tropical
rainforest
Tropical
rainforest
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG > AH
LG = AH
LG = AH
LG = AH
LG = AH
LG = AH
LG = AH
LG = AH
LG = AH
LG < AH
LG < AH
LG < AH
LG < AH
Tundra
LG < AH
Grassland
LG < AH
Grassland
LG < AH
Grassland
LG < AH
Cerrado forest
LG < AH
References
Alexander JM, Naylor B, Poll M, Edwards PJ, Dietz H (2009) Plant invasions along mountain
roads: The altitudinal amplitude of alien Asteraceae forbs in their native and introduced ranges.
Ecography 32(2):334-344
Arévalo JR, Otto R, Escudero C et al (2010) Do anthropogenic corridors homogenize plant
communities at a local scale? A case studied in Tenerife (Canary Islands). Plant Ecology
209(1):23-35
Azcárate FM, Robleño I, Seoane J, Manzano P, Peco B (2013) Drove roads as local biodiversity
reservoirs: Effects on landscape pattern and plant communities in a Mediterranean region.
Applied Vegetation Science 16(3):480-490
Baltzinger M, Archaux F, Gosselin M, Chevalier R (2011) Contribution of forest management
artefacts to plant diversity at a forest scale. Annals of Forest Science 68(2):395-406
Baret S, Strasberg D (2005) The effects of opening trails on exotic plant invasion in protected
areas on la Réunion Island (Mascarene Archipelago, Indian Ocean). Revue d'Ecologie (La Terre
et la Vie) 60(4):325-332
Bergès L, Chevalier R, Avon C (2013) Influence of forest road, road-surfacing material and
stand age on floristic diversity and composition in a nutrient-poor environment. Applied
Vegetation Science 16(3):470-479
Buckley DS, Crow TR, Nauertz EA, Schulz KE (2003) Influence of skid trails and haul roads on
understory plant richness and composition in managed forest landscapes in Upper Michigan,
USA. Forest Ecology and Management 175(1-3):509-520
Campos CM, Campos VE, Mongeaud A, Borghi CE, De Los RÍos C, Giannoni SM (2011)
Relationships between Prosopis flexuosa (Fabaceae) and cattle in the Monte desert: Seeds,
seedlings and saplings on cattle-use site classes. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 84(2):289299
Catling PM, Kostiuk B (2011) Some wild canadian orchids benefit from woodland hiking trails And the implications. Canadian Field-Naturalist 125(2):105-115
Christen DC, Matlack GR (2009) The habitat and conduit functions of roads in the spread of
three invasive plant species. Biological Invasions 11(2):453-465
Craig DJ, Craig JE, Abella SR, Vanier CH (2010) Factors affecting exotic annual plant cover and
richness along roadsides in the eastern Mojave Desert, USA. Journal of Arid Environments
74(6):702-707
Davies KW, Nafus AM, Madsen MD (2013) Medusahead Invasion Along Unimproved Roads,
Animal Trails, and Random Transects. Western North American Naturalist 73(1):54-59
Dickens SJM, Gerhardt F, Collinge SK (2005) Recreational portage trails as corridors facilitating
non-native plant invasions of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (U.S.A.).
Conservation Biology 19(5):1653-1657
Dong SK, Cui BS, Yang ZF et al (2008) The role of road disturbance in the dispersal and spread
of Ageratina adenophora along the Dian-Myanmar International Road. Weed Research
48(3):282-288
Dubé C, Pellerin S, Poulin M (2011) Do power line rights-of-way facilitate the spread of nonpeatland and invasive plants in bogs and fens? Botany 89(2):91-103
Flory SL, Clay K (2006) Invasive shrub distribution varies with distance to roads and stand age
in eastern deciduous forests in Indiana, USA. Plant Ecology 184(1):131-141
Fowler JF, Sieg CH, Dickson BG, Saab V (2008) Exotic plant species diversity: Influence of
roads and prescribed fire in Arizona ponderosa pine forests. Rangeland Ecology and
Management 61(3):284-293
Freemark KE, Boutin C, Keddy CJ (2002) Importance of farmland habitats for conservation of
plant species. Conservation Biology 16(2):399-412
Gabbard BL, Fowler NL (2007) Wide ecological amplitude of a diversity-reducing invasive
grass. Biological Invasions 9(2):149-160
Gelbard JL, Belnap J (2003) Roads as conduits for exotic plant invasions in a semiarid
landscape. Conservation Biology 17(2):420-432
Gieselman TM, Hodges KE, Vellend M (2013) Human-induced edges alter grassland community
composition. Biological Conservation 158:384-392
Gorchov DL, Cornejo F, Ascorra C, Jaramillo M (1993) The role of seed dispersal in the natural
regeneration of rain forest after strip-cutting in the Peruvian Amazon. Vegetatio 107-108(1):339349
Gorchov DL, Rondon XJ, Cornejo F, Schaefer RL, Janosko JM, Slutz G (2013) Edge effects in
recruitment of trees, and relationship to seed dispersal patterns, in cleared strips in the Peruvian
Amazon. Ecological Research 28(1):53-65
Guariguata MR, Dupuy JM (1997) Forest regeneration in abandoned logging roads in Lowland
Costa Rica. Biotropica 29(1):15-28
Hall CN, Kuss FR (1989) Vegetation alteration along trails in Shenandoah National Park,
Virginia. Biological Conservation 48(3):211-227
Hansen MJ, Clevenger AP (2005) The influence of disturbance and habitat on the presence of
non-native plant species along transport corridors. Biological Conservation 125(2):249-259
Hewitt N, Miyanishi K (1997) The role of mammals in maintaining plant species richness in a
floating Typha marsh in southern Ontario. Biodiversity and Conservation 6(8):1085-1102
Heymann EW, Wörner LL, Ziegenhagen B, Bialozyt R (2014) Research trails affect the
abundance of an epiphytic tropical bromeliad. Biotropica 46(2):166-169
Hoffmann WA, Lucatelli VMPC, Silva FJ et al (2004) Impact of the invasive alien grass Melinis
minutiflora at the savanna-forest ecotone in the Brazilian Cerrado. Diversity and Distributions
10(2):99-103
Hovd H, Skogen A (2005) Plant species in arable field margins and road verges of central
Norway. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 110(3-4):257-265
Irl SDH, Steinbauer MJ, Epperlein L et al (2014) The Hitchhiker's guide to island endemism:
Biodiversity and endemic perennial plant species in roadside and surrounding vegetation.
Biodiversity and Conservation 23(9):2273-2287
Kemper J, MacDonald S (2009) Effects of contemporary winter seismic exploration on low
arctic plant communities and permafrost. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 41(2):228-237
LaPaix R, Harper K, Freedman B (2012) Patterns of exotic plants in relation to anthropogenic
edges within urban forest remnants. Applied Vegetation Science 15(4):525-535
Larson DL (2003) Native weeds and exotic plants: Relationships to disturbance in mixed-grass
prairie. Plant Ecology 169(2):317-333
Lee MA, Davies L, Power SA (2012) Effects of roads on adjacent plant community composition
and ecosystem function: An example from three calcareous ecosystems. Environmental Pollution
163:273-280
Lu Z, Ma K (2006) Spread of the exotic croftonweed (Eupatorium adenophorum) across
southwest China along roads and streams. Weed Science 54(6):1068-1072
Maheu-Giroux M, De Blois S (2007) Landscape ecology of Phragmites australis invasion in
networks of linear wetlands. Landscape Ecology 22(2):285-301
Manier DJ, Aldridge CL, O'Donnell M, Schell SJ (2014) Human infrastructure and invasive
plant occurrence across rangelands of Southwestern Wyoming, USA. Rangeland Ecology and
Management 67(2):160-172
Marcantonio M, Rocchini D, Geri F, Bacaro G, Amici V (2013) Biodiversity, roads, & landscape
fragmentation: Two Mediterranean cases. Applied Geography 42:63-72
Meekins JF, McCarthy BC (2001) Effect of environmental variation on the invasive success of a
nonindigenous forest herb. Ecological Applications 11(5):1336-1348
Mortensen DA, Rauschert ESJ, Nord AN, Jones BP (2009) Forest roads facilitate the spread of
invasive plants. Invasive Plant Science and Management 2(3):191-199
Norton DA, Smith MS (1999) Why might roadside mulgas be better mistletoe hosts? Austral
Ecology 24(3):193-198
O'Farrell PJ, Milton SJ (2006) Road verge and rangeland plant communities in the southern
Karoo: Exploring what influences diversity, dominance and cover. Biodiversity and
Conservation 15(3):921-938
Pauchard A, Alaback PB (2006) Edge type defines alien plant species invasions along Pinus
contorta burned, highway and clearcut forest edges. Forest Ecology and Management 223(13):327-335
Ribeiro MBN, Jerozolimski A, De Robert P et al (2014) Anthropogenic landscape in
southeastern Amazonia: Contemporary impacts of low-intensity harvesting and dispersal of
Brazil nuts by the Kayapó indigenous people. PLoS ONE 9(7)
Rotholz E, Mandelik Y (2013) Roadside habitats: Effects on diversity and composition of plant,
arthropod, and small mammal communities. Biodiversity and Conservation 22(4):1017-1031
Schramm JW, Ehrenfeld JG (2012) Patterns of patch colonization and expansion in the nonnative annual grass Microstegium vimineum (Poaceae). Rhodora 114(957):1-20
Stroh ED, Struckhoff MA (2009) Exotic plant species associations with horse trails, old roads,
and intact native communities in the Missouri Ozarks. Natural Areas Journal 29(1):50-56
Suárez-Esteban A, Delibes M, Fedriani JM (2013) Unpaved road verges as hotspots of fleshyfruited shrub recruitment and establishment. Biological Conservation 167(0):50-56
Tang Q, Liang G, Lu X, Ding S (2014) Effects of corridor networks on plant species
composition and diversity in an intensive agriculture landscape. Chinese Geographical Science
24(1):93-103
Tiébré MS, Saad L, Mahy G (2008) Landscape dynamics and habitat selection by the alien
invasive Fallopia (Polygonaceae) in Belgium. Biodiversity and Conservation 17(10):2357-2370
Tikka PM, Koski PS, Kivelä RA, Kuitunen MT (2000) Can grassland plant communities be
preserved on road and railway verges? Applied Vegetation Science 3(1):25-32
Tyser RW, Worley CA (1992) Alien flora in grasslands adjacent to road and trail corridors in
Glacier National Park, Montana, (USA). Conservation Biology 6(2):253-262
Vasconcelos PB, Araújo GM, Bruna EM (2014) The role of roadsides in conserving Cerrado
plant diversity. Biodiversity and Conservation 23(12):3035-3050
Veldman JW, Putz FE (2010) Long-distance dispersal of invasive grasses by logging vehicles in
a tropical dry forest. Biotropica 42(6):697-703
Wagner DL, Metzler KJ, Leicht-Young SA, Motzkin G (2014) Vegetation composition along a
New England transmission line corridor and its implications for other trophic levels. Forest
Ecology and Management 327:231-239
Zeng SL, Zhang TT, Gao Y et al (2011) Effects of road age and distance on plant biodiversity: A
case study in the Yellow River Delta of China. Plant Ecology 212(7):1213-1229
Zhou T, Peng SL, Lin ZG (2009) Edge effect of road in Dinghushan forests. Chinese Journal of
Ecology 28(3):433-437
Zielińska KM, Misztal M, Zielińska A, Zywiec AM (2013) Influence of ditches on plant species
diversity in the managed forests of Central Poland. Baltic Forestry 19(2):270-279