Cortaderia selloana invasion across a Mediterranean coastal strip

We compared whether population characteristics and plant performance were associated with biotic and abiotic habitat factors. We expected a better performance of C. selloana in ruderal habitats than in non-ruderal habitats. As expected, ruderal habitats had larger and denser C. selloana populations and recruitment was very high (the proportion of juvenile plants was more than 50%). In consequence, in ruderal habitats, on average, plants were smaller, produced fewer panicles, and had a lower reproductive effort. The high percentage of bare ground, low pH and low functional group richness were the best explanatory variables associated to C. selloana invasion success.