Habitat Type and Disturbance Intensity Are Associated With Invasive Plant Community Structure Across an Urbanizing Subtropical Island

ABSTRACT

Urbanization promotes biological invasions, yet the relative importance of spatial versus temporal dynamics in subtropical urban ecosystems remains unclear. We investigated invasive plant communities across six habitat types in Hengqin, South China, to evaluate factors influencing their distribution across habitats and seasons. Using nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and zero–one inflated Beta (ZOIB) models, we found that habitat type and disturbance intensity were strongly associated with invasive species distribution, explaining 58.9% of the community composition ( R ²  = 0.589). Seasonal variation showed limited influence on community composition ( R ²  = 0.012, p  = 1.000), but the ZOIB model revealed a significant habitat × season interaction ( = 30.32, p  = 0.011), indicating that seasonal effects were habitat‐dependent. Invasive species exhibited significantly broader occupancy breadth than native species (Shannon index: 3.00 vs. 2.45, p  = 0.024), consistent with the generalist hypothesis. Greater spatial co‐occurrence among dominant invasive species (median = 0.203) compared to native species suggests that these plants share similar habitat preferences and disturbance tolerance, enabling co‐occurrence in high‐stress environments. The weak overall seasonal signal contrasts with phenology‐based models typical of temperate zones, although seasonal effects were evident in certain habitat types (e.g., forest edge, park, and wetland declined from spring to summer). This relative stability may reflect subtropical climate and the ability of dominant invasive species to maintain year‐round growth. These findings suggest that management should prioritize high‐risk habitats such as roadside and wasteland, while also considering seasonal timing in habitats with marked fluctuations.