Environmental filters shape alien plant community composition in fragmented native shrublands

Abstract Habitat fragmentation is a major contributor to alien plant invasions, yet little is known regarding the role of environmental filtering in determining the identity of species invading ecosystem fragments. We used Ellenberg values to identify why some alien plant species invade kānuka shrublands ( Kunzea ericoides , Myrtaceae), a highly fragmented and native ecosystem in New Zealand. Thirty kānuka fragments on Banks Peninsula were surveyed and alien plant species cover was recorded in 1