Invasive Alien Plants and Invasion Risk Assessment on Pingtan Island

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

OVERVIEW AND GENERAL RECOMMENDATION

Invasive alien species (of plants, animals, pathogens and other organisms) causes economic, and environmental harms, human health risks and biodiversity loss particularly through causing decline or elimination of native species. They also affect water availability and may damage the quality of soil nutrients. The study entitled ‘Invasive Alien Plants and Invasion Risk Assessment on Pingtan Island’ performed a risk assessment for invasive alien plants on Pingtan Island of Fujian Province, China. For this reason, I found the report is on a theme that is important for environmental sustainability and will be of interest to the audience of SUSTAINABILITY.

There are some suggestions that should be taken up to improve the current to a publishable standard as follows;

-In the abstract, authors should give percentages corresponding to each of the families (Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Amaranthaceae, and Poaceae).

-L24: DPSIR should be expanded at first mention.

-L26, L240, L368: Are the authors referring to Lantana camara?

L27: The score for Cenchrus echinatus, Spartina alterniflora and Panicum repens can be indicated in parentheses as well. Please delete the etc.

Before the sentence at L32, first introduce what Invasive alien species are before giving their effects.  

In Figure 1, the key should be supplied.

L160-162, L253-256: Please delete these lines as they are part of instructions to the authors.

L164: of 80 genera >> from 80 genera

L226: Botanical names should be italicized throughout.

L260: Delete one ‘America’.

DISCUSSION should be EXPANDED to compare the results of the current study with previous studies in China and other parts of the world. Plants like Lantana camara are also ornamental plants, and this should be highlighted in the discussion.

L361-362: Please split this into two. It is not clear.

Author Response

Thank you for your comments. I have referred to them one by one and made modifications.

• In the abstract, authors should give percentages corresponding to each of the families (Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Amaranthaceae, and Poaceae).

I've put in the percentages for each families, the revised content is " Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Amaranthaceae, and Poaceae were the main families, accounting for 26.7%, 6.7%, 6.7% and 5.8% of the total species, respectively. ".

• L24: DPSIR should be expanded at first mention.

Thank you for your advice and forgive my oversight. It was really necessary. I've expanded it in the abstract, and I've expanded it in the introduction.

• L26, L240, L368: Are the authors referring to Lantana camara?

Sorry, it has been corrected in the article, it is Lantana camara.

• L27: The score for Cenchrus echinatus, Spartina alterniflora and Panicum repens can be indicated in parentheses as well. Please delete the etc.

Sorry, it has been modified:” Lantana camara had the highest risk score (49), followed by Cenchrus echinatus(45), Spartina alterniflora(45), Panicum repens(43.5).”

• Before the sentence at L32, first introduce what Invasive alien species are before giving their effects.

Thank you for your advice. I have added it.

• In Figure 1, the key should be supplied.

Okay, I've made some adjustments.

• L160-162, L253-256: Please delete these lines as they are part of instructions to the authors.

I'm sorry that I don't quite understand what I mean here. I did not understand what to delete when I located the specified number of rows. Maybe the number of positioned rows was set wrong. Could you please tell me which sentences are the problem?

• L164: of 80 genera >> from 80 genera

Sorry, it has been corrected.

• L226: Botanical names should be italicized throughout.

Sorry, it has been corrected.

• L260: Delete one ‘America’.

Sorry, it has been corrected.

• DISCUSSION should be EXPANDED to compare the results of the current study with previous studies in China and other parts of the world. Plants like Lantana camara are also ornamental plants, and this should be highlighted in the discussion.

Thank you for your suggestion. It is really necessary to expand the discussion and compare it with other research results in the world. I tried to make some adjustments in the article.

• L361-362: Please split this into two. It is not clear.

I am not sure which sentences are the problem, do you mean this one here? “Cenchrus echinatus L. and Spartina alterniflora Loisel. were assessed as the second and third most high-risk invasive plants which were very likely to occur in coastal areas.”

Pardon my ignorance, can I change it to something like this?“In addition, perhaps due to the limitation of time and space of investigation, the invasion risks of Cenchrus echinatus L. and Spartina alterniflora Loisel., which ranked first, were not included in the invasion list of Dongshan Island and Hainan Island discussed in 4.1.”

Reviewer 2 Report

In the article “Invasive Alien Plants and Invasion, Risk Assessment on Ping- tan Island” the authors looked in detail at the impact of the invasion of alien plants on the local ecological environment which has a wider implication in promoting a sustainable ecological environment on the Island.

The abstract of the article is well written, however, the introduction part of the article needs some improvement, i.e. the statement  “Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) model is a conceptual model of 80 evaluation index system widely used in the environmental system”, if this concept not introduced for the first time, need a reference.

Figure 2. “The conceptual model for risk assessment of invasive alien plants in Pingtan Island”; the connection between different components is not clear.

The conclusion part of the article needs to explain a wider implication of the study.  

Author Response

Thank you for your three suggestions, which I have corrected in the article.

-The abstract of the article is well written, however, the introduction part of the article needs some improvement, i.e. the statement  “Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) model is a conceptual model of 80 evaluation index system widely used in the environmental system”, if this concept not introduced for the first time, need a reference.

I'm sorry I didn't notice that the references are indeed missing here. They have been added

-Figure 2. “The conceptual model for risk assessment of invasive alien plants in Pingtan Island”; the connection between different components is not clear.

Some changes have been made to the relationship between the concepts. Can you see what else needs to be improved

-The conclusion part of the article needs to explain a wider implication of the study. 

I have made some adjustments. Do you think there is anything I need to improve

Reviewer 3 Report

The authors propose a manuscript titled “Invasive Alien Plants and Invasion Risk Assessment on Pingtan Island”

The article is original, well structured and written. In particular, this study takes into consideration and highlights an interisting topic on the invasion of a alien plants and their impact on the local ecological environment of Pingtan Island (the largest island in Fujian Province) and the fifth largest island in China. The authors highligth that is necessary to establish a risk assessment index for this invasion. The Alien plant communities in different habitats were studied by the authors throught the quadrat investigation, scientific literature review and statistically grouped. Most of the alien families are reppresented by Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Amaranthaceae and Poaceae from tropical origin, mainly from South America and North America. Finally, based on DPSIR conceptual model, an invasion risk assessment of invasive alien plants was conducted with a total of high-risk invasive species were identified at levels three level I, II, and III. I suggest to modify few thinks.

Introduction:

Please add a reference for these statements and correct in the suggested way

• Rows 35-39. “The impacts of alien plants depend on various factors like species type, climate condition and native flora, as well as on the characteristics of the local ecosystem and vegetation, with coastal areas, inland waters, and islands being the most affected [Choose a reference]. The islands are vulnerable to typhoons, storm surges, and other natural disasters because of their scarce freshwater supply, thin soil, and poor vegetation cover [Choose a reference]”;
• Row 53. “The plant community is relatively barren except for a few trees, mostly shrubs [Choose a reference]”;
• Rows 59-62. The invasion risk assessment is an assessment of the ecological and socio-economic impacts of alien species invasion, providing necessary information for the prioritization of biosecurity interventions for alien species and areas [8], especially in biodiversity hot spot territories [Pisani et al. 2021], as Pingtan Island.
• Rows 62-65. “Because the harm caused by alien invasive plants varies greatly between different ecosystems and even in different habitats, the risk assessment index system suitable for one region may not be suitable for other regions [Stinca et al. 2021]”

Reference to be added:

• Pisani D.; Pazienza P.; Perrino E.V.; Caporale D.; De Lucia C. The Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services of Biodiversity Componnts in Protected Areas: A Review for a Framework of Analysis for the Gargano National Park. Sustainability, 2021, 13, 11726. doi: 10.3390/su132111726.
• Stinca, A.; Musarella, C.M.; Rosati, L.; Laface, V.L.A.; Licht, W.; Fanfarillo, E. et al. Italian Vascular Flora: New Findings, Updates and Exploration of Floristic Similarities between Regions. Diversity, 2021, 13, 600. doi: 10.3390/d13110600.

2. Material and methods

• Rows 88-89. Please give the geigraphicakl system used, WGS84? … “of Fujian Province (25° 15’ ~ 25°45’N, 119°32’~ 120°10’E);
• Rows 96-97. Please correct the scientific name of the species in the suggested way. When cited for the first time the species in the manuscript they must used the complete form with author of the plant as here indicated:
• Pinus thunbergii
• Casuarina equisetifolia
• Acacia confusa
• Figure 1. Well done but I suggest to add the coordinate system on the two axis;
• Justify the periods about these two paragraphs: 2.3 Determination of alien invasive plants and 2.4 The invasion of risk assessment;
• Figure 2. Please increase the size of characthers and in general of the figure.

3. Results

• Rows 168-171. As I suggested for species is valid also for the genera. Please search the author name of each genus on: https://www.gbif.org/species/
• Amaranthus…
• Eupatorium…
• Solanum…
• Euphorbia…
• Ricinus…
• Atriplex…
• Zephyranthes…
• Onopordum…
• Pistia…
• Atropa…
• Nasturtium…
• Table 1. Please check if are correct the values of Cosmopolitan and Pantropic chorotypes (17 species and 45.9%), that are perfectly the same;
• Rows 227-228. See my previous comment on scientific names. Macfadyena unguiscati, Eichhornia crassipes, Amaranthus viridis, Sesbania cannabina, Atriplex patens, Opuntia dillenii;
• Rows 240-247. See my previous comment. Partina alterniflora, Praxelis clematidea, Ageratina adenophora, Ambrosia trifida, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Solidago canadensis, Pistia stratiotes, Parthenium hysterophorus, Amaranthus spinosus, Sorghum halepense, Lolium temulentum, Lantana camara, Mikania micrantha, Sphagneticola trilobata, Eichhornia crassipes, Leucaena leucocephala, Opuntia stricta. Please check whole document in this way.
• Rows 258-259. The author statement “Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Amaranthus, and Poaceae are the main invasive plants on Pingtan Island”, but remember that Asteraceae and Fabaceae are the most rapresentative family in whole world, toghether Poaceae.

Conclusions

Well done, no suggestions

Author Response

Thank you for your comments. I have referred to them one by one and made modifications.

• Rows 35-39, 59-62, 62-65, References to the supplement have been added to the paper.
• Row 53. “The plant community is relatively barren except for a few trees, mostly shrubs [Choose a reference]”;

The conclusion here is based on field research and has been modified to read: This field survey found that…

• Rows 88-89. Please give the geigraphicakl system used, WGS84?

 The map graphics system used has been added to the corresponding position in the article.

• Figure 1.

The coordinate system has been added to Figure 1.

• Figure 2.

Figure 2 has increased the character size.   

• Table 1. Please check if are correct the values of Cosmopolitan and Pantropic chorotypes (17 species and 45.9%), that are perfectly the same.

The two are indeed the same when it comes to floras.

• Thank you for reminding me, the problem of adding authors to species and genus names is complete.
• Rows 258-259. The author statement “Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Amaranthus, and Poaceae are the main invasive plants on Pingtan Island”, but remember that Asteraceae and Fabaceae are the most rapresentative family in whole world, toghether Poaceae.

Asteraceae and Fabaceae are indeed the most representative families of invasive plants, and the conclusions we draw here echo previous studies. These families are worldwide distributed and have a wide range of adaptability and stress resistance.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have addressed all the concerns I had on the initial draft of the Manuscript. I believe it can Accepted in the present form

Author Response

Thanks!

Reviewer 3 Report

I appreciate the work done in order to improve

the manuscript in the suggested way.

Congratulstion,

reviewer

Author Response

Thanks!