AimDarwin posited that invaders similar to native species are less likely to be successful due to competitive exclusion. A key axis across which such competition occurs across angiosperms is the timing of flowering, or reproductive phenology. It has been hypothesized that temporal isolation facilitates the establishment of introduced species. However, our knowledge of how the timing of flowering may influence invasion success is lacking at broader geographic and larger taxonomic scales. To address this impasse, we investigated: (i) how flowering phenology differs between native and non‐native species; (ii) whether the flowering phenology of successful invaders is distinct from native taxa; and (iii) whether invasive species tend to be more closely related to natives than other less successful, non‐invasive introduced species are.LocationCalifornia, USA.Time PeriodPresent.Major Taxa StudiedAngiosperms.MethodsWe compiled phenological data for over 6000 angiosperm species across California, a highly invaded biodiversity hotspot, from published flora. Using these data, we assessed the degree of phenological and phylogenetic similarity among native, non‐invasive introduced, and invasive species. We also examined how this similarity varies with climate.ResultsBoth non‐invasive introduced and invasive species were more phenologically and phylogenetically distant from natives than natives were from each other. However, invasive plants tend to be more similar to native species in terms of flowering phenology and phylogenetic relationships than non‐invasive introduced species. Further, the degree of similarity between native and non‐native species was mediated by climate, where phenological and phylogenetic similarities were greater in cooler regions.Main ConclusionsTogether, our results demonstrate that both similarity and distinctiveness can facilitate plant invasions and that invaders just similar enough to the native flora are more likely to be successful.

中文翻译：

---

物候相似性和独特性促进植物入侵

AimDarwin 认为，由于竞争排斥，与本地物种相似的入侵者不太可能成功。被子植物之间发生这种竞争的一个关键轴是开花时间或生殖物候。据推测，暂时的隔离有利于引进物种的建立。然而，我们对开花时间如何影响入侵成功的了解缺乏更广泛的地理和更大的分类学尺度。为了解决这个僵局，我们研究了：（i）本地和非本地物种之间的开花物候有何不同； (ii) 成功入侵者的开花物候是否与本地类群不同； (iii) 与其他不太成功的非入侵性引进物种相比，入侵物种是否往往与本地物种关系更密切。地点美国加利福尼亚州。时间段目前。研究被子植物的主要分类群。方法我们编制了加州 6000 多种被子植物物种的物候数据，从已发表的植物群来看，这是一个受到高度入侵的生物多样性热点地区。利用这些数据，我们评估了本地物种、非入侵引进物种和入侵物种之间的物候和系统发育相似程度。我们还研究了这种相似性如何随气候变化。结果非侵入性引进物种和入侵物种在物候学和系统发育上与本地物种的距离比本地物种之间的距离更远。然而，与非入侵引进物种相比，入侵植物在开花物候和系统发育关系方面往往与本地物种更相似。此外，本地和非本地物种之间的相似程度是由气候介导的，在较冷的地区，物候和系统发育的相似性更大。主要结论总的来说，我们的结果表明，相似性和独特性都可以促进植物入侵，并且入侵者足够相似本土植物群更有可能成功。