**3. Results**

Firstly, we found evidence for non-random selection of alien species intentionally introduced to South Africa for the services they provide, although most phylogenetic signals were weak to moderate (Table 1). Specifically, we found support for phylogenetically non-random selection of alien species for 75% of services, i.e., 9 services out of 12.

Secondly, we found a correlation between the number of services and invasion status, such that alien non-invasive species tend to have more services than the invasive species (Figure 1; β = −0.28 ± 0.09, *p* = 0.003). When we corrected for the phylogeny, our finding still confirms this pattern (β = −0.38 ± 0.39, *p* = 0.04).

**Table 1.** Results of phylogenetic signal test in the services provided by alien plant species using D statistic. The *p* values for tests of significance were reported as PBM (giving the result of testing whether D was significantly different from 0) and Prand (giving the result of testing whether D was significantly different from 1). A weak-to-moderate significant signal was detected in 9 out of 12 services.


**Figure 1.** Relationships between the number of known services provided by alien species and their invasion status.

Finally, when we tested for the link between each of the 12 services and invasion status, we found that, among the 12 services recorded, only three services (food, medicine, and fuel) show significant correlations with invasion status, but this correlation is negative (Figure 2), as follows: food (β = −1.20 ± 0.37, *p* = 0.001); medicine (β = −1.31 ± 0.41, *p* = 0.00124); fuel (β = −0.88 ± 0.42, *p* = 0.03), implying that these services tend to be provided by non-invasive species.

**Figure 2.** Relationships between invasion status and each service category. Only the three services that show significant correlation with invasion status are presented, which are as follows: (**a**) food, (**b**) medicine, (**c**) fuel. Invasion status is coded as follows: 0 (non-invasive) and 1 (invasive). The following are for service 'food': 0 (a species is not used as food) and 1 (the species is used as food). Same for medicine and fuel.
