Effects of soil nutrient heterogeneity on intraspecific competition in the invasive, clonal plant Alternanthera philoxeroides

Zhou, Jian; Dong, Bi‐Cheng; Alpert, Peter; Li, Hongli; Zhang, Mingxiang; Lei, Guangchun; Yu, Fei‐Hai

doi:10.1093/aob/mcr314

Cited by 73 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…Wijesinghe and Hutchings1415 found a negative correlation between the performance (biomass) of the stoloniferous herb Glechoma hederacea and patch size. Moreover, Zhou et al 43. suggested that heterogeneity might be a significant driving factor of clonal plant invasion if a strong, positive response to fine-scale nutrient heterogeneity is common.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The invasive stoloniferous clonal plant Alternanthera philoxeroides outperforms its co-occurring non-invasive functional counterparts in heterogeneous soil environments – invasion implications

Wang

Miao

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Environmental heterogeneity is considered to play a defining role in promoting invasion success, and it favours clonal plants. Although clonality has been demonstrated to be correlated with the invasion success of several species of clonal invasive plants in heterogeneous environments, little is known about how the spatial scale of heterogeneity affects their performance. In addition, the factors that distinguish invasive from non-invasive clonal species and that enhance the invasive potential of clonal exotic invaders in heterogeneous environments remain unclear. In this study, we compared several traits of a noxious clonal invasive species, Alternanthera philoxeroides, with its co-occurring non-invasive functional counterparts, the native congener Alternanthera sessilis, the exotic Myriophyllum aquaticum and the native Jussiaea repens, in three manipulative substrates with different soil distribution patterns. We found that the invasive performance of A. philoxeroides was not enhanced by heterogeneity and that it was generally scale independent. However, A. philoxeroides showed some advantages over the three non-invasives with respect to trait values and phenotypic variation. These advantages may enhance the competitive capacity of A. philoxeroides and thus promote its invasion success in heterogeneous environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The invasive stoloniferous clonal plant Alternanthera philoxeroides outperforms its co-occurring non-invasive functional counterparts in heterogeneous soil environments – invasion implications

Wang

Miao

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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“…More broadly, plants often suffer from harsh environmental conditions within their current and potential distribution ranges. However, while many studies have focused on the tolerance to low resource availability and competition under different levels of resource availability (Grime 1977, Tilman 1985, Tilman 1990, Grace 1991, Li et al 2011, Zhou et al 2012, the effects of the tolerance of new arrivals to non-resource factors on their performance and competitiveness have been relatively ignored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spartina alterniflora with high tolerance to salt stress changes vegetation pattern by outcompeting native species

Tang

Gao

et al. 2014

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Although many studies have been conducted on the interspecific competition between new arrivals and native plants, few of them have demonstrated how these processes interact with non-resource factors to determine vegetation pattern. This study investigated how salt stress mediates competition between native Phragmites australis and invasive Spartina alterniflora and thus changes plant communities in Dongtan, a Chinese coast salt marsh. The experiments revealed that the growth and reproduction of the native species declined with increasing salinity but that the invasive species performed well in the salinity range of 0-20%, illustrating why the invader could proliferate in the high salinity mudflats in Dongtan. Moreover, the native had a high growth rate and therefore exhibited a competitive dominance over the invader at low salinity of ca. 7%. Thus, the invader could not displace the native, and the native communities were stable in the low salinity zones. In contrast, the growth rate of the invader became higher when salinity increased; correspondingly, it gained the competitive dominance at high salinity of ca. 11%. As a result, the invader colonising the native communities in high salinity zones performed better and could displace the natives over time. Consequently, after invasive S. alterniflora colonisation, the vegetation pattern of Dongtan marsh gradually changed from ''mudflat-sedge-P. australis'' to ''mudflat-S. alterniflora'' and ''mudflat-S. alterniflora and natives'' along the elevation gradients. The findings of the case study demonstrated that if a new arrival has a wide tolerance range to major non-resource stress in an ecosystem, it can not only displace natives by interspecific competition in high stress zones but can also spread into the zones without natives; on the other hand, natives with a narrow ecological amplitude in relation to the non-resource stress can only persist in low stress zones. Therefore, the distribution area of new arrivals increases as the distribution area of natives decreases. Because some non-resource stresses have substantial positive effects on native community invasibility, the practices that change the level of non-resource stress and create favorable conditions for invasive species should be stopped.

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“…In response to substrate nutrient heterogeneity, many species show variation in how their roots are arranged in the substrate where nutrient levels are relatively high. Many studies have found that the effects of substrate nutrient heterogeneity may increase plant performance across all growth parameters [19][20][21][22]. Substrate nutrient heterogeneity may work as a modulator by changing plant growth at the individual and community levels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Invasive Eichhornia crassipes Affects the Capacity of Submerged Macrophytes to Utilize Nutrients

Zhou

Pan

et al. 2017

Sustainability

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Abstract:Invasion by free-floating species, such as Eichhornia crassipes, is one of the most critical threats to the biodiversity and sustainability of wetland ecosystems, where all plants experience spatial heterogeneity in substrate nutrients. However, few studies have focused on the effects of free-floating invaders on the capacity of submerged plants to utilize substrate nutrients. A 10-week greenhouse experiment was conducted to test the effects of free-floating invasive E. crassipes (presence or absence) on the growth of Ceratophyllum demersum and Myriophyllum spicatum, and their capacity to use heterogeneous and homogeneous substrate nutrients. We found that the invasion of E. crassipes could significantly decrease the growth of both submerged C. demersum and M. spicatum and that substrate nutrient heterogeneity increased the growth of C. demersum (approximately 30% in total biomass and 40% in the number of nodes) but not of M. spicatum. The two submerged species have different strategies to address invasion by E. crassipes. These results indicate that E. crassipes can prevent the growth of submerged plants even if the submerged plants can effectively use heterogeneous nutrients. For the effective conservation of submerged macrophytes in wetlands, measures should be taken to restrict the spread of invasive free-floating species.

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Effects of soil nutrient heterogeneity on intraspecific competition in the invasive, clonal plant Alternanthera philoxeroides

Cited by 73 publications

References 39 publications

The invasive stoloniferous clonal plant Alternanthera philoxeroides outperforms its co-occurring non-invasive functional counterparts in heterogeneous soil environments – invasion implications

The invasive stoloniferous clonal plant Alternanthera philoxeroides outperforms its co-occurring non-invasive functional counterparts in heterogeneous soil environments – invasion implications

Spartina alterniflora with high tolerance to salt stress changes vegetation pattern by outcompeting native species

Invasive Eichhornia crassipes Affects the Capacity of Submerged Macrophytes to Utilize Nutrients

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