Genotypic diversity enhances invasive ability of <i>Spartina alterniflora</i>

Wang, X. Y.; Shen, Dong-Wei; Jiao, Jing; Xu, Nana; Yu, Shengrui; Zhou, Xiaochun; Shi, Miaomiao; Chen, Xiao‐Yong

doi:10.1111/j.1365-294x.2012.05531.x

Cited by 65 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(89 reference statements)

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“…The fact that both trait and genotypic diversity were important for stem density and spatial spread in this experiment is consistent with prior findings that S. alterniflora intraspecific diversity can be important for density and spatial spread during the colonization stage (Wang et al . ). Abiotic stress from inundation and salinity is high in sparsely vegetated areas (Bertness ; Pennings & Bertness ), and these strong abiotic forces could have enhanced (c.f., Reusch et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Genotypic diversity and trait variance interact to affect marsh plant performance

Hughes

2014

Journal of Ecology

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Summary1. Intraspecific diversity can have important effects on population, community and ecosystem processes, yet we have little understanding of the relative importance of genetic-versus trait-based measures of intraspecific diversity.2. I conducted a manipulative field experiment of plant (Spartina alterniflora) genotypic diversity and trait diversity to examine their independent and interactive effects on plant performance and community structure. I focused on variation within and among genotypes in plant stem height, a trait that varies substantially across environmental gradients and can be an important predictor of plant competition intensity.3. Trait and genotypic diversity interactively affected multiple metrics of plant performance. Both stem density and spatial spread increased with genotypic diversity in the low trait diversity combinations, yet there were negligible to weak negative effects in the high trait diversity treatments. Spartina alterniflora percentage cover also varied with genotypic and trait diversity, but not in a clear linear pattern.4. There were no effects of trait or genotypic diversity on associated macrofauna above-ground, yet they interactively affected below-ground measures. Infaunal abundance and sediment oxygen availability mirrored the idiosyncratic response of plant percentage cover. 5.Despite the interactive effects of genotypic and trait diversity, high trait diversity consistently increased plant performance in genotypic monoculture.6. Synthesis. The effects of intraspecific plant trait diversity on a range of plant and community responses in this study reinforce the premise that functional differences underlie ecological effects of genetic diversity and suggest that readily measured trait variance may serve as a valuable predictor of plant performance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Genotypic diversity and trait variance interact to affect marsh plant performance

Hughes

2014

Journal of Ecology

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“…; Wang et al . ) and across latitude (Seliskar et al . ; Salgado & Pennings ), has a genetic component and persists in a common garden.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographical variation in vegetative growth and sexual reproduction of the invasive Spartina alterniflora in China

et al. 2015

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Summary Phenotypic variation plays an important role in successful plant invasions. The spread of invasive species over large geographic ranges may be facilitated if plants can match their phenotype to local abiotic conditions. Spartina alterniflora, native to the United States, was introduced into China in 1979 and has spread over 19ᵒ of latitude along the eastern coast of China. We studied patterns in vegetative growth and sexual reproduction of S. alterniflora at 22 sites at 11 geographic locations over a latitudinal gradient of ˜2000 km from Tanggu (39.05°N, high latitude) to Leizhou (20.90°N, low latitude) in China. We further evaluated the basis of phenotypic differences by growing plants from across the range in a common garden for 2 growing seasons. We found distinct latitudinal clines in plant height, shoot density and sexual reproduction across latitude. Some traits exhibited linear relationships with latitude; others exhibited hump‐shaped relationships. We identified correlations between plant traits and abiotic conditions such as mean annual temperature, growing degree days, tidal range and soil nitrogen content. However, geographic variation in all but one trait disappeared in the common garden, indicating that variation largely due to phenotypic plasticity. Only a slight tendency for latitudinal variation in seed set persisted for 2 years in the common garden, suggesting that plants may be evolving genetic clines for this trait. Synthesis. The rapid spread of Spartina alterniflora (S. alterniflora) in China has probably been facilitated by phenotypic plasticity in growth and reproductive traits. We found little evidence for the evolution of genetic clines in China, even though these exist for some traits in the native range. The considerable variation among clones, within provenances, that persisted in the common garden suggests a potential for the evolution of geographic clines in the future. Low fecundity of low‐latitude S. alterniflora populations in China might result in a slower spread at low latitudes, but S. alterniflora is likely to continue to spread rapidly at high latitudes in China and into the Korean peninsula.

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“…Accordingly, some studies point at the need to take within-species variation more explicitly into account for ecosystem functioning [4]–[6]. While, in recent years, studies on the role of genetic variation in biological invasions have shown that the maintenance of high genetic diversity is a feature of successful invasions [7]–[10], genetic diversity has rarely been experimentally addressed to explain invasiveness of species despite some evidence of both additive and non-additive effects of genetic diversity on colonization success [7], [11]–[13]. One recent example elucidating the role of genetic diversity for expanding species was provided by Crawford and Whitney [14], who could demonstrate positive effects of genetic diversity on attributes of colonization success of Arabidopsis thaliana , i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Propagule Pressure, Genetic Diversity and Microsite Availability for Senecio vernalis Invasion

2013

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Genetic diversity is supposed to support the colonization success of expanding species, in particular in situations where microsite availability is constrained. Addressing the role of genetic diversity in plant invasion experimentally requires its manipulation independent of propagule pressure. To assess the relative importance of these components for the invasion of Senecio vernalis, we created propagule mixtures of four levels of genotype diversity by combining seeds across remote populations, across proximate populations, within single populations and within seed families. In a first container experiment with constant Festuca rupicola density as matrix, genotype diversity was crossed with three levels of seed density. In a second experiment, we tested for effects of establishment limitation and genotype diversity by manipulating Festuca densities. Increasing genetic diversity had no effects on abundance and biomass of S. vernalis but positively affected the proportion of large individuals to small individuals. Mixtures composed from proximate populations had a significantly higher proportion of large individuals than mixtures composed from within seed families only. High propagule pressure increased emergence and establishment of S. vernalis but had no effect on individual growth performance. Establishment was favoured in containers with Festuca, but performance of surviving seedlings was higher in open soil treatments. For S. vernalis invasion, we found a shift in driving factors from density dependence to effects of genetic diversity across life stages. While initial abundance was mostly linked to the amount of seed input, genetic diversity, in contrast, affected later stages of colonization probably via sampling effects and seemed to contribute to filtering the genotypes that finally grew up. In consequence, when disentangling the mechanistic relationships of genetic diversity, seed density and microsite limitation in colonization of invasive plants, a clear differentiation between initial emergence and subsequent survival to juvenile and adult stages is required.

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Genotypic diversity enhances invasive ability of Spartina alterniflora

Cited by 65 publications

References 40 publications

Genotypic diversity and trait variance interact to affect marsh plant performance

Genotypic diversity and trait variance interact to affect marsh plant performance

Geographical variation in vegetative growth and sexual reproduction of the invasive Spartina alterniflora in China

The Role of Propagule Pressure, Genetic Diversity and Microsite Availability for Senecio vernalis Invasion

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