Leucaena leucocephala: A Leguminous Tree Suitable for Eroded Habitats of Hawaiian Islands

Key characteristics for facilitating <i>Leucaena leucocephala</i> to successfully invade pioneer communities of tropical rain forests

“…旱性, 即使面对干旱胁迫也能保持较高的生长速率 (周利平等, 2010;Wolfe & van Bloem, 2012;Chiou et al, 2016;Barros et al, 2020)。因此被广泛单一种 植, 用于修复全球高度退化的热带和亚热带森林 (Wolfe & van Bloem, 2012;Liu et al, 2018;Peng et al, 2019)。但它目前也是全球性外来入侵植物 (Richardson & Rejmánek, 2011), 威胁着全球热带和 亚 热 带 森 林 的 生 物 多 样 性 (Goel & Behl, 2002;Ishihara et al, 2018;Peng et al, 2019)。 在中国, 银合 欢也被广泛用于造林, 修复退化的森林生态系统, 已有研究发现银合欢能成功入侵热带亚热带森林 (王伟等, 2007;彭芸, 2008;纪中华等, 2010;李海 生等, 2015;Liu et al, 2018;Peng et al, 2019), 因此 急需探究银合欢的生物防治方法。有研究表明, 想 要对外来入侵植物进行生物防治, 关键是找到帮助 外来入侵植物成功入侵本地生态系统的主要特征 (Moran et al, 2005;Funk et al, 2008;Seastedt, 2015)。 因此, 迫切需要量化银合欢的关键特性(生长 速率高、 耐旱性强)是否真的能够帮助其成功入侵到 本地生态系统中。已有研究表明, 较高的生长速率 能够帮助银合欢成功入侵亚热带森林 (Wolfe & van Bloem, 2012), 但是目前还不清楚高生长速率和强 耐旱性是否能帮助银合欢入侵热带森林生态系统。 利用功能性状找出外来入侵植物优于本地植物 的关键特征, 可以揭示为什么外来入侵植物能成功 入侵本地生态系统 (Küster et al, 2008;van Kleunen et al, 2010;Hulme et al, 2013;Ostertag et al, 2015)。 一般而言, 入侵植物想要入侵成功, 其功能性状不 仅要具有比本地优势物种更好地适应本地生长环境 的能力, 而且要与本地优势物种完全不相似 (Funk et al, 2008)。功能性状如叶片膨压丧失点和光合速 率分别是耐旱性和快速生长的良好指标 (Kirschbaum, 2011;Zhang et al, 2018a) www.plant-ecology.com…”

…Fell Upas Sits, the Hydra-Tree of Death †, or the Phytotoxicity of Trees

“…Its introduction as an animal fodder began in the 16th century from the Philippines, and since then it has spread widely across tropical and subtropical regions [79]. Due to its high nutritional value—the concentration of crude protein comprises about 30%— Leucaena is known as the “alfalfa of tropics” [80]. However, high contents of anti-nutritional factors, such as mimosine and condensed tannin, can lead to a number of toxic symptoms in animals and limits nutritive value of its foliade [81].…”

Mimosine concentration in giant leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala subsp. glabrata) fluctuates with age and plant part

“…Giant leucaena is considered to be an ideal fodder legume for the tropics because (i) it is able to grow in dry areas, marginal lands, and places with eroded slopes on fertile soils; (ii) it has a deep root system and is tolerant to drought and can be grown as a rain-fed fodder with little or no irrigation; (iii) as a perennial fodder, it does not require repeated planting each season and can be maintained with relatively minimal efforts and resources; (iv) it is a nitrogen-fixing tree legume that fixes high amounts of N (196-268 kg N/ha) in noduleforming symbiosis with Rhizobium (Sanginga et al 1989) (v) it is naturally resistant to infection by microbial pathogens and insect pests (Bageel et al 2020);and (vi) it has tolerance to environmental stresses such as acidic and alkaline soils, drought, salinity, eroded slopes, and UV light (Bageel et al 2020;Honda et al 2018;Ishihara et al 2018;Rodrigues Correa et al 2019). However, despite these beneficial attributes, giant leucaena contains large amounts of an undesirable compound, mimosine, a non-protein aromatic amino acid found in all parts of the plant (Honda and Borthakur 2021).…”