Morphological variation of the introduced perennial Solidago canadensis L. sensu lato (Asteraceae) in Europe

We have yet to adequately quantify the impacts of invaders in their non-native ranges relative to their native ranges. Such biogeographical comparisons are crucial to better understand the role of invasive species in plant-plant interactions and in the evolution of community organization. Using Solidago canadensis, we conducted field surveys in the native range (North America) and non-native range (Europe) and correlated stem density and aboveground biomass of Solidago with associated plant species richness and diversity indices. We also conducted experiments to compare the competitive and allelopathic impact of Solidago on the growth of species from its native and non-native ranges. In the field, increasing stem density and biomass of Solidago correlated with more significant decreases in total species richness and two diversity indices in Europe than in North America. Solidago strongly suppressed both European species and North American species in competition experiments, but this competitive effect did not differ between species from the different ranges. However, root extracts from Solidago strongly suppressed the root growth of European species as a group, but not North American species as a group. Our results indicate that the biogeographic origin of species can have important effects on plant interactions and community organization.

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“…& Gray (S. altissima L.). However, the ecological features of the species are only slightly influenced by this variation (Weber 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of an invader on species diversity is stronger in the non-native range than in the native range

et al. 2015

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“…The character was later quantitatively expressed as capitulum diameter, which was measured to be 10-15 mm for the lowland and 15-20 mm for the high-mountain taxon (Hess et al 1972;Dostál 1989;Rothmaler 1994;Slavík 2004). In this work, however, the capitulum size is expressed as the number of florets, a character not biased by herbarium specimen pressing and one that is widely used in taxonomic works on the genus Solidago (e.g., Weber 1997;Nishizawa et al 2001) and on other taxa from the Asteraceae family (e.g., Hodálová 1999;Španiel et al 2008). Our results show that S. minuta has considerably more florets than S. virgaurea, especially tubular florets ( Table 3, key below).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taxonomy of the Solidago virgaurea Group (Asteraceae) in Poland, with Special Reference to Variability along an Altitudinal Gradient

Kiełtyk

Mirek

2013

Folia Geobot

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The morphological differentiation and taxonomic treatment of lowland and high-mountain morphotypes within the Solidago virgaurea group are controversial. To clarify the taxonomic status of these taxa, we conducted a morphometric analysis of 1,746 individuals from 80 localities along an altitudinal gradient from the lowlands of northern Poland to the Carpathians and Sudetes of southern Poland. Multivariate morphometric analyses, cluster analyses and principal component analyses, were used to examine the morphological differentiation within the S. virgaurea group in Poland. Canonical discriminant analysis was applied to determine the morphological characters that best discriminate among the taxa. The stability of the high-mountain Solidago minuta morphotype was tested in an experimental field established in lowland Poland; individuals transplanted from various mountain sites were cultivated at this site, and the morphotypes remained stable in terms of their floral and vegetative characters. Multivariate analyses revealed two morphologically distinct taxa in the S. virgaurea group, which correspond to lowland S. virgaurea s. str. and high-mountain S. minuta as recognised in some European floras. The most important morphological characters for distinguishing the taxa are the number of tubular florets per capitulum, inner involucral bract width and involucre height. Vegetative and inflorescence characters appear to have less taxonomic value because they changed continuously with altitude. A key for identifying S. virgaurea and S. minuta in Poland is presented.

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“…scabra (Guzikowa and Maycock 1986;Weber 1997;Weber and Schmid 1998). Among the primary traits that differ between S. altissima and S. canadensis, the length and arrangement of hair covering the stem and leaves and the shape and margins of the leaves (Weber 1997;Semple and Cook 2006), micro-morphological characteristics of leaf epidermis (Szymura and Wolski 2011) and rhizome systems (Schmid et al 1988) have been described. In this study, the aforementioned species were separated into S. canadensis and S. altissima.…”

Section: Studied Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical contingency and spatial processes rather than ecological niche differentiation explain the distribution of invasive goldenrods (Solidago and Euthamia)

Szymura

2016

Plant Ecol

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The effectiveness of invasion depends on the interacting environmental factors and biology of the invader. The effects of these interactions are contingent on their contexts and difficult to predict. Among the most successful plant invaders in Europe are the goldenrods (Solidago and Euthamia genera). We assessed the roles of ecological niche differentiation and historical contingency on their distribution in Silesia (Central Europe, studied area approximately 32,000 km 2 ). The distributions of the two most common species (S. gigantea and S. altissima) were clumped, and the species dominated different areas. The distribution was unrelated to ecological niche differences but originates rather from the history of invasion and subsequent density-dependent spread; the species that was first introduced occupied available habitats and prevented the establishment of other species. Solidago canadensis was distributed randomly throughout the entire region and did not differ from S. altissima in its ecology. Euthamia graminifolia differed from the other goldenrods in habitat preferences and environmental requirements. Its distribution was strongly spatially structured, clumping around initial infestation sites. The extents of the differences resulting from ecological niche differentiation and the limitation of long-range dispersal are unclear. We argue that the under-representation of E. graminifolia in abandoned fields originates from the inhibition of establishment in habitats already occupied by other goldenrods. The results underline that the effect of historical contingency can be more prominent than ecological niche differentiation on invasive species distribution and invasion effectiveness.

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Morphological variation of the introduced perennial Solidago canadensis L. sensu lato (Asteraceae) in Europe

Cited by 39 publications

References 14 publications

Impact of an invader on species diversity is stronger in the non-native range than in the native range

Impact of an invader on species diversity is stronger in the non-native range than in the native range

Taxonomy of the Solidago virgaurea Group (Asteraceae) in Poland, with Special Reference to Variability along an Altitudinal Gradient

Historical contingency and spatial processes rather than ecological niche differentiation explain the distribution of invasive goldenrods (Solidago and Euthamia)

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