Native plant species show evolutionary responses to invasion by Parthenium hysterophorus in an African savanna

Abstract

Invasive plant species often competitively displace native plant species but some populations of native plant species can evolve adaptation to competition from invasive plants and persist in invaded habitats. However, studies are lacking that examine how variation in abiotic conditions in invaded landscapes may affect fitness of native plants that have adapted to compete with invasive plants.I tested whether invasion by Parthenium hysterophorus in Nairobi National Park -Kenya may have selected for native plant individuals with greater competitive ability than conspecific na€ ıve natives in nutrient-rich and mesic soil conditions. I compared vegetative growth and seed yields of invader-experienced and conspecific na€ ıve individuals of seven native species.Invader-experienced natives grew shorter than na€ ıve natives regardless of growth conditions. Nevertheless, the two groups of native plants also exhibited treatment-specific differences in competitive ability against P. hysterophorus. Invader-experienced natives displayed plasticity in seed yield under drought treatment, while na€ ıve natives did not. Moreover, drought treatment enhanced competitive effects of invader-experienced natives on P. hysterophorus, while nutrient enrichment relaxed competitive effects of invader-experienced natives on the invader.The results suggest that P. hysterophorus may have selected for shorter native plant genotypes that also exhibit plasticity in competitive ability under drought conditions.

Physiology and transcriptome analysis of the response mechanism of Solidago canadensis to the nitrogen addition environment

“…Nitrogen is often the most limiting nutrient for plant growth in most ecosystems, which is very important for fast-growing plants, especially invasive plants ( Uddin and Robinson, 2018 ; Zhang et al., 2022 ). Invasive plants have more advantages in N allocation than native plants, which will promote the response of invasive plants to the N environment ( Hu et al., 2022 ; Oduor, 2022 ). To explore the response of S. canadensis under a N environment, transcriptome analysis was performed among different N deposition level environments.…”

Drivers of the negative diversity-invasibility relationship: nutrient availablity, allelopathy, soil biota and soil legacy effects

“…A plausible explanation for the present finding would be that the alien species have developed adaptations to the allelochemicals produced by the native communities, due to the relatively long history ( Table S1 ) of co-occurrence with the native plant species in China. Studies have shown that native plant species can adapt to competition from invasive alien plant species (Callaway et al 2005; Oduor 2013, 2022) but the opposite is also likely to occur as some alien species may develop adaptations to native plant species. The present results corroborate those of Zhang et al (2021), who conducted a meta-analysis based on 792 pairwise allelopathic effects of native plants on naturalized alien plants and found that such allelopathic effect is overall neutral (the net effect of the allelopathy is not significantly different from zero).…”

Elevated nitrogen deposition and co-evolutionary history shape competition between an invasive plant and its competitors during range expansion

“…And this study only inferred from the phenotypic traits that the co-evolutionary history of competitors and G. quadriradiata in uenced the relationship between them. However, phenotypic trait expression is in uenced by heritable genetic and epigenetic factors (Oduor 2022). Overall, future studies need to be carried out on co-evolution history of other invasive plants and competitors in more habitats, and multi-generation growth of test plants can be used to test whether trait differences persist over time, and the genetic mechanism should be further explored.…”

“…Genetic variation in traits that are resistant to strong competition from invasive plant species may enable native plants to evolve to adapt to invasive plant species (Oduor 2013;Strauss et al 2006). For example, a study on the African savannas suggests that Parthenium hysterophorus invasions may have exerted selective pressure on native plants, leading to the differentiation of growth and reproductive traits between invasive and adjacent noninvasive habitats(Oduor 2022). And it has been found that native plants may evolve a tolerance reducing the negative effects of invasive plants allelopathic compounds…”