Competitive effects of non-native plants are lowest in native plant communities that are most vulnerable to invasion

Plant Ecology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 215 (8) ◽  
pp. 821-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Stephen Brewer ◽  
W. Chase Bailey
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Inés Ibáñez ◽  
Gang Liu ◽  
Laís Petri ◽  
Sam Schaffer-Morrison ◽  
Sheila Schueller

Abstract Risk assessments of biological invasions rarely account for native species performance and community features, but this assessment could provide additional insights for management aimed at decreasing vulnerability or increasing resistance of a plant community to invasions. To gather information on the drivers of native plant communities’ vulnerability and resistance to invasion, we conducted a literature search and meta-analysis. From the data collected we compared native and invasive plant performance between sites with high and low levels of invasion. We then investigated under which conditions native performance increased, decreased, or did not change with respect to invasive plants. We analyzed data from 214 publications summing to 506 observations. There were six main drivers of vulnerability to invasion: disturbance, decrease in resources, increase in resources, lack of biotic resistance, lack of natural enemies, and differences in propagule availability between native and invasive species. The two mechanisms of vulnerability to invasion associated with a strong decline in native plant performance were propagule availability and lack of biotic resistance. Native plants marginally benefited from enemy release and from decreases in resources, while invasive plants strongly benefited from both increased resources and lack of enemies. Fluctuation of resources, decreases and increases, were strongly associated with higher invasive performance while native plants varied in their response. These differences were particularly strong in instances of decreasing water or nutrients, and of increasing light and nutrients. We found overall neutral to positive responses of native plant communities to disturbance; but natives were outperformed by invasive species when disturbance was caused by human activities. We identified ecosystem features associated with both vulnerability and resistance to invasion, then used our results to inform management aimed at protecting the native community.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Guyton ◽  
Jeanne C. Jones ◽  
Edward Entsminger

This study evaluated mowing regimes, changes in native and non-native plant communities, deer presence in the research plots,and public perception of various management practices on ROWs. No significant difference was found in the height of vegetation 3 weeks after each mowing between research plots mowed 4 times per year and plots mowed only once per year in uplands or lowlands. Native plants increased in plots mowed once per year and deer preferred the frequently mowed plots where clovers and vetches had been seeded. Increasing the carrying capacity of the lowlands with more extensive plantings of clover and vetch may attract deer, thus encouraging them to browse and use the underpasses beneath bridges and making the ROWs safer. The public survey found strong support for wildflowers on ROWs and a distaste for litter. Further, respondents would tolerate a less manicured ROW if it saved money, made the roads safer, and hid litter.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Li ◽  
Zhanrui Leng ◽  
Yueming Wu ◽  
Yizhou Du ◽  
Zhicong Dai ◽  
...  

Abstract Global changes have altered the distribution pattern of the plant communities, including invasive species. Anthropogenic contamination may reduce native plant resistance to the invasive species. Thus, the focus of the current review is on the contaminant biogeochemical behavior among native plants, invasive species and the soil within the plant-soil ecosystem to improve our understanding of the interactions between invasive plants and environmental stressors. Our studies together with synthesis of the literature showed that a) the impacts of invasive species on environmental stress were heterogeneous, b) the size of the impact was variable, and c) the influence types were multidirectional even within the same impact type. However, invasive plants showed self-protective mechanisms when exposed to heavy metals (HMs) and provided either positive or negative influence on the bioavailability and toxicity of HMs. On the other hand, HMs may favor plant invasion due to the widespread higher tolerance of invasive plants to HMS together with the “escape behavior” of native plants when exposed to toxic HM pollution. However, there has been no consensus on whether elemental compositions of invasive plants are different from the natives in the polluted regions. A quantitative research comparing plant, litter and soil contaminant contents between native plants and the invaders in a global context is an indispensable research focus in the future.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (20) ◽  
pp. 10288-10297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rutger A. Wilschut ◽  
Olga Kostenko ◽  
Kadri Koorem ◽  
Wim H. van der Putten

Plant Ecology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 218 (10) ◽  
pp. 1233-1241 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Warren ◽  
Adam Labatore ◽  
Matt Candeias

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selita A. Ammondt ◽  
Creighton M. Litton ◽  
Lisa M. Ellsworth ◽  
James K. Leary

Microbiology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 167 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aarón Barraza ◽  
Juan J. Montes-Sánchez ◽  
M. Goretty Caamal-Chan ◽  
Abraham Loera-Muro

Arid plant communities provide variable diets that can affect digestive microbial communities of free-foraging ruminants. Thus, we used next-generation sequencing of 16S and 18S rDNA to characterize microbial communities in the rumen (regurgitated digesta) and large intestine (faeces) and diet composition of lactating creole goats from five flocks grazing in native plant communities in the Sonoran Desert in the rainy season. The bacterial communities in the rumen and large intestine of the five flocks had similar alpha diversity (Chao1, Shannon, and Simpson indices). However, bacterial community compositions were different: a bacterial community dominated by Proteobacteria in the rumen transitioned to a community dominated by Firmicutes in the large intestine. Bacterial communities of rumen were similar across flocks; similarly occurred with large-intestine communities. Archaea had a minimum presence in the goat digestive tract. We detected phylum Basidiomycota, Ascomycota, and Apicomplexa as the main fungi and protozoa. Analyses suggested different diet compositions; forbs and grasses composed the bulk of plants in the rumen and forbs and shrubs in faeces. Therefore, lactating goats consuming different diets in the Sonoran Desert in the rainy season share a similar core bacterial community in the rumen and another in the large intestine and present low archaeal communities.


Author(s):  
M. Celeste Díaz Vélez ◽  
Ana E. Ferreras ◽  
Valeria Paiaro

Abstract Animal dispersers are essential for many non-native plants since they facilitate seed movement and might promote seed germination and seedling establishment, thereby increasing their chances of invasion. This chapter reviews the published literature on seed dispersal of non-native plant species by native and/or non-native animals. The following questions are addressed: (i) Are interactions between non-native plants and their animal dispersers evenly studied worldwide? (ii) Which are the distinctive traits (i.e. geographical origin, life form, dispersal strategy and propagule traits) of non-native plants that are dispersed by animals? (iii) Which are the most studied groups of dispersers of non-native plants around the world? (iv) Does the literature provide evidence for the Invasional Meltdown Hypothesis (non-native plant-non-native disperser facilitation)? (v) What is the role of animal dispersers at different stages of the non-native plant regeneration process? Our dataset of 204 articles indicates that geographical distribution of the studies was highly heterogeneous among continents, with the highest number coming from North America and the lowest from Asia and Central America. Most of the non-native plants involved in dispersal studies were woody species from Asia with fleshy fruits dispersed by endozoochory. More than the half of the animal dispersal agents noted were birds, followed by mammals, ants and reptiles. The dominance of bird-dispersal interactions over other animal groups was consistent across geographical regions. Although most of the studies involved only native dispersers, interactions among non-native species were detected, providing support for the existence of invasional meltdown processes. Of the total number of reviewed articles reporting seed removal, 74% evaluated seed dispersal, but only a few studies included seed germination (35.3%), seedling establishment (5.4%) or seed predation (23.5%). Finally, we discuss some research biases and directions for future studies in the area.


Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Wandrag ◽  
◽  
Jane A. Catford ◽  
◽  
◽  
...  

The introduction of species to new locations leads to novel competitive interactions between resident native and newly-arriving non-native species. The nature of these competitive interactions can influence the suitability of the environment for the survival, reproduction and spread of non-native plant species, and the impact those species have on native plant communities. Indeed, the large literature on competition among plants reflects its importance in shaping the composition of plant communities, including the invasion success of non-native species. While competition and invasion theory have historically developed in parallel, the increasing recognition of the synergism between the two themes has led to new insights into how non-native plant species invade native plant communities, and the impacts they have on those plant communities. This chapter provides an entry point into the aspects of competition theory that can help explain the success, dominance and impacts of invasive species. It focuses on resource competition, which arises wherever the resources necessary for establishment, survival, reproduction and spread are in limited supply. It highlights key hypotheses developed in invasion biology that relate to ideas of competition, outlines biotic and abiotic factors that influence the strength of competition and species' relative competitive abilities, and describes when and how competition between non-native and native plant species can influence invasion outcomes. Understanding the processes that influence the strength of competition between non-native and native plant species is a necessary step towards understanding the causes and consequences of biological invasions.


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