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Assessment of changes in soil organic matter after invasion by exotic plant species

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Abstract

Invasive exotic plants can modify soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics and other soil properties. We evaluated changes in particulate organic matter (POM) and carbon (C) mineralisation in adjacent plots invaded by Solidago gigantea, Prunus serotina, Heracleum mantegazzianum and Fallopia japonica, and non-invaded control plots on different soils in Belgium. Litter decomposition of S. gigantea and P. serotina was compared to that of the native species Epilobium hirsutum, Betula pendula and Fagus sylvatica. Disregarding the differences in site characteristics (soil texture, parental material and plant species), we argued that the invasion by S. gigantea and P. serotina enhance SOM dynamics by increasing C mineralisation in 2 out of 3 sites invaded by S. gigantea and in 1 out of 3 sites invaded by P. serotina; C in coarse POM (cPOM, 4,000–250 μm) and fine POM (fPOM, 250–50 μm) in 1 site invaded by S. gigantea and C content in total POM (tPOM, 4,000–50 μm) and the organo-mineral fraction (OMF, 0–50 μm) in 1 site invaded by P. serotina. H. mantegazzianum and F. japonica slowed down SOM dynamics by reducing C mineralisation in three out of four sites; C and nitrogen (N) of fPOM in the invaded compared with the non-invaded plots at one site invaded by H. mantegazzianum. However, N content of cPOM (4,000–250 μm) was higher in the invaded sites by F. japonica compared with the non-invaded plots. Our results indicated that the effects of invasion by exotic plant species were not species-specific but site-specific.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Prof. J. Herbauts (ULB, Belgium) for his comments and suggestions and Mrs. M.J. Milloux (Géosol, CST Université de Bourgogne, France) for the C and N analyses. Thanks to Dr. Hugo Rainey (WCS, Congo-Brazzaville) for reviewing the English. The research was supported by Brussels-Capital Government—“Research in Brussels” RIB-2003-013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Plants and Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1160, Brussels, Belgium

    Sonia Vanderhoeven, Nicolas Dassonville & Pierre Meerts

  2. B.P. 4895, Pointe-Noire, Congo

    Lydie-Stella Koutika

  3. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), B.P. 64501, 34394, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Lydie Chapuis-Lardy

Authors
  1. Lydie-Stella Koutika
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  2. Sonia Vanderhoeven
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  3. Lydie Chapuis-Lardy
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  4. Nicolas Dassonville
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  5. Pierre Meerts
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Correspondence to Lydie-Stella Koutika.

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Koutika, LS., Vanderhoeven, S., Chapuis-Lardy, L. et al. Assessment of changes in soil organic matter after invasion by exotic plant species. Biol Fertil Soils 44, 331–341 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-007-0210-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-007-0210-1

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