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Effects of non-native plants on the native insect community of Delaware

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Abstract

Due to the lack of a co-evolutionary history, the novel defenses presented by introduced plants may be insurmountable to many native insects. Accordingly, non-native plants are expected to support less insect biomass than native plants. Further, native insect specialists may be more affected by introduced plants than native generalist herbivores, resulting in decreased insect diversity on non-native plants due to the loss of specialists. To test these hypotheses, we used a common garden experiment to compare native insect biomass, species richness, and the proportion of native specialist to native generalist insects supported by 45 species of woody plants. Plants were classified into three groupings, with 10 replicates of each species: 15 species native to Delaware (Natives), 15 non-native species that were congeneric with a member of the Native group (Non-native Congeners), and 15 non-native species that did not have a congener present in the United States (Aliens). Native herbivorous insects were sampled in May, June, and July of 2004 and 2005. Overall, insect biomass was greater on Natives than Non-native Congeners and Aliens, but insect biomass varied unpredictably between congeneric pair members. Counter to expectations, Aliens held more insect biomass than did Non-native Congeners. There was no difference in species richness or the number of specialist and generalist species collected among the three plant groupings in either year, although our protocol was biased against sampling specialists. If these results generalize to other studies, loss of native insect biomass due to introduced plants may negatively affect higher trophic levels of the ecosystem.

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Abbreviations

USDA:

United States Department of Agriculture

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Acknowledgments

The Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service (RWU NE-4502) funded this project. We thank the Kranz family and White Clay Creek State Park for housing the study site and John Pesek for continued statistical advice. The editor and an anonymous reviewer provided helpful criticism of the manuscript. We also thank the many volunteers who helped with the planting. Jennie Witmer assisted with plot maintenance and data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716-2160, USA

    Marion E. Zuefle & Douglas W. Tallamy

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA, 19530, USA

    William P. Brown

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  1. Marion E. Zuefle
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  2. William P. Brown
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  3. Douglas W. Tallamy
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Correspondence to Marion E. Zuefle.

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Zuefle, M.E., Brown, W.P. & Tallamy, D.W. Effects of non-native plants on the native insect community of Delaware. Biol Invasions 10, 1159–1169 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-007-9193-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-007-9193-y

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