Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Plant invasion impacts on arthropod abundance, diversity and feeding consistent across environmental and geographic gradients

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biological Invasions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Exotic plant invasion not only changes native plant communities, it also alters associated arthropod community diversity and structure. These impacts often are contradictory and context-specific by study location. M. vimineum is an Asian grass currently invading the eastern United States that generally escapes herbivory. The invasion impacts on arthropod communities are mixed, and the effects on arthropod food webs are largely unknown. Because M. vimineum has a unique δ13C value, its carbon flow can be resolved from native plants in recipient food webs. We investigate arthropod communities at M. vimineum-invaded sites along a 100-km geographic and environmental gradient in the southeastern U.S. We investigate M. vimineum impacts on arthropod abundance and diversity, how M. vimineum-derived carbon contributes to arthropod biomass and how environmental variation modifies invasion effects on arthropod communities. We find that M. vimineum invasion corresponds with increased arthropod diversity and abundance, but reduced evenness. Herbivore damage to leaves is equivalent between native species and M. vimineum, but the type of herbivore damage is not the same between the native and invader plants. We also find that herbivores derive 37 % of their biomass-carbon from the exotic plant but predators almost none (4 %). Detritivores derive exotic carbon (9 %) proportional to M. vimineum in the litter layer. Whereas exotic plant impacts on arthropod communities often seem idiosyncratic by site, we find no context-dependent invasion effects of M. vimineum by study location. The consistency suggests that the impacts may be broadly generalizable, at least within well-established parts of the invasion range.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahrens L, Kraus J (2007) Wolf spider (Araneae, Lycosidae) movement along a pond edge. The Journal of Arachnology 34:532–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akaike H (1973) Information theory as an extension of the maximum likelihood principle. In: Petrov BN, Csaki F (eds) Second international symposium on information theory. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, pp 267–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Andren O, Brussaard L, Clarholm M (1999) Soil organism influence on ecosystem-level processes—bypassing the ecological hierarchy? Applied Soil Ecology 11:177–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baayen RH (2007) Analyzing linguistic data: a practical introduction to statistics using R. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Barden LS (1987) Invasion of Microstegium vimineum (Poaceae), an exotic, annual, shade-tolerant, C-4 grass, into a North-Carolina floodplain. Am Midl Nat 118:40–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartomeus IM, Santamaria L (2008) Contrasting effects of invasive plants in plant-pollinator networks. Oecologia 155:761–770

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blossey B, Notzold R (1995) Evolution of increased competitive ability in invasive nonindigenous plants—a hypothesis. J Ecol 83:887–889

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bossdorf O, Auge H, Lafuma L, Rogers WE, Siemann E, Prati D (2005) Phenotypic and genetic differentiation between native and introduced plant populations. Oecologia 144:1–11

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bradford MA, DeVore JL, Maerz JC, McHugh JV, Smith CL, Strickland MS (2010) Native, insect herbivore communities derive a significant proportion of their carbon from a widespread invader of forest understories. Biol Invasions 12:721–724

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callaway RM, Walker LR (1997) Competition and facilitation: a systematic approach to interactions in plant communities. Ecology 78:1958–1965

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll JF (2003) Survival of larvae and nymphs of Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae) in four habitats in Maryland. Proc Entomol Soc Wash 105:105–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Derraik JGB, Rufaut CG, Closs GP, Dickinson KJM (2005) Ground invertebrate fauna associated with native shrubs and exotic pasture in a modified rural landscape, Otago, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 29:129–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Diez JM, Dickie I, Edwards G, Hulme PE, Sullivan JJ, Duncan RP (2010) Negative soil feedbacks accumulate over time for non-native plant species. Ecol Lett 13:803–809

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eijsackers H (2011) Earthworms as colonizers of natural and cultivated soil environments. Applied Soil Ecology 50:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elston DA, Moss R, Boulinier T, Arrowsmith C, Lambin X (2001) Analysis of aggregation, a worked example: numbers of ticks on red grouse chicks. Parasitology 122:563–569

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fairbrothers DE, Gray JR (1972) Microstegium vimineum (Trin) A. Camus (Gramineae) in the United-States. Bull Torrey Bot Club 99:97–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flory SL, Clay K (2009) Non-native grass invasion alters native plant composition in experimental communities. Biol Invasions 12:1285–1294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fry B (2006) Stable isotope ecology. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fry B, Joern A, Parker PL (1978) Grasshopper food web analysis: use of carbon isotope ratios to examine feeding relationships among terrestrial herbivores. Ecology 59:498–506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gee GW, Or D (2002) Particle-size analysis. In: Dane JH, Topp GC (eds) Methods of soil analysis, part 4: physical methods. Soil Science Society of America, Madison

    Google Scholar 

  • Gotelli NJ, Colwell RK (2001) Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecol Lett 4:379–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hof C, Levinsky I, Araujo MB, Rahbek C (2011) Rethinking species’ ability to cope with rapid climate change. Glob Change Biol 17:2987–2990

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horton JL, Neufeld HS (1998) Photosynthetic responses of Microstegium vimineum (Trin.) A. Camus, a shade-tolerant, C-4 grass, to variable light environments. Oecologia 114:11–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurlbert SH (1971) The non-concept of species diversity: a critique and alternative parameters. Ecology 52:577–589

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurlbert SH, Lombardi CM (2009) Final collapse of the Newman-Pearson decision theoretic framework and the rise of the neoFisherian. Ann Zool Fenn 46:311–349

    Google Scholar 

  • Keane RM, Crawley MJ (2002) Exotic plant invasions and the enemy release hypothesis. Trends Ecol Evol 17:164–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleczewski NM, Flory SL (2010) Leaf blight disease on the invasive grass Microstegium vimineum caused by a Bipolaris sp. Plant Dis 94:807–811

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kremen C, Colwell RK, Erwin TL, Murphy DD, Noss RF, Sanjayan MA (1993) Terrestrial arthropod assemblages: their use in conservation planning. Conserv Biol 7:796–808

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Litt AR, Steidl RJ (2010) Insect assemblages change along a gradient of invasion by a nonnative grass. Biol Invasions 12:3449–3463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Losey JE, Vaughan M (2006) The economic value of ecological services provided by insects. Bioscience 56:311–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall JM, Buckley DS (2009) Influence of Microstegium vimineum presence on insect abundance in hardwood forests. Southeast Nat 8:515–526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrath DA, Binkley MA (2009) Microstegium vimineum invasion changes soil chemistry and microarthropod communities in Cumberland Plateau forests. Southeast Nat 8:141–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mgobozi MP, Somers MJ, Dippenaar-Schoeman AS (2008) Spider responses to alien plant invasion: the effect of short- and long-term Chromolaena odorata invasion and management. J Appl Ecol 242:1189–1197

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrison JA, Lubchansky HA, Mauck KE, McCartney KM, Dunn B (2007) Ecological comparison of two co-invasive species in eastern deciduous forests: Alliaria petiolata and Microstegium vimineum. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 134:1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moulder BC, Reichle DE (1972) Significance of spider predation in the energy dynamics of forest-floor arthropod communities. Ecol Monogr 42:473–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NOAA (2009) National oceanic and atmospheric administration southern regional headquarters. U.S. Department of Commerce, Asheville

    Google Scholar 

  • Nuzzo VA, Maerz JC, Blossey B (2009) Earthworm invasion as the driving force behind plant invasion and community change in northeastern North American forests. Conserv Biol 23:966–974

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oksanen J, Blanchet FG, Reoland K, Legendre P, O’Hara RB, Simpson GL, Solymos P, Henry M, Stevens H, Wagner H (2011). vegan: Community Ecology Package. R package version 2.0-3, http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/vegan/index.html

  • Palmer M, Linde M, Pons GX (2004) Correlational patterns between invertebrate species composition and the presence of an invasive plant. Acta Oecologia 26:219–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson DE (2009) Invasive plant-architecture alters trophic interactions by changing predator abundance and behavior. Oecologia 159:549–558

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pielou EC (1966) The measurement of diversity in different types of biological collections. J Theor Biol 13:131–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ponsard S, Arditi R (2000) What can stable isotopes (d15 N and d13C) tell about the food web of soil macro-invertebrates? Ecology 81:852–864

    Google Scholar 

  • Post DM (2002) Using stable isotopes to estimate trophic position: models, methods, and assumptions. Ecology 83:703–718

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price PW, Hunter MD (2005) Long-term population dynamics of a sawfly show strong bottom-up effects. J Anim Ecol 74:917–925

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2009) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders D, Platner C (2007) Intraguild interactions between spiders and ants and top-down control in a grassland food web. Oecologia 150:611–624

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sanders NJ, Belote RT, Weltzin JF (2004) Multitrophic effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on understory plant and arthropod communities. Environ Entomol 33:1609–1616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sax DF (2002) Equal diversity in disparate species assemblages: a comparison of native and exotic woodlands in California. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 11:49–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheu S, Falca M (2000) The soil food web of two beech forests (Fagus sylvatica) of contrasting humus type: stable isotope analysis of macro- and a mesofauna-dominated community. Oecologia 123:285–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitz OJ, Krivan V, Ovadia O (2004) Trophic cascades: the primacy of trait-mediated indirect interactions. Ecol Lett 7:153–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simao MCM, Flory SL, Rudgers JA (2010) Experimental plant invasion reduces arthropod abundance and richness across multiple trophic levels. Oikos 119:1553–1562

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer MC, Parmesan C (2010) Phenological asynchrony between herbivorous insects and their hosts: signal of climate change or pre-existing adaptive strategy? Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 365:3161–3176

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith VC, Bradford MA (2003) Litter quality impacts on grassland litter decomposiiton are differently dependent on soil fauna across time. Applied Soil Ecology 24:197–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith W, Grassle F (1977) Sampling properties of a family of diversity measures. Biometrics 33:283–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strickland MS, DeVore JL, Maerz JC, Bradford MA (2010) Grass invasion of a hardwood forest is associated with declines in belowground carbon pools. Glob Change Biol 16:1338–1350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strickland MS, DeVore JL, Maerz JC, Bradford MA (2011) Loss of faster-cycling soil carbon pools following grass invasion across multiple forest sites. Soil Biol Biochem 43:452–454

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Warren RJ, Bahn V, Kramer T, Tang Y, Bradford MA (2011a) Performance and reproduction of an exotic invader across temperate forest gradients. Ecosphere 2:1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren RJ, Wright JP, Bradford MA (2011b) The putative niche requirements and landscape dynamics of Microstegium vimineum—an invasive Asian grass. Biol Invasions 13:471–483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson EO (1987) The little things that run the world (the importance and conservation of invertebrates). Conserv Biol 1:344–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu YT, Wang CH, Zhang XD, Zhao B, Jiang LF, Chen JK, Li B (2009) Effects of saltmarsh invasion by Spartina alterniflora on arthropod community structure and diets. Biol Invasions 11:635–649

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshioka A, Kadoya T, Suda S, Washitani I (2010) Impacts of weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) invasion on native grasshoppers: responses of habitat generalist and specialist species. Biol Invasions 12:531–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by National Science Foundation grants DEB-0823293 and DEB-0218001 to the Coweeta LTER Program. We thank staff and administrators of the Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory, Lake Russell Management Area of Chattahoochee National Forest, Whitehall Forest and Land Trust for the Little Tennessee for access to the properties and for logistical support. We thank Travis Belote and two anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    Yaya Tang, Robert J. Warren II, Timothy D. Kramer & Mark A. Bradford

Authors
  1. Yaya Tang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert J. Warren II
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Timothy D. Kramer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mark A. Bradford
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert J. Warren II.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tang, Y., Warren, R.J., Kramer, T.D. et al. Plant invasion impacts on arthropod abundance, diversity and feeding consistent across environmental and geographic gradients. Biol Invasions 14, 2625–2637 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-012-0258-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-012-0258-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation