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Rodent seed predation as a biotic filter influencing exotic plant abundance and distribution

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Abstract

Biotic resistance is commonly invoked to explain why many exotic plants fail to thrive in introduced ranges, but the role of seed predation as an invasion filter is understudied. Abiotic conditions may also influence plant populations and can interact with consumers to determine plant distributions, but how these factors jointly influence invasions is poorly understood. In central Argentina’s Caldenal savannas, we experimentally examined how seed predation and water availability influenced recruitment/establishment of nine exotic plant invaders over 2 years. We then explored how seed predation patterns related to invasion patterns. Excluding rodent seed predators dramatically increased seedling recruitment for eight of nine exotic species (by 100–300 % in most cases) and increased young/adult plant abundance for four species in one or both years. Adding water to ameliorate drought tended to increase seedling numbers for most species, but these trends were not significant. Vegetation surveys revealed that exotic plant richness was 50 % lower in matrix habitat compared with disturbed roadsides and that cover of the two most aggressive invaders, which were both strongly suppressed by seed predation, was 75–80 % lower in matrix than roadside habitats. Seed offerings indicated seed removal by rodents was 11 times greater in intact matrix habitat compared with roadsides. Rodent seed predation represents a significant source of biotic resistance to plant invasions. Ubiquitous disturbances such as road construction can disrupt this filter. The widely recognized role that disturbance plays in facilitating invasions, which is largely attributed solely to reduced plant competition, may also arise from disruption of top–down controls.

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Acknowledgments

We thank B. Connolly, A. Litt, Y. Ortega, and anonymous reviewers for valuable feedback on draft manuscripts. L. S. Baggett consulted on statistical analyses. We are in debt to R. Lecitra, F. Miguel, N. Icasatti, and M. Cock for field assistance, and personnel at the Parque Luro Provincial Reserve for logistical support. Rainfall information for Santa Rosa was provided by G. Vergara (Agronomy Department, UNLPam). This project was funded by the President’s Early Career Award in Science and Engineering to D.E.P. and CONICET, ANPCyT, and UNLPam to J.L.H.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Missoula, MT, 59801, USA

    D. E. Pearson

  2. Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA

    D. E. Pearson

  3. INCITAP (CONICET-UNLPam), Av. Uruguay 151, 6300, Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina

    J. L. Hierro & M. Chiuffo

  4. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, Av. Uruguay 151, 6300, Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina

    J. L. Hierro & D. Villarreal

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  1. D. E. Pearson
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  2. J. L. Hierro
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  3. M. Chiuffo
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  4. D. Villarreal
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Correspondence to D. E. Pearson.

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Pearson, D.E., Hierro, J.L., Chiuffo, M. et al. Rodent seed predation as a biotic filter influencing exotic plant abundance and distribution. Biol Invasions 16, 1185–1196 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-013-0573-1

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