Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Interactions between two co-dominant, invasive plants in the understory of a temperate deciduous forest

  • Published:
Biological Invasions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Negative interactions between non-indigenous and native species has been an important research topic of invasion biology. However, interactions between two or more invasive species may be as important in understanding biological invasions, but they have rarely been studied. In this paper, we describe three field experiments that investigated interactions between two non-indigenous plant species invasive in the eastern United States, Lonicera japonica (a perennial vine) and Microstegium vimineum (an annual grass). A press removal experiment conducted within a deciduous forest understory community indicated that M. vimineum was a superior competitor to L. japonica. We tested the hypothesis that the competitive success of M. vimineum was because it overgrew, and reduced light available to, L. japonica, by conducting a separate light gradient experiment within the same community. Shade cloth that simulated the M. vimineum canopy reduced the performance of L. japonica. In a third complementary experiment, we added experimental support hosts to test the hypothesis that the competitive ability of L. japonica is limited by support hosts, onto which L. japonica climbs to access light. We found that the abundance of climbing branches increased with the number of support hosts. Results of this experiment indicate that these two invasive species compete asymmetrically for resources, particularly light.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of Variance

GLM:

General Linear Model

MANOVAR:

Multivariate Analysis of Variance with Repeated Measures

ORNERP:

Oak Ridge Environmental Research Park

PPFD:

photosynthetic photon flux density

RCI:

Relative Competition Index

TDR:

time domain reflectometry

VWC:

volumetric water content

References

  • LS Barden (1987) ArticleTitleInvasion of Microstegium vimineum (Poaceae), an exotic, annual, shade-tolerant, C4 grass, into a North Carolina floodplain American Midland Naturalist 118 40–45 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2425626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belote RT (2003) Effects of elevated CO2 on a forest understory community dominated by two invasive plants. MS thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville,76 pp

  • RT Belote JF Weltzin RJ Norby (2004) ArticleTitleResponse of an understory plant community to elevated [CO2] depends on differential responses of dominant invasive species and is mediated by soil water availability New Phytologist 61 827–835 Occurrence Handle10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.00977.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EA Bender TJ Case ME Gilpin (1984) ArticleTitlePerturbation experiments in community ecology: theory and practice Ecology 65 1–13 Occurrence Handle10.2307/1939452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • B Bowen K Johnson S Franklin G Call M Webber (2002) ArticleTitleInvasive exotic pest plants in Tennessee J. Tennessee Acad. Sci. 77 45–48

    Google Scholar 

  • MH Bruner (1967) ArticleTitleHoneysuckle – a bold competitor on bottomland hardwood sites Forest Farmer 26 9–17

    Google Scholar 

  • LJ Call ET Nilsen (2005) ArticleTitleAnalysis of interactions between the invasive tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) and the native black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) Plant Ecology 176 275–285 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s11258-004-0338-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • RM Callaway (1995) ArticleTitlePositive interactions among plants Botanical Review 61 306–349 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF02912621

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • RM Callaway ET Aschehoug (2000) ArticleTitleInvasive plants versus their new and old neighbors: a mechanism for exotic invasion Science 290 521–523 Occurrence Handle11039934 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3cXnsFKisLc%3D Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.290.5491.521

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • RM Callaway WM Ridenour (2004) ArticleTitleNovel weapons: invasive success and the evolution of increased competitive ability Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 2 436–443

    Google Scholar 

  • JH Carothers FM Jaksic (1984) ArticleTitleTime as a niche difference: the role of interference competition Oikos 42 403–406 Occurrence Handle10.2307/3544413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GA Carter AH Teramura (1988) ArticleTitleVine photosynthesis and relationships to climbing mechanics in a forest understory American Journal of Botany 75 1011–1018 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2443769

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • K Claridge SB Franklin (2002) ArticleTitleCompensation and plasticity in an invasive plant species Biological Invasions 4 339–347 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1023671006342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FE Clements JE Weaver HC Hanson (1929) Plant Competition: An Analysis of Community Function Carnegie Institute of Washington Washington 340

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole PG (2003) Environmental constraints on the distribution of the non-native invasive grass Microstegium vimineum. PhD dissertation, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 102 pp

  • PG Cole JF Weltzin (2004) ArticleTitleLight limitation creates patchy distribution of an invasive grass in eastern deciduous forests Biological Invasions 7 477–488 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s10530-004-5171-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • C Darwin (1859) On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection John Murray London 502

    Google Scholar 

  • MA Davis JP Grime K Thompson (2000) ArticleTitleFluctuating resources in plant communities: a general theory of invasibility Journal of Ecology 88 528–534 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.1365-2745.2000.00473.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MA Davis K Thompson (2001) ArticleTitleInvasion Terminology: should ecologists define their terms differently than others? No, not if we want to be of any help! Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 82 206

    Google Scholar 

  • MA Davis K Thompson (2000) ArticleTitleEight ways to be a colonizer; two ways to be an invader Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 81 226–230

    Google Scholar 

  • LR Dillenburg DF Whigham AH Teramura IN Forseth (1993) ArticleTitleEffects of vine competition on availability of light, water, and nitrogen to a tree host (Liquidambar styraciflua) American Journal of Botany 80 244–252 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK3sXitlaqt74%3D Occurrence Handle10.2307/2445347

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • SJ Drake JF Weltzin PD Parr (2003) ArticleTitleAssessment of non-native invasive plants on the National Environmental Research Park at Oak Ridge National Laboratory Castanea 68 15–30

    Google Scholar 

  • JG Ehrenfeld P Kourtev W Huang (2001) ArticleTitleChanges in soil functions following invasions of exotic understory plants in deciduous forests Ecological Applications 11 1287–1300 Occurrence Handle10.2307/3060920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CS Elton (1958) Invasions by Animals and Plants Kluwer Academic Publishers B.V. Chicago 181

    Google Scholar 

  • DE Fairbrothers JR Gray (1972) ArticleTitle Microstegium vimineum (Trin.) A. Camus (Granimae) in the United States Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 99 97–100 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2484205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DE Goldberg AM Barton (1992) ArticleTitlePatterns and consequences of interspecific competition in natural communities: a review of field experiments with plants The American Naturalist 139 771–801 Occurrence Handle10.1086/285357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • JP Grime (1965) ArticleTitleComparative experiments as a key to the ecology of flowering plants Ecology 46 513–515 Occurrence Handle10.2307/1934882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • JP Grime (1973) ArticleTitleCompetitive exclusion in herbaceous vegetation Nature 242 344–347 Occurrence Handle10.1038/242344a0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • J Gurevitch SM Scheiner GA Fox (2002) The Ecology of Plants Sinauer Associates Inc. Sunderland, MA 540

    Google Scholar 

  • JL Hierro JL Maron RM Callaway (2005) ArticleTitleA biogeographical approach to plant invasions: the importance of studying exotics in their introduced and native range Journal of Ecology 93 5–15 Occurrence Handle10.1111/j.0022-0477.2004.00953.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • JL Horton HS Neufeld (1998) ArticleTitlePhotosynthetic responses of Microstegium vimineum (Trin.) A. Camus, a shade-tolerant, C4 grass, to variable light environments Oecologia 114 11–19 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s004420050414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DM Hunt RE Zaremba (1992) ArticleTitleThe northeastern spread of Microstegium vimineum (Poaceae) into New York and adjacent states Rhodora 94 167–170

    Google Scholar 

  • MA Huston (1979) ArticleTitleA general hypothesis of species diversity American Naturalist 113 81–101 Occurrence Handle10.1086/283366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BD Inouye (2001) ArticleTitleResponse surface experimental designs for investigating interspecific competition Ecology 82 2696–2706 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2679954

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PA Keddy (2001) Competition EditionNumber2 Kluwer Academic Publishers Dordrecht, The Netherlands 552

    Google Scholar 

  • PS Kourtev JG Ehrenfeld WZ Wuang (1998) ArticleTitleEffects of exotic plant species on soil properties in hardwood forests of New Jersey Water Air and Soil Pollution 105 493–501 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK1cXltlaltbk%3D Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1005037105499

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • KC Larson (1999) ArticleTitleCircumnutation behavior of an exotic honeysuckle vine and its native congener: influence on clonal mobility American Journal of Botany 87 533–538 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2656597

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leatherman AD (1955) Ecological life-history of Lonicera japonica Thunb. PhD dissertation, Department of Botany, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 97 pp

  • H Levene (1960) Robust tests for equality of variances I Oikin SG Ghurye W Hoeffding WG Madow HB Mann (Eds) Contributions to probability and statistics Stanford University Press Stanford, CA 278–292

    Google Scholar 

  • JO Luken (2003) Invasions of forests in the eastern United States FS Gilliam MR Roberts (Eds) The Herbaceous Layer in Forests of Eastern North America Oxoford University Press New York, NY 283–301

    Google Scholar 

  • RH MacArthur EO Wilson (1967) The Theory of Island Biogeography Princeton University Press Princeton, New Jersey, USA 224

    Google Scholar 

  • RN Mack D Simberloff WM Lonsdale H Evans M Clout FA Bazzaz (2000) ArticleTitleBiotic invasions: causes, epidemiology, global consequences, and control Ecological Applications 10 689–710 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2641039

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • RN Mack CM D’Antonio (1998) ArticleTitleImpacts of biological invasions on disturbance regimes Trends in Ecology and Evolution 13 195–198 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0169-5347(97)01286-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D Mueller-Dombois H Ellenberg (1974) Aims and Methods of Vegetation Ecology John Wiley and Sons New York

    Google Scholar 

  • EI Newman (1973) ArticleTitleCompetition and diversity in herbaceous vegetation Nature 244 310–311 Occurrence Handle10.1038/244310a0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • RJ Norby PJ Hanson EG O’Neill TJ Tschaplinski JF Weltzin RT Hansen W Cheng SD Wullschleger CA Gunderson NT Edwards DW Johnson (2002) ArticleTitleNet primary productivity of a CO2-enriched deciduous forest and the implications for carbon storage Ecological Applications 12 1261–1266

    Google Scholar 

  • IM Parker D Simberloff WM Lonsdale K Goodell M Wonham PM Kareiva MH Williamson BV Holle PB Moyle JE Byers L Goldwasser (1999) ArticleTitleImpact: toward a framework for understanding the ecological effects of invaders Biological Invasions 1 3–19 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1010034312781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • RJ Reader BJ Best (1989) ArticleTitleVariation in competition along an environmental gradient: Hieracium floribundum in an abandoned pasture Journal of Ecology 77 673–684 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2260977

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DE Redman (1995) ArticleTitleDistribution and habitat types for Nepal Microstegium [Microstegium vimineum (Trin.) Camus] in Maryland and the District of Columbia Castanea 60 270–275

    Google Scholar 

  • DJ Robertson MC Robertson T Tague (1994) ArticleTitleColonization dynamics of four exotic plants in a northern Piedmont natural area Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 121 107–118 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2997162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • A Sala DE Devitt SD Smith (1996) ArticleTitleWater use by Tamarix ramosissima and associated phreatophytes in a Mojave Desert floodplain Ecological Applications 6 888–898 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2269492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute (1999) SAS/STAT user’s guide Version 8.0. SAS Institute, Cary, N.C.

  • SS Shapiro MB Wilk (1965) ArticleTitleAn analysis of variance test for normality (complete samples) Biometrika 52 591–611 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2333709

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • K Shea P Chesson (2002) ArticleTitleCommunity ecology theory as a framework for biological invasions Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17 170–176 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0169-5347(02)02495-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • AA Sher LA Hyatt (1999) ArticleTitleThe disturbed resource-flux invasion matrix: a new framework for patterns of plant invasion Biological Invasions 1 107–114 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1010050420466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D Simberloff B Holle ParticleVon (1999) ArticleTitlePositive interactions of nonindigenous species: invasional meltdown? Biological Invasions 1 21–32 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1010086329619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soil Conservation Service (1967) Soil survey and laboratory data and descriptions for some soils of Tennessee. Soil Survey Investigations Report No. 15, U.S. Dept. Agric., Soil Conservation Service and Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station

  • G Spyreas J Ellis C Carroll B Molano-Flores (2004) ArticleTitleNon-native plant commonness and dominance in the forest, wetlands, and grasslands of Illinois, USA Natural Areas Journal 24 290–299

    Google Scholar 

  • D Tilman (1982) Resource Competition and Community Structure Princeton University Press Princeton, NJ 296

    Google Scholar 

  • D Tilman (1987) ArticleTitleThe importance of the mechanisms of interspecific competition The American Naturalist 129 769–774 Occurrence Handle10.1086/284672

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • USDA, NRCS (2004) The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874–4490 USA. Retrieved from http://plants.usda.gov on 3 July 2004

  • H Miegroet Particlevan RJ Norby TJ Tschaplinski (1994) ArticleTitleOptimum nitrogen fertilization in a short-rotation sycamore plantation Forest Ecology and Management 64 25–40 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0378-1127(94)90124-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PM Vitousek LR Walker (1989) ArticleTitleBiological invasion by Myrica faya in Hawaii; Plant demography, nitrogen fixation, ecosystem effects Ecological Monographs 59 247–265 Occurrence Handle10.2307/1942601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PM Vitousek HA Mooney J Lubchenco JM Melillo (1997) ArticleTitleHuman domination of the Earth’s ecosystems Science 277 494–499 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK2sXkvVektLs%3D Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.277.5325.494

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • D Whigham (1984) ArticleTitleThe influence of vines on the growth of Liquidambar styraciflua L. (sweetgum) Canadian Journal of Forest Research 14 7–39

    Google Scholar 

  • SD Wilson D Tilman (1991) ArticleTitleComponents of plant competition along an experimental gradient of nitrogen availability Ecology 72 1050–1065 Occurrence Handle10.2307/1940605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • JH Zar (1999) Biostatistical Analysis EditionNumber4 Prentice Hall Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 569 Dabney Hall, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    R. Travis Belote & Jake F. Weltzin

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2125 Derring Hall, Blacksburg, VA, 20461, USA

    R. Travis Belote

Authors
  1. R. Travis Belote
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jake F. Weltzin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Travis Belote.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Belote, R.T., Weltzin, J.F. Interactions between two co-dominant, invasive plants in the understory of a temperate deciduous forest. Biol Invasions 8, 1629–1641 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-005-3932-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-005-3932-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation