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Saltmarsh Cordgrass Spartina alterniflora Loisel

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Biological Invasions and Its Management in China

Part of the book series: Invading Nature - Springer Series in Invasion Ecology ((INNA,volume 13))

Abstract

Saltmarsh cordgrass Spartina alterniflora Loisel, native to North America, is now recognized as one of the most harmful invasive plants in China. Since 1990s, S. alterniflora has successfully invaded the Yangtze River estuary, a globally important eco-region. The invasion has resulted from the plant’s abilities to adapt to the estuarine environments and human disturbances. S. alterniflora invasion has multiple ecological consequences to the estuary. The invader out competes native plants such as Scirpus mariqueter and Phragmites australis, and even causes local extinction of S. mariqueter. In addition to changing native soil microbial community diversity and structure, S. alterniflora may carry a fungal pathogen (Fusarium palustre) from its native range which seriously damages native P. australis. S. alterniflora also significantly alters community structure of soil nematodes and macrobenthonic invertebrates, and changes arthropod abundance. Moreover, the abundance of shorebirds is threatened by S. alterniflora-induced changes in food resources and physical habitats. For ecosystem functioning, S. alterniflora invasion increases primary productivity and alters carbon and nitrogen cycling. In the face of challenges, controlling S. alterniflora has been successfully implemented in the Chongming Dongtan of the Yangtze River estuary, but further studies are needed to find an efficient way to control the invasion at a large scale.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Ruiting Ju, Shiyun Qiu, Jing Li, Ming Nie & Bo Li

  2. College of life and Environmental Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, China

    Hui Li

  3. Key Laboratory of Forensic Genetics, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security, Beijing, 100038, China

    Lei Shang

Authors
  1. Ruiting Ju
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  2. Hui Li
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  3. Lei Shang
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  4. Shiyun Qiu
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  5. Jing Li
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  6. Ming Nie
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  7. Bo Li
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ruiting Ju or Bo Li .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant Protection State Key Lab for Biology of Plant Diseases & Insect Pests, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China

    Fanghao Wan

  2. Institute of Insect Sciences Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Mingxing Jiang

  3. Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China

    Aibin Zhan

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© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017

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Ju, R. et al. (2017). Saltmarsh Cordgrass Spartina alterniflora Loisel. In: Wan, F., Jiang, M., Zhan, A. (eds) Biological Invasions and Its Management in China. Invading Nature - Springer Series in Invasion Ecology, vol 13. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3427-5_14

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