Abstract
Competition exerted by native plant communities is an important component of biotic resistance against the spread and impact of non-indigenous plant species in novel habitats. However, how the role of biotic resistance varies along environmental gradients to delay invasions is less clear. We conducted two field experiments to determine how competition from native communities affects colonization of a recognized invader of grasslands, Hieracium pilosella L., in the Fuegian steppe along different environmental gradients at regional and landscape scale. We assessed the role of competition on invader survival and growth along a climate gradient at regional scale (4.7–6.6 °C and 270–450 mm year−1), and across four major plant communities (i.e. meadows, grasslands, scrublands, and heathlands) along a topographic catena. At regional scale, the climate gradient showed a 33% reduction in H. pilosella survival at the coldest and wettest extreme, while reduced its biomass in 41% at the warmest and driest site, in the opposite extreme of the gradient. Competition caused a 34% decrease of the invader biomass, similarly along the climate gradient. At landscape scale, the topographic gradient had a stronger effect on invader survival reaching a 67% reduction in lowland meadows due to flooding events, while competition reduced in 29–39% the invader biomass only in grasslands or scrublands with negligible effects on low-resource heathlands. These results suggest that biotic resistance plays a significant and similar role along the climate gradient to delay invasion at regional scale, but at landscape scale is only determinant for rich-resource communities in absence of abiotic stresses.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the owners and managers of sheep ranches: Cullen, Sara, María Behety, La Despedida, and Guazu-cue who allowed us to conduct our field experiments in their properties. We also thank INTA RGA and local government agencies for providing us with many facilities during field work, and the comments from anonymous reviewers that substantially improved our original manuscript. This study was funded partially by Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (PICT 2010-0474 and PICT 2014-0852) and Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBACyT 2011-14 20020100300024).
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PAC designed the study. PAC and MS installed field experiments. PAC and AM surveyed and harvested field experiments, performed the lab determinations, and conducted statistical analysis. PAC and MMC drafted the manuscript. All authors revised the manuscript and gave final approval for publication.
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Cooke, M.M., Martelli, A., Sleiman, M. et al. The role of competition on invader colonization along stress gradients in the Fuegian steppe. Oecologia 195, 1031–1040 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-04894-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-04894-y