Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Invasive Eupatorium catarium and Ageratum conyzoides benefit more than does a common native plant from nutrient addition in both competitive and non-competitive environments

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Ecological Research

Abstract

We explored the roles of phenotypic plasticity and competition in contributing to the success of Eupatorium catarium, a recently invasive noxious annual forb in South China. We compared the growth and functional traits of E. catarium with those of a common native plant, Vernonia cinerea, and a long-term historic invader, Ageratum conyzoides, along a nutrient gradient under both competitive and non-competitive conditions. Under non-competitive conditions, biomass differed little between species under low-nutrient conditions. However, nutrient addition resulted in a greater increase in biomass of the two invasive species than that of V. cinerea. The greater increase in biomass in the two invasive plants may be partly explained by their greater plasticity in specific leaf area. The competition experiments involved different combinations of species: plants of E. catarium were grown with either a plant of A. conyzoides or with a plant of V. cinerea, or individual plants of all three species were grown in competition with a grassland sward grown from 1.5 g seeds of Digitaria radicosa. Relative to non-competitive conditions, competition further increased the biomass difference between the two invasive plants and V. cinerea under high nutrient conditions. A. conyzoides outcompeted E. catarium in terms of biomass production under high nutrient conditions. Overall, these results indicate that A. conyzoides and E. catarium tend to outperform V. cinerea under high nutrient conditions and in both competitive and non-competitive environments. However, E. catarium cannot outperform A. conyzoides in terms of biomass production under each of the nutrient and competitive conditions.

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

  • Blank R (2010) Intraspecific and interspecific pair-wise seedling competition between exotic annual grasses and native perennials: plant-soil relationships. Plant Soil 326:331–343

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blumenthal DM (2006) Interactions between resource availability and enemy release in plant invasion. Ecol Lett 9:887–895

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Daehler CC (2003) Performance comparisons of co-occurring native and alien invasive plants: implications for conservation and restoration. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 34:183–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson AM, Jennions M, Nicotra AB (2011) Do invasive species show higher phenotypic plasticity than native species and if so, is it adaptive? A meta-analysis. Ecol Lett 14:419–431

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson W, Fischer M, van Kleunen M (2012a) Common and rare plant species respond differently to fertilisation and competition, whether they are alien or native. Ecol Lett 15:873–880

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson W, Rohr RP, van Kleunen M, Fischer M (2012b) Alien plant species with a wider global distribution are better able to capitalize on increased resource availability. New Phytol 194:859–867

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Drenovsky RE, Khasanova A, James JJ (2012) Trait convergence and plasticity among native and invasive species in resource-poor environments. Am J Bot 99:629–639

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Felsenstein J (1985) Phylogenies and the comparative method. Am Nat 125:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Funk JL (2008) Differences in plasticity between invasive and native plants from a low resource environment. J Ecol 96:1162–1173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Funk JL, Rakovski CS, Macpherson JM (2015) On the analysis of phylogenetically paireddesigns. Ecol Evol 5:940–947

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Godoy O, Valladares F, Castro-Díez P (2011) Multispecies comparison reveals that invasive and native plants differ in their traits but not in their plasticity. Funct Ecol 25:1248–1259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang QQ, Wu JM, Bai YY, Zhou L, Wang GX (2009) Identifying the most noxious invasive plants in China: role of geographical origin, life form and means of introduction. Biodivers Conserv 18:305–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang QQ, Pan XY, Fan ZW, Peng SL (2015) Stress relief may promote the evolution of greater phenotypic plasticity in exotic invasive species: a hypothesis. Ecol Evol 5:1169–1177

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kan LY, Xie GS, Wang JK (2009) Effect of drought stress on the growth and eco-physiologic characteristics of invasive plant Eupatorium catarium seedlings. Chin J Trop Crops 30:608–612

    Google Scholar 

  • Li CJ, Yang LF, Yuan K, Wang ZH, Chen QB (2011) RAPD analysis of genetic diversity of different geographic populations of Praxelis clematidea in Hainan. Chin J Trop Crops 32:1523–1526

    Google Scholar 

  • Li GM, Yuan K, Zou Z, Yang LF, Chen QB, Wang ZH (2012) Invasion of Praxelis clematidea and occurrence of witch’s broom in Hainan. Chin J Trop Agri 32:66–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Li X, Shen Y, Huang Q, Fan Z, Huang D (2013) Regeneration capacity of small clonal fragments of the invasive Mikania micrantha H.B.K.: effects of burial depth and stolon internode length. PLoS One 8:e84657

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mangla S, Sheley R, James J, Radosevich S (2011) Intra and interspecific competition among invasive and native species during early stages of plant growth. Plant Ecol 212:531–542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molina-Montenegro M, Peñuelas J, Munné-Bosch S, Sardans J (2012) Higher plasticity in ecophysiological traits enhances the performance and invasion success of Taraxacum officinale (dandelion) in alpine environments. Biol Invasions 14:21–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moroney JR, Rundel PW, Sork VL (2013) Phenotypic plasticity and differentiation in fitness-related traits in invasive populations of the Mediterranean forb Centaurea melitensis (Asteraceae). Am J Bot 100:2040–2051

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ordonez A, Olff H (2013) Do alien plant species profit more from high resource supply than natives? A trait-based analysis. Global Ecol Biogeogr 22:648–658

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palacio-López K, Gianoli E (2011) Invasive plants do not display greater phenotypic plasticity than their native or non-invasive counterparts: a meta-analysis. Oikos 120:1393–1401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell KI, Knight TM (2009) Effects of nutrient addition and competition on biomass of five Cirsium species (Asteraceae), including a serpentine endemic. Int J Plant Sci 170:918–925

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randall RP (2002) A global compendium of weeds. Richardson, Melbourne

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards CL, Bossdorf O, Muth NZ, Gurevitch J, Pigliucci M (2006) Jack of all trades, master of some? On the role of phenotypic plasticity in plant invasions. Ecol Lett 9:981–993

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schumacher E, Kueffer C, Edwards P, Dietz H (2009) Influence of light and nutrient conditions on seedling growth of native and invasive trees in the Seychelles. Biol Invasions 11:1941–1954

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen X, Peng S, Chen B, Pang J, Chen L, Xu H, Hou Y (2011) Do higher resource capture ability and utilization efficiency facilitate the successful invasion of native plants? Biol Invasions 13:869–881

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skálová H, Havlíčková V, Pyšek P (2012) Seedling traits, plasticity and local differentiation as strategies of invasive species of Impatiens in central Europe. Ann Bot 110:1429–1438

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Skálová H, Jarošík V, Dvořáčková Š, Pyšek P (2013) Effect of intra- and interspecific competition on the performance of native and invasive species of Impatiens under varying levels of shade and moisture. PLoS One 8:e62842

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ulrich E, Perkins L (2014) Bromus inermis and Elymus canadensis but not Poa pratensis demonstrate strong competitive effects and all benefit from priority. Plant Ecol 215:1269–1275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valladares F, Sanchez-Gomez D, Zavala MA (2006) Quantitative estimationof phenotypic plasticity: bridging the gap between the evolutionary concept and its ecological applications. J Ecol 94:1103–1116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Kleunen M, Dawson W, Schlaepfer D, Jeschke JM, Fischer M (2010a) Are invaders different? A conceptual framework of comparative approaches for assessing determinants of invasiveness. Ecol Lett 13:947–958

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Kleunen M, Weber E, Fischer M (2010b) A meta-analysis of trait differences between invasive and non-invasive plant species. Ecol Lett 13:235–245

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Verlinden M, De Boeck HJ, Nijs I (2014) Climate warming alters competition between two highly invasive alien plant species and dominant native competitors. Weed Res 54:234–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiner J, Damgaard C (2006) Size-asymmetric competition and size-asymmetric growth in a spatially explicit zone-of-influence model of plant competition. Ecol Res 21:707–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SB, Wilson PC, Albano JA (2004) Growth and development of the native Ruellia caroliniensis and invasive Ruellia tweediana. HortScience 39:1015–1019

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the manuscript. The Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest of China (201403075) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31400485) supported this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environment and Plant Protection Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, 571101, China

    Qiao Q. Huang, Yi D. Shen, Xiao X. Li, Shao L. Li & Zhi W. Fan

Authors
  1. Qiao Q. Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yi D. Shen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiao X. Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shao L. Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Zhi W. Fan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhi W. Fan.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Huang, Q.Q., Shen, Y.D., Li, X.X. et al. Invasive Eupatorium catarium and Ageratum conyzoides benefit more than does a common native plant from nutrient addition in both competitive and non-competitive environments. Ecol Res 31, 145–152 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-015-1323-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-015-1323-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation