Abstract
Identifying the environmental constraints that affect the distribution of an invasive species is fundamental to its effective control. Triadica sebifera (Chinese tallow tree) has invaded the southeastern United States, but its potential for further range and habitat extension has been unresolved. We explored experimentally environmental factors in macro- and microhabitats that affect its persistence at five widely separated sites along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States and at two sites inland; three sites occur well beyond the tree’s current range. At each site, seeds and young vegetative plants (0.5–0.65 m tall) of T. sebifera were placed in four microhabitats (closed-canopy upland, closed-canopy lowland, open-canopy upland, and open-canopy lowland). Plant growth, leaf CO2 assimilation rates, leaf N concentrations and δ13C ratios, and stem water potential were measured for two growing seasons. Percent seed germination was consistently higher in open-canopy microhabitats and lowest at northern and inland sites. T. sebifera grew in all open-canopy microhabitats, even 300–500 km beyond its current distribution. Plant growth in closed-canopy habitats was lower, attributable to lower carbon gain per unit leaf area in shaded compared with open-canopy environments, especially at northern and inland sites. Neither competition, other than canopy shade, nor grazing was a key constraint on distribution at any scale. Our results demonstrate that T. sebifera is dispersal limited at landscape scales but limited locally by dispersal and overstory shade; it has yet to occupy the full extent of its new range in North America. Quantifying environmental factors both within and well beyond a species’ current range can effectively highlight the limits on its distribution.
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Acknowledgments
We thank M. Burke (USFS), J. Wiemer (Paynes Prairie State Preserve), K. McLeod (Savannah River Ecology Laboratory), W. Conner and the staff of the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Coastal and Marine Sciences, K. Cox (Clemson University Forest), the Hofmann Forest staff, T. Sanders (Ft. Eustis Army Base), D.F. Whigham and J.P. O’Neill and the staff at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC). We also thank K.D. Rode and J.J. Brunette for valuable assistance in all stages of research and M. Evans (Washington State University) and M.S. Minton (SERC) for statistical consulting. We thank D.G. Williams and J.P. Sparks, R.K. Monson, M. Lerdau and two anonymous reviewers for constructive criticism. This research was supported by grants to R.R.P. from the Betty Higinbotham Trust, the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council and a Natural Resources Conservation Grant at WSU. Experiments reported in this work comply with the current laws of the United States of America.
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Communicated by Manuel Lerdau.
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Pattison, R.R., Mack, R.N. Environmental constraints on the invasion of Triadica sebifera in the eastern United States: an experimental field assessment. Oecologia 158, 591–602 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-1187-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-1187-7