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Native and invasive plant interactions in wetlands and the minimal role of invasiveness

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Abstract

The effects of invasive plants on plants native to areas that are being invaded can be quite variable, depending on the species of the invasive plant involved as well as the physical characteristics of the location being invaded. My study focuses on the effects of Phragmites australis Linnaeus (common reed) and Lythrum salicaria L. (purple loosestrife) on the same native plant community. Uninvaded plots dominated by native plants Typha angustifolia L. (narrowleaf cattail) and Typha latifolia L. (broadleaf cattail) served as the control. I surveyed percent cover of species during early summer and midsummer for 3 years in six Hudson River freshwater tidal wetlands (sites). Differences in species richness, composition and abundance were small, but significant among invaded and uninvaded plots and among sites. However, these differences remained significant when data for dominant species (invasive and native) were removed. Differences in native plant species abundance were attributed to invasive plant species-specific characteristics and differences in species richness and composition were attributed to physical location (zonation) in these freshwater tidal marshes. “Invasive” status of a dominant plant species was less important in invasive plant–native plant interactions than species-specific characteristics and zonation. Further research into the effects of site and land-use on invasive plant impacts is recommended.

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Acknowledgments

My thanks to Rick Ostfeld, Charlie Janson, Catherine Graham and Jessica Gurevitch for editorial comments and support. This article is based on research funded by a NOAA OCRM Graduate Research Fellowship, Tibor T. Polgar Fellowship and the Slobodkin Award for Ecological Research (Stony Brook University).

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  1. Department of Ecology and Evolution, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-5245, USA

    Catherine A. McGlynn

  2. Hudsonia, Ltd., P.O. Box 66, Red Hook, NY, 12571, USA

    Catherine A. McGlynn

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Correspondence to Catherine A. McGlynn.

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McGlynn, C.A. Native and invasive plant interactions in wetlands and the minimal role of invasiveness. Biol Invasions 11, 1929–1939 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-008-9370-7

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