Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Can Gas-Exchange Characteristics help Explain the Invasive Success of Lythrum salicaria?

  • Published:
Biological Invasions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Since its introduction to North America, Lythrum salicaria (L.) (purple loosestrife) has become invasive in marshy and riparian habitats. We compared gas-exchange responses to external CO2 partial pressure and light, as well as related leaf structural and biochemical characteristics, of L. salicaria with those of co-occurring native Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed) and Solidago graminifolia (lance-leaved goldenrod) along a pond bank in the Black Rock Forest, Cornwall, New York, USA to examine if the invasive success of L. salicaria may be influenced by robust leaf gas-exchange characteristics, including relatively high rates of photosynthesis and low rates of respiration, compared with those of less successful co-occurring native plant species. Neither the mean rate of net photosynthesis measured at ambient CO2 and saturating photon flux density (A) nor the mean dark respiration rate (RD) differed significantly between L. salicaria and either of the native species, while both the mean maximum rate of photosynthesis at saturating CO2 concentration and photon flux density (A max) and the mean rate of respiration measured in light (RL) were significantly higher in L. salicaria than A. syriaca, but no different between L. salicaria and S. graminifolia. Likewise, photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency was greater in L. salicaria than A. syriaca only, while photosynthetic water-use efficiency was significantly less in both L. salicaria and S. graminifolia than in A. syriaca. Despite limited interspecific differences in leaf photosynthesis, respiration, and resource-use efficiency, particularly between L. salicaria and S. graminifolia, we found that L. salicaria assimilated 208% more carbon per unit of energy invested in leaf biomass than either of the co-occurring native species, suggesting that increased photosynthetic energy-use efficiency may influence its observed invasive success.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson MG (1995) Interaction between Lythrum salicaria and native organisms: a critical review. Environmental Management 19: 225-231

    Google Scholar 

  • Baruch Z and Goldstein G (1999) Leaf construction cost, nutrient concentration, and net CO2 assimilation of native and invasive species in Hawaii. Oecologia 121: 183-192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berendse F and Elberse WT (1990) Competition and nutrient availability in heathland and grassland ecosystems. In: Grace B and Tilman D (eds) Perspectives on Plant Competition, pp 93-116. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS III, Walker BH, Hobbs RJ, Hooper DU, Lawton JH, Sala OE and Tilman D (1997) Biotic control over the functioning of ecosystems. Science 277: 500-504

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS III, Zavaleta ES, Eviner VT, Naylor RL, Vitousek PM, Reynolds HL, Hooper DU, Lavorel S, Sala OE, Hobbie SE, Mack MC and Diaz S (2000) Consequences of changing biodiversity. Nature 405: 234-242

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dukes JS and Mooney HA (1999) Does global change increase the success of biological invaders? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 14: 135-139

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Durand LZ and Goldstein G (2001) Photosynthesis, photoinhibition, and nitrogen use efficiency in native and invasive tree ferns in Hawaii. Oecologia 126: 345-354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eamus D and Pritchard H (1998) A cost-benefit analysis of leaves of four Australian savanna species. Tree Physiology 18: 537-545

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eamus D, Myers B, Duff G and Williams R (1999) A cost-benefit analysis of leaves of eight Australian savanna tree species of differing leaf life-span. Photosynthetica 36: 575-586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emery SL and Perry JA (1996) Decomposition rates and phosphorus concentrations of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and cattail (Typha spp.) in fourteen Minnesota wetlands. Hydrobiologia 323: 129-138

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Evans LT (1993) Crop Evolution, Adaptation, and Yield. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 512 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Farquhar GD, von Caemmerer S and Berry JA (1980) A biochemical model of photosynthetic CO2 assimilation in leaves of C3 species. Planta 149: 178-190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galatowitsch SM, Anderson NO and Ascher PD (1999) Invasiveness in wetland plants in temperate North America.Wetlands 19: 733-755

    Google Scholar 

  • Givnish TJ (1983) Economics of gas exchange. In: Givnish TJ (ed) On the Economy of Plant Form and Function, pp 11-24. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon DR (1998) Effects of invasive, non-indigenous plant species on ecosystem processes: lessons from Florida. Ecological Applications 8: 975-989

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin KL (1994) Calorimetric estimates of construction cost and their use in ecological studies. Functional Ecology 8: 551-562

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grout JA, Levings CD and Richardson JS (1997) Decomposition rates of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and Lyngbyei's sedge (Carex lyngbyei) in the Fraser River Estuary. Estuaries 20: 96-102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kok B (1948) A critical consideration of the quantum yield of Chlorella — photosynthesis. Enzymologia 13: 1-56

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mal TJ, Lovett-Doust J, Lovett-Doust L and Mulligan GA (1992) The biology of Canadian weeds. 100. Lythrum salicaria. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 72: 1305-1330

    Google Scholar 

  • Mal TJ, Lovett-Doust J and Lovett-Doust L (1997) Time-dependent competitive displacement of Typha angustifolia by Lythrum salicaria. Oikos 79: 26-33

    Google Scholar 

  • McAllister CA, Knapp A and Maragni LA (1998) Is leaf-level photosynthesis related to plant success in a highly productive grassland? Oecologia 177: 40-46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mooney HA (1972) The carbon balance of plants. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 3: 315-346

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moore DRJ and Keddy PA (1989) Conservation of infertile wetlands: priorities and management. In: Bardecki MJ and Patterson N (eds) Wetlands: Inertia or Momentum. (Proceedings of Conference, Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Oct. 21-22, 1998.) Federation of Ontario Naturalists, Don Mills, Canada

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullin BH (1998) The biology and management of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). Weed Technology 12: 397-401

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagel JM and Griffin KL (2001) Construction cost and invasive potential: comparing Lythrum salicaria (Lythraceae) with co-occurring native species along pond banks. American Journal of Botany 88: 2252-2258

    Google Scholar 

  • Otto S, Groffman PM, Findlay SEG and Arreola AE (1999) Invasive plant species and microbial processes in a tidal freshwater marsh. Journal of Environmental Quality 28: 1252-1257

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Owens MK (1996) The role of leaf and canopy-level gas exchange in the replacement of Quercus virginiana (Fagaceae) by Juniperus ashei (Cupressaceae) in semiarid savannas. American Journal of Botany 83: 617-623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pattison RR, Goldstein G and Ares A(1998) Growth, biomass allocation and photosynthesis of invasive and native Hawaiian rainforest species. Oecologia 117: 449-459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prioul JL and Chartier P (1977) Partitioning of transfer and carboxylation components of intracellular resistance to photosynthetic CO2 fixation: a critical analysis of the methods used. Annals of Botany 41: 789-800

    Google Scholar 

  • Rachich J and Reader RJ (1999) An experimental study of wetland invasibility by purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). Canadian Journal of Botany 77: 1499-1503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reich PB, Ellsworth DS, Walters MB, Vose JM, Gresham C, Volin JC and Bowman WD (1999) Generality of photosynthetic and associated leaf trait relationships: a test across six biomes. Ecology 80: 1955-1969

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rendall J (1989) The Lythrum story: a new chapter. Minnesota Horticulturist 117: 22-24

    Google Scholar 

  • Rico JM and Fernandez C (1997) Ecology of Sargassum muticum and Cystoseira nodicaulis. Botanica Marina 40: 405-410

    Google Scholar 

  • Schierenbeck KA and Marshall JD (1993) Seasonal and diurnal patterns of photosynthetic gas-exchange for Lonicera semipervirens and L. japonica (Caprifoliaceae). American Journal of Botany 80: 1292-1299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singsaas EL, Ort DR and DeLucia EH (2001) Variation in measured values of photosynthetic quantum yield in ecophysiological studies. Oecologia 128: 15-23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snaydon RW (1991) The productivity of C3 and C4 plants: a reassessment. Functional Ecology 5: 321-330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sobrado MA (1991) Cost-benefit relationships in deciduous and evergreen leaves of tropical dry forest species. Functional Ecology 5: 608-616.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR and Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry. Freeman, San Francisco, 859 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Templer P, Findlay S and Wigand C (1998) Sediment chemistry associated with native and non-native emergent macrophytes of a Hudson River marsh ecosystem. Wetlands 18: 70-78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson DQ, Stuckey RL and Thompson EB (1987) Spread, impact, and control of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) in North American wetlands. In: Fish and Wildlife Research 2. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilman DT (2000) Causes, consequences and ethics of biodiversity. Nature 405: 208-211

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tryon HH (1930) The Black Rock Forest. Black Rock Forest Bulletin No. 1, Cornwall Press, Cornwall, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters MB, Kruger EL and Reich PB (1993) Relative growth rate in relation to physiological and morphological traits for northern hardwood tree seedlings: species, light environment and ontogenetic considerations. Oecologia 96: 219-231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westoby M, Warton D and Reich PB (2000) The time value of leaf area. The American Naturalist 155: 649-656

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Whitt MB, Prince HH and Cox RR Jr (1999) Avian use of purple loosestrife dominated habitat relative to other vegetation types in a Lake Huron wetland complex. Wilson Bulletin 111: 105-114

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis AJ and Blossey B (1999) Benign environments do not explain the increased vigour of non-indigenous plants: a cross-continental transplant experiment. Biocontrol Science & Technology 9: 567-577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willis AJ, Thomas MB and Lawton JH (1999) Is the increased vigour of invasive weeds explained by a trade-off between growth and herbivore resistance? Oecologia 120: 632-640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wullschleger SD (1993) Biochemical limitations to carbon assimilation in C3 plants — a retrospective analysis of the A/C i curves from 109 species. Journal of Experimental Botany 44: 907-920

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, 10964, USA

    Jennifer M. Nagel & Kevin L. Griffin

Authors
  1. Jennifer M. Nagel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kevin L. Griffin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer M. Nagel.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nagel, J.M., Griffin, K.L. Can Gas-Exchange Characteristics help Explain the Invasive Success of Lythrum salicaria?. Biological Invasions 6, 101–111 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BINV.0000010125.93370.32

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BINV.0000010125.93370.32

Search

Navigation