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Combined effects of plant competition and insect herbivory hinder invasiveness of an introduced thistle

  • Plant-Animal Interactions - Original Research
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Abstract

The biotic resistance hypothesis is a dominant paradigm for why some introduced species fail to become invasive in novel environments. However, predictions of this hypothesis require further empirical field tests. Here, we focus on evaluating two biotic factors known to severely limit plants, interspecific competition and insect herbivory, as mechanisms of biotic resistance. We experimentally evaluated the independent and combined effects of three levels of competition by tallgrass prairie vegetation and two levels of herbivory by native insects on seedling regeneration, size, and subsequent flowering of the Eurasian Cirsium vulgare, a known invasive species elsewhere, and compared its responses to those of the ecologically similar and co-occurring native congener C. altissimum. Seedling emergence of C. vulgare was greater than that of C. altissimum, and that emergence was reduced by the highest level of interspecific competition. Insect leaf herbivory was also greater on C. vulgare than on C. altissimum at all levels of competition. Herbivory on seedlings dramatically decreased the proportion of C. vulgare producing flower heads at all competition levels, but especially at the high competition level. Competition and herbivory interacted to significantly decrease plant survival and biomass, especially for C. vulgare. Thus, both competition and herbivory limited regeneration of both thistles, but their effects on seedling emergence, survival, size and subsequent reproduction were greater for C. vulgare than for C. altissimum. These results help explain the unexpectedly low abundance recorded for C. vulgare in western tallgrass prairie, and also provide strong support for the biotic resistance hypothesis.

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Acknowledgments

We thank J. A. Lau, T.E.X. Miller, D. Pilson, J. Stubbendieck, M. Takahashi, two anonymous reviewers and the Associate Editor, D. Pyke, for their constructive advice and suggestions. We also thank M. Mellon, N. West, and K. Webbink for field assistance. We greatly appreciate the encouragement and support of B. Seth at the Pioneers Park Nature Center site. Support was provided by a J.E. Weaver Grant from The Nature Conservancy—Nebraska Chapter, a John Davidson Scholarship, and grants from the School of Biological Sciences at University of Nebraska to T. Suwa, as well as NSF-DEB 0532018 and USDA NRI-2005-35320-15379 grants for thistle research to F. L. Russell and S. M. Louda.

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  1. Tomomi Suwa

    Present address: Department of Plant Biology, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior Program, and W. K. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI, 49060, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, 68588, USA

    Tomomi Suwa & Svata M. Louda

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  1. Tomomi Suwa
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  2. Svata M. Louda
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Correspondence to Tomomi Suwa.

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Communicated by Dave Pyke.

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Suwa, T., Louda, S.M. Combined effects of plant competition and insect herbivory hinder invasiveness of an introduced thistle. Oecologia 169, 467–476 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2207-6

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