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Life
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Interaction between Invasive and Native Plants
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Interaction between Invasive and Native Plants

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 9915

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Junmin Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, China
Interests: biological invasions; evolution; rapid adaptation; soil feedback; climate change
Dr. Ayub Oduor

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, China
2. Department of Applied Biology, Technical University of Kenya, Nairobi P.O. Box 52428-00200, Kenya
Interests: invasive plants; evolutionary ecology; plant-herbivore interactions; plant ecology; conservation biology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biological invasion by exotic plant species is considered to be one of the most important threats to native biodiversity. Therefore, understanding the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms and processes that underlie the invasiveness of exotic plant species remains a major goal in ecology. Invasive plants can impact recipient native communities directly through competition for resources (e.g., nutrients and moisture) and indirectly through allelopathy, apparent competition (i.e., through shared natural enemies), and shared mutualists. Consequently, several hypotheses that invoke interactions between exotic plant species and their enemies, mutualists, and plant competitors have been proposed and tested with the aim of explaining plant invasion success. However, much remains unexplored with respect to how invasions by exotic plants may interact with other components of global environmental change including, but not limited to climate change, light pollution, nutrient enrichment, and plastic pollution to affect recipient communities and ecosystems. A growing number of studies indicate that there are cases wherein some populations of native plant species can evolve adaptation to strong competition from invasive plants and persist to co-occur with invaders. However, we still lack a predictive understanding of under what environmental conditions native plants can evolve adaptation to invasive plants. This Special Issue will contain selected papers that report on the mechanisms that underly interactions between invasive plants and native plants under various biotic and abiotic conditions, and the ecosystem-level consequences of the interactions. We welcome any conceptual or empirical work that focuses on any taxa at any spatial scale (local to global). We especially encourage submissions from experiments that elucidate the mechanisms that underlie the impacts of invasive plants on recipient communities and ecosystems across a broad range of biotic and abiotic conditions.

Prof. Dr. Junmin Li
Dr. Ayub M.O. Oduor
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • invasive plants
  • native plants
  • interactive effect
  • adaptive evolution
  • allelopathy
  • interspecific competition
  • abiotic stress
  • biotic factors

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1721 KiB  
Article
Differences in Phenotypic Plasticity between Invasive and Native Plants Responding to Three Environmental Factors
by Luna Zhang, Anqun Chen, Yanjiao Li, Duohui Li, Shiping Cheng, Liping Cheng and Yinzhan Liu
Life 2022, 12(12), 1970; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12121970 - 25 Nov 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1508
Abstract
The phenotypic plasticity hypothesis suggests that exotic plants may have greater phenotypic plasticity than native plants. However, whether phenotypic changes vary according to different environmental factors has not been well studied. We conducted a multi-species greenhouse experiment to study the responses of six [...] Read more.
The phenotypic plasticity hypothesis suggests that exotic plants may have greater phenotypic plasticity than native plants. However, whether phenotypic changes vary according to different environmental factors has not been well studied. We conducted a multi-species greenhouse experiment to study the responses of six different phenotypic traits, namely height, leaf number, specific leaf area, total biomass, root mass fraction, and leaf mass fraction, of native and invasive species to nutrients, water, and light. Each treatment was divided into two levels: high and low. In the nutrient addition experiment, only the leaf mass fraction and root mass fraction of the plants supported the phenotypic plasticity hypothesis. Then, none of the six traits supported the phenotypic plasticity hypothesis in the water or light treatment experiments. The results show that, for different environmental factors and phenotypes, the phenotypic plasticity hypothesis of plant invasion is inconsistent. When using the phenotypic plasticity hypothesis to explain plant invasion, variations in environmental factors and phenotypes should be considered. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Invasive and Native Plants)
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12 pages, 1241 KiB  
Article
Effect of Soil Type on Native Pterocypsela laciniata Performance under Single Invasion and Co-Invasion
by Rakhwe Kama, Qaiser Javed, Yuan Liu, Zhongyang Li, Babar Iqbal, Sekouna Diatta and Jianfan Sun
Life 2022, 12(11), 1898; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12111898 - 15 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1132
Abstract
Native and invasive plant competition is usually controlled by the soil properties and the soil type underlying interspecific interactions. However, many uncertainties exist regarding the impact of soil type on native plant growth under single invasion and co-invasion despite the significant number of [...] Read more.
Native and invasive plant competition is usually controlled by the soil properties and the soil type underlying interspecific interactions. However, many uncertainties exist regarding the impact of soil type on native plant growth under single invasion and co-invasion despite the significant number of previous studies that focused on plant invasion. This study aims to elucidate the effects of soil type on the response of the native plant Pterocypsela laciniata under single invasion and co-invasion. Three different soils were used: natural soil, nutrient soil, and nutrient sterilized soil. The native P. laciniata was grown in monoculture and under single invasion and co-invasion with Solidago canadensis and Aster subulatus Michx. The results show that the native plant height and total biomass were 75% and 93.33% higher, respectively, in nutrient sterilized soil in monoculture than in natural and nutrient soil. In contrast, the native P. laciniata presents its best competitive ability in nutrient sterilized soil, being about 100% higher than in natural and nutrient soil under single invasion and co-invasion. However, no significant increase was observed in its growth parameters under co-invasion compared to single invasion. Conclusively, this study shows that nutrient soil sterilization positively affects native plant growth in monoculture and under single invasion, contrasting co-invasion in which more pronounced negative effects were observed on the native plant response. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Invasive and Native Plants)
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10 pages, 1685 KiB  
Article
Effects of Parasitism on the Competitive Ability of Invasive and Native Species
by Yongge Yuan and Junmin Li
Life 2022, 12(11), 1800; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12111800 - 6 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1296
Abstract
Parasitic plants can often seriously harm host plants and, thus, alter competitive dominance between hosts and neighbouring species. However, whether and how parasitic plants differently affect the competitive abilities of invasive and the native plants have not been tested. In this study, we [...] Read more.
Parasitic plants can often seriously harm host plants and, thus, alter competitive dominance between hosts and neighbouring species. However, whether and how parasitic plants differently affect the competitive abilities of invasive and the native plants have not been tested. In this study, we used Cuscuta grovonii as the parasitic plants and three invasive plants and three native plants as host plants. Host plants grown alone or in competition with Coix lacryma-jobi were either parasitized with Cuscuta grovonii or not parasitized. Parasitism caused similar damage to invasive and native plants when grown with Cuscuta grovonii alone but caused less damage to invasive species than native species when grown in competition. Parasitism increased the competitive ability of invasive plants but did not affect the competitive ability of native plants. In the absence of parasitism, the competitive ability of host plants was significantly negatively correlated with the competitive ability of Coix lacryma-jobi, but under parasitism, there was no significant relationship of the competitive ability between host and competitor plants. Our results indicated that parasitic plants can increase the competitive tolerance of invasive plants, but have no effect on native plants. Thus, parasitism may play an important role in the process of plant invasion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Invasive and Native Plants)
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11 pages, 1244 KiB  
Article
Phylogenetic Relationships and Disturbance Explain the Resistance of Different Habitats to Plant Invasions
by Chaodan Guo, Caiyun Zhao, Feifei Li and Jianfeng Huang
Life 2022, 12(11), 1785; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12111785 - 4 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1207
Abstract
Invasive alien plants have invaded various habitats, posing a threat to biodiversity. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the mechanisms of invasion, but few studies have considered the characteristics of the invaded communities and the effects of human interference in the invasion. [...] Read more.
Invasive alien plants have invaded various habitats, posing a threat to biodiversity. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the mechanisms of invasion, but few studies have considered the characteristics of the invaded communities and the effects of human interference in the invasion. In this study, we compared the invasibility of three different habitats: abandoned land, eucalyptus plantations, and natural secondary forests. We explored the effects of species diversity, phylogenetic diversity, and disturbance factors on the invasibility of different habitats. The results showed that the invasibility of abandoned land was the highest and the invasibility of the natural secondary forest was the lowest. Phylogenetic indicators affected the invasibility of abandoned land and eucalyptus plantations, and disturbance factors affected the invasibility of all three habitats, while the characteristics of the invaded communities had a weak impact. Our research provided supporting evidence for Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis and his disturbance hypothesis but found no relationship between biotic resistance and invasibility. This study indicated that the differences among habitats should be considered when we prove Darwin’s naturalization hypothesis in nature reserves. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Invasive and Native Plants)
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14 pages, 1862 KiB  
Article
Elevated CO2 and Increased N Intensify Competition between Two Invasive Annual Plants in China
by Caiyun Zhao, Xiangjian Zhao and Junsheng Li
Life 2022, 12(10), 1669; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12101669 - 21 Oct 2022
Viewed by 1177
Abstract
As multiple invaders often co-occur, understanding the interactions between different invasive species is important. Previous studies have reported on invasional meltdown and neutral and interference relationships between invasive species. However, interspecific interactions may vary with environmental change owing to the different responses of [...] Read more.
As multiple invaders often co-occur, understanding the interactions between different invasive species is important. Previous studies have reported on invasional meltdown and neutral and interference relationships between invasive species. However, interspecific interactions may vary with environmental change owing to the different responses of interacting invaders. To better understand the interaction of notorious invasive alien plants under CO2 enrichment and N deposition, the growth characteristics of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) and redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) were studied when they were planted in monoculture (4Rag and 4Pig) or mixture (1Rag:3Pig, 2Rag:2Pig, 3Rag:1Pig) under four environmental treatments: elevated CO2, increased N, elevated CO2 + increased N and a control. Increased N positively affected almost all the traits (basal stem diameter, height, shoot biomass, root biomass and total biomass) of common ragweed, except for branch number and root-shoot ratio. But increased N only promoted redroot pigweed’s height and basal stem diameter. interspecific competition promoted basal stem diameter and number of branches but decreased root biomass of common ragweed, and the basal stem diameter was significantly higher in 1Rag:3Pig and 2Rag:2Pig compared to the other two treatments. interspecific competition inhibited almost all the characteristics of redroot pigweed. The interaction between elevated CO2 and increased N also increased the biomass characteristics (shoot biomass, root biomass and total biomass) of common ragweed. However, elevated CO2 inhibited the root biomass of redroot pigweed. The results indicated that common ragweed was a superior competitor under conditions of elevated CO2 and increased N. Moreover, environmental change might strengthen the super-invasive plant common ragweed’s competitive ability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Invasive and Native Plants)
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10 pages, 2295 KiB  
Article
Different Responses of Invasive Weed Alternanthera philoxeroides and Oryza sativa to Plant Growth Regulators
by Jiahao Wang, Die Hu, Xinning Shi, Jing Luo, Guangqian Ren, Zhicong Dai, Shanshan Qi and Daolin Du
Life 2022, 12(7), 1069; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12071069 - 17 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2500
Abstract
Invasive plants cause a global loss of biodiversity, pose a major threat to the environment and economy, and also significantly affect agricultural production and food security. Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are widely used in agricultural production and might also affect invasive weeds distributed [...] Read more.
Invasive plants cause a global loss of biodiversity, pose a major threat to the environment and economy, and also significantly affect agricultural production and food security. Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are widely used in agricultural production and might also affect invasive weeds distributed around crops in various ways. At present, there are few studies concerning whether there are significant effects of PGRs on invasive weeds. In this study, two widely used PGRs in paddy fields, gibberellic acid (GA) and paclobutrazol (PAC), were applied on Oryza sativa and a noxious weed Alternanthera philoxeroides, which is frequently distributed in paddy fields. The purpose of this study was to investigate if there are different responses of rice and weeds to these two plant regulators and the significant effects of PGRs on invasive weeds. The results showed that GA significantly promotes the total biomass of A. philoxeroides by 52.00%, but does not significantly affect that of O. sativa. GA significantly increases the growth of aboveground and belowground A. philoxeroides, but not that of O. sativa. On the other hand, PAC extremely inhibited the aboveground and belowground biomass of A. philoxeroides by more than 90%, but did not significantly inhibit the belowground biomass of O. sativa. PAC also enhanced the leaf nitrogen content and chlorophyll content of A. philoxeroides, but not the traits of O. sativa. Therefore, the effects of PGRs are significantly different between rice and the invasive weed. The potential promotion effects of PGRs on weeds that are frequently distributed in farmland warrant sufficient attention. This is probably one of the important reasons why invasive weeds can successfully invade the agricultural ecosystem with large human disturbance. This study might sound an alarm for weed control in paddy fields. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interaction between Invasive and Native Plants)
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