Abstract
Invasive shade tolerant species can have profound and long-lasting detrimental effects even on previously undisturbed forests. In North American forests, the invasive Acer platanoides is capable of dominating the understory where it could displace the native Acer saccharum. To understand the relative importance of various ecological factors in a forest understory on their establishment, we transplanted A. platanoides and A. saccharum seedlings in an urban sugar maple forest understory and their growth and survival were compared over a growing season. Seedlings did not differ in height, but biomass growth and assimilation rates were twice as high for the invasive species. Ecological variables accounted for only 23–24% of variation in growth. Seedlings of A. platanoides appeared to capture light more efficiently, with over 150% greater foliage biomass and surface area. A. saccharum seedlings were more negatively affected by herbivory. The more robust A. platanoides seedlings presented characteristics that could allow them to better grow and survive in shaded understories than their native congeners.
Highlights
Invasive plant species can generate profound changes in the composition of native plant communities and ecosystem processes [1,2]
Survival was high for both A. platanoides and A. saccharum seedlings: of the 120 seedlings transplanted per species, each maple lost seven seedlings during the summer and A. saccharum lost three more seedlings over the winter
A. platanoides had greater total biomass than A. saccharum, both before transplantation and at harvest; this result was consistent for all biomass components considered separately
Summary
Invasive plant species can generate profound changes in the composition of native plant communities and ecosystem processes [1,2]. Shade-tolerant trees can endure periods of suppressed growth before reaching the canopy when gaps are created [5] This low growth rate, in combination with the long generation time of trees, results in lag phases that slow the invasion process, making it difficult to perceive as it unfolds, and difficult to manage in its early stages [4,6,7,8]. These long-lived, competitive species, which may become dominant over time through succession, have the potential to deeply modify forest ecosystems and cause severe and pervasive impacts on plant communities [4,6,7]. While perturbations, such as the creation of edges, roads or disturbed soils, may favour A. platanoides establishment [11,12,13,14,15,16], its shade tolerance, abundant production of wind-dispersed seeds, and ability to establish very dense seedling banks allow this species to invade even relatively undisturbed, closed-canopy forests [15,17,18,19,20,21]
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