Abstract
Selecting appropriate native species for the biological control of invasive exotic plants is a recurring challenge for conservationists, ecologists, and land managers. Recently developed trait-based approaches may be an effective means of overcoming this challenge. However, we lack a protocol and software platform that can be used to quickly and effectively select potential native plant species for performing biological control of the invasive exotic plant species. Here, our study introduces a protocol and a software program that can be used for trait-based selection of appropriate native plant species for performing biocontrol of invasive exotic plant species. In particular, we illustrate the effectiveness of this software program and protocol by identifying native species that can be used for the biological control of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit, a highly invasive plant species found in many parts of the world. Bougainvillea spectabilis was the only native species selected by our software program as a potential biocontrol agent for L. leucocephala. When separately planting 4 seedlings of B. spectabilis and two unselected species (Bombax ceiba, and Ficus microcarpa) as neighbors of each individual of L. leucocephala for 3 years, we found that B. spectabilis, which was functionally similar to the invasive L. leucocephala, significantly limited the invasion of the latter, while the unselected native plant species could not. That was because all the seedling of B. spectabilis survived, while half seedlings of unselected species (B. ceiba and F. microcarpa) died, during the experimental period when planted with L. leucocephala seedlings. Moreover, the growth of L. leucocephala was restricted when planted with B. spectabilis, in contrast B. ceiba and F. microcarpa did not influence the growth of L. leucocephala. Overall, our software program and protocol can quickly and efficiently select native plant species for use in the biological control of invasive exotic plant species. We expect that this work will provide a general protocol to perform biological control of many different types of invasive exotic plant species.
Highlights
Invasive exotic plant species greatly impact global native plant diversity and ecosystem functioning (Pyšek et al, 2012; Barney et al, 2013)
Using L. leucocephala as an example, we verified the power of our protocol and the software program in selecting potential biocontrol agents based on specific functional trait targets
By comparing the differences in these four traits between L. leucocephala and each of the 11 native plant species, we verified the results of our software program that B. spectabilis was the only species that was functionally similar to L. leucocephala
Summary
Invasive exotic plant species greatly impact global native plant diversity and ecosystem functioning (Pyšek et al, 2012; Barney et al, 2013). Chemical and mechanical methods have long been used to quickly remove invasive plant species from natural ecosystems (Paynter and Flanagan, 2004; Flory and Clay, 2009). These methods are extremely expensive, requiring large amounts of time, money, and resources (Seastedt, 2015). Many ecologists and invasion biologists have instead suggested using suitable native plant species as biological control agents Such efforts may be a more effective and/or more cost-effective way of preventing the invasion of exotic plant species (Moran et al, 2005; Seastedt, 2015; van Wilgen et al, 2020)
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