An invasive population of Solidago canadensis is less sensitive to warming and nitrogen-addition than its native population in an invaded range

Abstract

Native and invasive populations might behave differentially due to contrasting genetics and histories of environmental pressures. Here we attempted to understand how climate warming and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition influence native and invasive populations, and thus conducted an experiment to address their effects on the nine invasiveness-related traits (leaf dry matter content, specific leaf area, leaf lifespan, ramet height, ramet number, the first inflorescence buds, the first flowering, the first seed-setting, and the first dieback) of Solidago canadensis populations from the USA and China. Solidago canadensis from the USA had shorter leaf lifespan and ramet height, smaller ramet number, and earlier phenology than that from China. Warming and N addition extended leaf lifespan but failed to influence leaf dry matter content and specific leaf area; warming decreased ramet height and delayed the onset of inflorescence and flowering but N addition increased ramet height and advanced the onset of inflorescence and flowering. Six traits were more sensitive to warming or N addition in the native population than in the invasive population, and the other traits were similar; warming and N addition together had stronger effects on six traits of the native population than those of the invasive population, and the opposite was true for ramet height. Our results suggest that climate warming and N deposition might promote S. canadensis invasion, as indicated by enhanced growth, and could influence its native populations to a greater extent than its invasive populations.