Abstract
In plant communities, genotypic diversity can impact the plant community structure and ecosystem functions, but related research has focused on native plants. Therefore, whether genotypic diversity affects the growth of invasive plants and then changes the wetland microecosystem remains unresolved. In this study, six different genotypes of Hydrocotyle vulgaris, a common invasive plant in China, were selected to construct populations with three different genotypic diversity levels (one, three, and six genotype combinations, respectively) to explore the effects of different genotypic diversity levels on the growth and physiological traits of H. vulgaris, and soil nutrients and greenhouse gas emissions of the wetland microecosystem under flooding conditions. We found that genotypic diversity improved the leaf area, root to shoot ratio and photosynthetic physiological traits of H. vulgaris, especially under flooding. Moreover, genotypic diversity increased soil organic matter (SOM) contents in the wetland microecosystem, while it reduced the cumulative nitrous oxide emissions under flooding conditions. Overall, genotype diversity improved photosynthetic traits of H. vulgaris, further increased SOM, and reduced the N2O emissions of the wetland microecosystem. The results of this study can provide a theoretical basis for exploring how genotypic diversity levels affect the invasiveness of invasive plants and ecosystems in wetland microecosystems.
Highlights
Accepted: 7 March 2022Plant invasion can pose a significant threat to the native biodiversity and the stability and functioning of ecosystems
The genotypic diversity increased leaf area and root to shoot ratio under the flooding treatment, but they were not affected by genotypic diversity under the control treatment (Figure 2D,J)
The significantly negative complementary effects indicate that there is overlap in the use of space by different plants [61] so the competition between different plants has intensified [62], which proves that the negative effect on growth traits of H. vulgaris by genotype diversity is more likely to be caused by competition
Summary
Plant invasion can pose a significant threat to the native biodiversity and the stability and functioning of ecosystems. Invasive mechanisms have long been a research focus for ecologists [1–4]. Recent research has reported that plant invasiveness is determined by many factors, such as the nutrient environment and the composition of the native plant community. Recent advances in molecular genetic technology provide new approaches to explore the mechanism of plant invasion from a genetic perspective [10–13]. Genetic diversity plays an imperative role in exotic plant invasion, and high levels of genetic diversity promote the successful colonization of new environments by exotic plants [16–18]. Genotypic diversity is a crucial component of genetic diversity, with positive effects on the growth and colonization of invasive plants [19–21]. Plant invasion can alter the characteristics of invaded ecosystems, Published: 10 March 2022
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