Nutrient enrichment alters impacts of Hydrocotyle vulgaris invasion on native plant communities.

Lin Liu,Guang-Chun Lei,Lin Li,Fu-De Liu,Xiang-Qi Bu,Hong-Li Li,Bi-Cheng Dong,Han Quan

doi:10.1038/srep39468

Lin Liu, Guang-Chun Lei + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1038/srep39468

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Abstract

Nutrients may affect the invasiveness of alien plants and the invasibility of native plant communities. We performed a greenhouse experiment to investigate the interactive effect of invasion by a clonal herb Hydrocotyle vulgaris and nutrient enrichment on biomass and evenness of native plant communities. We established three types of plant communities (H. vulgaris alone, native plant communities without or with H. vulgaris) under low and high levels of nutrients. Native communities consisted of eight native, terrestrial species of three functional groups, i.e. four grasses, two legumes, and two forbs. Invasion of H. vulgaris had no effect on biomass of the native community, the functional groups, or the individual species. High nutrients increased biomass of grasses, but reduced evenness of the community. High nutrients also decreased the competitive effect, and the relative dominance index of H. vulgaris. Therefore, high nutrients reduced the competitive ability of H. vulgaris and enhanced the resistance of the native community to invasion. The results provide a basis for management strategies to control the invasion and spread of H. vulgaris by manipulating resource availability to support native communities.

Highlights

Nutrients may affect the invasiveness of alien plants and the invasibility of native plant communities
Nutrient enrichment as a result of anthropogenic landscape modifications has become widely recognized as a serious threat to biodiversity maintenance and ecosystem functioning[9,10]
Nutrient enrichment significantly increased these three traits when H. vulgaris grew alone, but had little effect when it grew with the native plant community (Fig. 1D,E and G, Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Nutrients may affect the invasiveness of alien plants and the invasibility of native plant communities. We performed a greenhouse experiment to investigate the interactive effect of invasion by a clonal herb Hydrocotyle vulgaris and nutrient enrichment on biomass and evenness of native plant communities. Native species with ecological characteristics that are similar to those of invasive species tend to resist invasions more strongly than those exhibit distinct characteristics because they have a higher niche overlap and a higher demand for the same resources[22,23]. Abiotic factors, such as resource enrichment, can confer invasive species with advantages over native species[24]. Post-industrial anthropogenic activities have amplified nitrogen and phosphorus cycles by 100% and 400%, respectively[30], and rates of nutrient www.nature.com/scientificreports/

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