Responses of the native species Sparganium angustifolium and the invasive species Egeria densa to warming and interspecific competition.

Abstract

Climate change, especially warming temperatures, may increase invasion and modify the ecological impacts of invasive species by enhancing their ability to compete. To test the effects of warming on invasive plants, a mesocosm experiment was conducted to study competition between the invasive plant Egeria densa and the native hygrophyte Sparganium angustifolium under simulated warming conditions in a greenhouse. These two species were grown in monoculture (no competitor control) or mixed culture (competitor control) for two months under different temperature conditions (warming treatment or no-warming treatment). In S. angustifolium, the higher temperatures led to a shorter root length and significantly increased the aboveground traits of ramets, the total biomass, and the RGR (relative growth rate) but had no effect on the aboveground traits of genets. Growth in mixed culture significantly decreased the S. angustifolium ramet height under warmer conditions and significantly reduced the ramet root length, ramet number, genet biomass, root-to-shoot ratio and RGR of S. angustifolium under natural temperature conditions. All the morphological, biomass and growth traits of E. densa except for the root-to-shoot ratio were significantly increased by the warmer temperatures and decreased by growth in mixed culture. The RCI and RII of E. densa in both the no-warming and warmer environments were two and three times greater than those of S. angustifolium, whereas the ACI values for the two species were similar. Thus, S. angustifolium was a better competitor than E. densa under both temperature conditions. These results suggest that although the superior competitive ability of native species can inhibit E. densa growth, the performance of this species will be enhanced under future climate warming in cold regions.