Abstract
This study assessed the effects of Reynoutria japonica, Rudbeckia laciniata, and Solidago gigantea invading sites within and outside river valleys on activity, biomass, and composition of soil microbial communities. Microbial properties such as soil respiration, urease and arylsulfatase activities, microbial biomass (based on substrate-induced respiration, or SIR, and phospholipid fatty acids, or PLFA), and community composition (based on PLFA) were determined. R. japonica encroached on sites characterized by the lowest values of microbiological properties and R. laciniata on sites with the highest microbiological quality. The effect of invasion on soil microbial properties depended on the invasive plant species. R. japonica significantly decreased microbial biomass, determined by both SIR and total PLFA, urease activity, fungal PLFA, fungal:bacterial PLFA ratio, gram-negative bacterial PLFA, and soil respiration in comparison to soil under adjacent native plant communities. Microbial community composition also differed between soils under R. japonica and those under native plants. In contrast, R. laciniata and S. gigantea did not influence most microbial properties, though S. gigantea significantly increased fungal PLFA and R. laciniata and S. gigantea increased fungal:bacterial PLFA ratio. The effects of plant invasion on microbial properties were basically similar in soils located within and outside river valleys, probably because initially (i.e., before invasion) soils from the two locations were largely similar in terms of basic properties such as texture, moisture, pH, C:N ratio, and most microbial properties.
Highlights
Invasive plants alter ecosystem structure and functioning, as they differ from natives in the physiology, leaf-area allocation, shoot allocation, growth rate, size, and fitness (Ehrenfeld 2003; Liao et al 2008; Van Kleunen et al 2010)
Three invasive plant species were selected for the study: R. japonica Houtt. [= Fallopia japonica (Houtt.) Ronse Decr., = Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. & Zucc.] (Polygonaceae), R. laciniata L. (Asteraceae), and S. gigantea Aiton [= S. serotina Aiton] (Asteraceae)
Sites infested by R. japonica differed from those encroached upon by R. laciniata in terms of the soil microbial community composition represented by principal components (PCs) (p < 0.01 for PC1 and PC2)
Summary
Invasive plants alter ecosystem structure and functioning, as they differ from natives in the physiology, leaf-area allocation, shoot allocation, growth rate, size, and fitness (Ehrenfeld 2003; Liao et al 2008; Van Kleunen et al 2010). For example, organic matter decomposition and mineralization or nitrogen fixation, are modified by invaders (Rice et al 2004; Hawkes et al 2005; Liao et al 2008; Tharayil et al 2013; Mincheva et al 2014). These modifications may lead to changes in soil nutrient pools and. The greater the invader-induced changes in soil, the greater the feedback that may be expected (Scharfy et al 2010)
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