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Gallé R, Tölgyesi C, Szabó ÁR, Korányi D, Bátori Z, Hábenczyus A, Török E, Révész K, Torma A, Gallé-Szpisjak N, Lakatos T, Batáry P. Plant invasion and fragmentation indirectly and contrastingly affect native plants and grassland arthropods. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 903:166199. [PMID: 37572908 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/14/2023]
Abstract
Plant invasion and habitat fragmentation have a detrimental effect on biodiversity in nearly all types of ecosystems. We compared the direct and indirect effects of the invasion of the common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) on biodiversity patterns in different-sized Hungarian forest-steppe fragments. We assessed vegetation structure, measured temperature and soil moisture, and studied organisms with different ecological roles in invaded and non-invaded sites of fragments: plants, bees, butterflies, flower-visiting wasps, flies, true bugs, and spiders. Temperature and soil moisture were lower in invaded than in non-invaded area. Milkweed had a positive effect on plant species richness and flower abundance. In contrast, we mainly found indirect effects of invasion on arthropods through alteration of physical habitat characteristics and food resources. Pollinators were positively affected by native flowers, thus, milkweed indirectly supported pollinators. Similarly, we found higher species richness of herbivores in invaded sites than control sites, as species richness of true bugs also increased with increasing plant species richness. Predators were positively affected by complex vegetation structure, higher soil moisture and lower temperature. Furthermore, increasing fragment size had a strong negative effect on spider species richness of non-invaded sites, but no effect in invaded sites. Especially, grassland specialist spiders were more sensitive to fragment size than generalists, whereas generalist spider species rather profited from invasion. Although milkweed invades natural areas, we did not identify strong negative effects of its presence on the diversity of the grassland biota. However, the supportive effect of milkweed on a few generalist species homogenises the communities. The rate of invasion might increase with increasing fragmentation, therefore we recommend eliminating invasive plants from small habitat fragments to preserve the native biota. Focusing also on generalist species and revealing the indirect effects of invasions are essential for understanding the invasion mechanisms and would support restoration efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Róbert Gallé
- 'Lendület' Landscape and Conservation Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary; National Laboratory for Healty Security, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary; MTA-SZTE 'Momentum' Applied Ecology Research Group, Közép fasor 52, 6726 Szeged, Hungary.
| | - Csaba Tölgyesi
- MTA-SZTE 'Momentum' Applied Ecology Research Group, Közép fasor 52, 6726 Szeged, Hungary; Department of Ecology, University of Szeged, Közép fasor 52, 6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Ágota Réka Szabó
- 'Lendület' Landscape and Conservation Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary; National Laboratory for Healty Security, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary; Doctoral School of Biology, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Dávid Korányi
- 'Lendület' Landscape and Conservation Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary; National Laboratory for Healty Security, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary
| | - Zoltán Bátori
- MTA-SZTE 'Momentum' Applied Ecology Research Group, Közép fasor 52, 6726 Szeged, Hungary; Department of Ecology, University of Szeged, Közép fasor 52, 6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Alida Hábenczyus
- MTA-SZTE 'Momentum' Applied Ecology Research Group, Közép fasor 52, 6726 Szeged, Hungary; Department of Ecology, University of Szeged, Közép fasor 52, 6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Edina Török
- 'Lendület' Landscape and Conservation Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary; National Laboratory for Healty Security, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary
| | - Kitti Révész
- 'Lendület' Landscape and Conservation Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary; National Laboratory for Healty Security, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary
| | - Attila Torma
- 'Lendület' Landscape and Conservation Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary; Department of Ecology, University of Szeged, Közép fasor 52, 6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Nikolett Gallé-Szpisjak
- 'Lendület' Landscape and Conservation Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary
| | - Tamás Lakatos
- 'Lendület' Landscape and Conservation Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary; Doctoral School of Biology, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Péter Batáry
- 'Lendület' Landscape and Conservation Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary; National Laboratory for Healty Security, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, 2163 Vácrátót, Hungary
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Zhang Z, Pan X, Blumenthal D, van Kleunen M, Liu M, Li B. Contrasting effects of specialist and generalist herbivores on resistance evolution in invasive plants. Ecology 2018; 99:866-875. [PMID: 29352479 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2017] [Accepted: 12/18/2017] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Invasive alien plants are likely to be released from specialist herbivores and at the same time encounter biotic resistance from resident generalist herbivores in their new ranges. The Shifting Defense hypothesis predicts that this will result in evolution of decreased defense against specialist herbivores and increased defense against generalist herbivores. To test this, we performed a comprehensive meta-analysis of 61 common garden studies that provide data on resistance and/or tolerance for both introduced and native populations of 32 invasive plant species. We demonstrate that introduced populations, relative to native populations, decreased their resistance against specialists, and increased their resistance against generalists. These differences were significant when resistance was measured in terms of damage caused by the herbivore, but not in terms of performance of the herbivore. Furthermore, we found the first evidence that the magnitude of resistance differences between introduced and native populations depended significantly on herbivore origin (i.e., whether the test herbivore was collected from the native or non-native range of the invasive plant). Finally, tolerance to generalists was found to be higher in introduced populations, while neither tolerance to specialists nor that to simulated herbivory differed between introduced and native plant populations. We conclude that enemy release from specialist herbivores and biotic resistance from generalist herbivores have contrasting effects on resistance evolution in invasive plants. Our results thus provide strong support for the Shifting Defense hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhijie Zhang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science & Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.,Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, 78464, Germany
| | - Xiaoyun Pan
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science & Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Dana Blumenthal
- USDA-ARS Rangeland Resource Research Unit, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80526, USA
| | - Mark van Kleunen
- Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, 78464, Germany.,Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou, 318000, China
| | - Mu Liu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science & Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Bo Li
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science & Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
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Agrawal AA, Hastings AP, Bradburd GS, Woods EC, Züst T, Harvey JA, Bukovinszky T. Evolution of plant growth and defense in a continental introduction. Am Nat 2015; 186:E1-E15. [PMID: 26098351 DOI: 10.1086/681622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Substantial research has addressed adaptation of nonnative biota to novel environments, yet surprisingly little work has integrated population genetic structure and the mechanisms underlying phenotypic differentiation in ecologically important traits. We report on studies of the common milkweed Asclepias syriaca, which was introduced from North America to Europe over the past 400 years and which lacks most of its specialized herbivores in the introduced range. Using 10 populations from each continent grown in a common environment, we identified several growth and defense traits that have diverged, despite low neutral genetic differentiation between continents. We next developed a Bayesian modeling approach to account for relationships between molecular and phenotypic differences, confirming that continental trait differentiation was greater than expected from neutral genetic differentiation. We found evidence that growth-related traits adaptively diverged within and between continents. Inducible defenses triggered by monarch butterfly herbivory were substantially reduced in European populations, and this reduction in inducibility was concordant with altered phytohormonal dynamics, reduced plant growth, and a trade-off with constitutive investment. Freedom from the community of native and specialized herbivores may have favored constitutive over induced defense. Our replicated analysis of plant growth and defense, including phenotypically plastic traits, suggests adaptive evolution following a continental introduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anurag A Agrawal
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853
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