Non-native populations of an invasive tree outperform their native conspecifics

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

  • Heidi Hirsch - , University of Stellenbosch, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (Autor:in)
  • Isabell Hensen - , Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig (Autor:in)
  • Karsten Wesche - , Professur für Biodiversität der Pflanzen (g.B. Senckenberg), Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (Autor:in)
  • Daniel Renison - , Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) (Autor:in)
  • Catherina Wypior - , Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (Autor:in)
  • Matthias Hartmann - , Karlsuniversität Prag (Autor:in)
  • Henrik von Wehrden - , Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien (Autor:in)

Abstract

Introduced plants often face new environmental conditions in their non-native ranges. To become invasive, they need to overcome several biotic and abiotic filters that may trigger adaptive changes in life-history traits, like postgermination processes. Such early life cycle traits may play a crucial role in the colonization and establishment success of invasive plants. As a previous study revealed that seeds of non-native populations of the woody Siberian elm, Ulmus pumila, germinated faster than those of native populations, we expected growth performance of seedlings to mirror this finding. Here, we conducted a common garden greenhouse experiment using different temperature and watering treatments to compare the biomass production of U. pumila seedlings derived from 7 native and 13 populations from two non-native ranges. Our results showed that under all treatments, non-native populations were characterized by higher biomass production and enhanced resource allocation to aboveground biomass compared to the native populations. The observed enhanced growth performance of non-native populations might be one of the contributing factors for the invasion success of U. pumila due to competitive advantages during the colonization of new sites.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Aufsatznummerplw071
FachzeitschriftAoB PLANTS
Jahrgang8
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 2016
Peer-Review-StatusJa

Schlagworte

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Schlagwörter

  • Biomass, Genetic shift, Greenhouse, Post-germination traits, Shoot-root ratio, Ulmus pumila