Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:12:39.036Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Effects of Native Herbs and Light on Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) Invasion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Laura Phillips-Mao*
Affiliation:
Conservation Biology Program, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108
Diane L. Larson
Affiliation:
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, St. Paul, MN 55108
Nicholas R. Jordan
Affiliation:
Conservation Biology Program, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

The degree to which invasive species drive or respond to environmental change has important implications for conservation and invasion management. Often characterized as a driver of change in North American woodlands, the invasive herb garlic mustard may instead respond to declines in native plant cover and diversity. We tested effects of native herb cover, richness, and light availability on garlic mustard invasion in a Minnesota oak woodland. We planted 50 garlic mustard seeds into plots previously planted with 0 to 10 native herb species. We measured garlic mustard seedling establishment, survival to rosette and adult stages, and average (per plant) and total (per plot) biomass and silique production. With the use of structural equation models, we analyzed direct, indirect, and net effects of native cover, richness, and light on successive garlic mustard life stages. Native plant cover had a significant negative effect on all life stages. Species richness had a significant positive effect on native cover, resulting in indirect negative effects on all garlic mustard stages, and net negative effects on adult numbers, total biomass, and silique production. Light had a strong negative effect on garlic mustard seedling establishment and a positive effect on native herb cover, resulting in significant negative net effects on garlic mustard rosette and adult numbers. However, light's net effect on total garlic mustard biomass and silique production was positive; reproductive output was high even in low-light/high-cover conditions. Combined effects of cover, richness, and light suggest that native herbs provide biotic resistance to invasion by responding to increased light availability and suppressing garlic mustard responses, although this resistance may be overwhelmed by high propagule pressure. Garlic mustard invasion may occur, in part, in response to native plant decline. Restoring native herbs and controlling garlic mustard seed production may effectively reduce garlic mustard spread and restore woodland diversity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Current address: Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108

References

Literature Cited

Anderson, RC, Dhillion, SS, Kelley, TM (1996) Aspects of the ecology of an invasive plant, garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), in central Illinois. Restor Ecol 4:181191 Google Scholar
Baskin, JM, Baskin, CC (1992) Seed germination biology of the weedy biennial Alliaria petiolata . Nat Areas J 12:191197 Google Scholar
Bauer, JT (2012) Invasive species: “back-seat drivers” of ecosystem change? Biol Invasions 110 Google Scholar
Bauer, JT, Anderson, RC, Anderson, MR (2010) Competitive interactions among first-year and second-year plants of the invasive, biennial garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and native ground layer vegetation. Restor Ecol 18:720728 Google Scholar
Blossey, B, Nuzzo, V, Hinz, H, Gerber, E (2001) Developing biological control of Alliaria petiolata (M. Bieb.) Cavara and Grande (garlic mustard). Nat Areas J 21:357367 Google Scholar
Bohlen, PJ, Scheu, S, Hale, CM, McLean, MA, Migge, S, Groffman, PM, Parkinson, D (2004) Non-native invasive earthworms as agents of change in northern temperate forests. Front Ecol Environ 2:427435 Google Scholar
Byers, DL, Quinn, JA (1998) Demographic variation in Alliaria petiolata (Brassicaceae) in four contrasting habitats. J Torrey Bot Soc 1998:138149 Google Scholar
Callaway, RM, Cipollini, D, Barto, K, Thelen, GC, Hallett, SG, Prati, D, Stinson, K, Klironomos, J (2008) Novel weapons: invasive plant suppresses fungal mutualists in America but not in its native Europe. Ecology 89:10431055 Google Scholar
Cipollini, D, Enright, S (2009) A powdery mildew fungus levels the playing field for garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and a North American native plant. Invasive Plant Sci Manage 2:253259 Google Scholar
Collier, MH, Vankat, JL, Hughes, MR (2002) Diminished plant richness and abundance below Lonicera maackii, an invasive shrub. Am Midl Nat 147:6071 Google Scholar
Cruden, RW, McClain, AM, Shrivastava, GP (1996) Pollination biology and breeding system of Alliaria petiolata (Brassicaceae). Bull Torrey Bot Club 123:273280 Google Scholar
Davis, MA, Colehour, A, Daney, J, Foster, E, MacMillan, C, Merrill, E, ONeil, J, Pearson, M, Whitney, M, Anderson, MD, Dosch, JJ (2012) The population dynamics and ecological effecs of garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata, in a Minnesota oak woodland. Am Midl Nat 168:364374 Google Scholar
Davis, MA, Grime, JP, Thompson, K (2000) Fluctuating resources in plant communities: a general theory of invasibility. J Ecol 88:528534 Google Scholar
Dhillion, SS, Anderson, RC (1999) Growth and photosynthetic response of first-year garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) to varied irradiance. J Torrey Bot Soc 126:914 Google Scholar
Ellison, L, Houston, WR (1958) Production of herbaceous vegetation in openings and under canopies of western aspen. Ecology 39:337345 Google Scholar
Eschtruth, AK, Battles, JJ (2009) Assessing the relative importance of disturbance, herbivory, diversity, and propagule pressure in exotic plant invasion. Ecol Monogr 79:265–28Google Scholar
Fargione, JE, Tilman, T (2005) Diversity decreases invasion via both sampling and complementarity effects. Ecol Lett 8:604611 Google Scholar
Frappier, B, Eckert, RT, Lee, TD (2003) Potential impacts of the invasive exotic shrub Rhamnus frangula L. (glossy buckthorn) on forests of southern New Hampshire. Northeast Nat 10:277296 Google Scholar
Frelich, LE, Hale, CM, Scheu, S, Holdsworth, AR, Heneghan, L, Bohlen, PJ, Reich, PB (2006) Earthworm invasion into previously earthworm-free temperate and boreal forests. Biol Invasions 8:12351245 Google Scholar
Grace, JB (2006) Structural Equation Modeling and Natural Systems. Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press. 365 pGoogle Scholar
Grace, JB, Bollen, KA (2005) Interpreting the results from multiple regression and structural equation models. Bull Ecol Soc Am 86:283295 Google Scholar
Hector, A, Dobson, K, Minns, A, Bazeley-White, E, Hartley Lawton, J (2001) Community diversity and invasion resistance: an experimental test in a grassland ecosystem and a review of comparable studies. Ecol Res 16:819831 Google Scholar
Herold, J, Anderson, MR, Bauer, JT, Borowicz, V, Anderson, RC (2011) Comparison of the effect of early and late removal of second-year garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) on first-year plants and deciduous forest spring and summer dominant herbaceous groundlayer species in Central Illinois, USA. Ecol Restor 29:225233 Google Scholar
Hewins, DB, Hyatt, LA (2010) Flexible N uptake and assimilation mechanisms may assist biological invasion by Alliaria petiolata . Biol Invasions 12:26392647 Google Scholar
Hobbie, SE, Chapin, FS III (1996) Winter regulation of tundra litter carbon and nitrogen dynamics. Biogeochemistry 35:327338 Google Scholar
Hochstedler, WW, Slaughter, BS, Gorchov, DL, Saunders, LP, Stevens, MHH (2007) Forest floor plant community response to experimental control of the invasive biennial, Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) 1. J Torrey Bot Soc 134:155165 Google Scholar
Knight, KS (2006) Factors that influence invasion success of two woody invaders of forest understories. Ph.D Dissertation. Saint Paul, MN University of Minnesota. 161 pGoogle Scholar
Machado, JL, Reich, PB (1999) Evaluation of several measures of canopy openness as predictors of photosynthetic photon flux density in deeply shaded conifer-dominated forest understory. Can J For Res 29:14381444 Google Scholar
McCarthy, BC (1997) Response of a forest understory community to experimental removal of an invasive nonindigenous plant (Alliaria petiolata, Brassicaceae). Pages 117130 in Luken, JO, Thieret, JW, eds. Assessment and Management of Plant Invasions. New York Springer-Verlag Google Scholar
Meekins, JF, McCarthy, BC (1999) Competitive ability of Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard, Brassicaceae), an invasive, nonindigenous forest herb. Int J Plant Sci 160:743752 Google Scholar
Meekins, JF, McCarthy, BC (2000) Responses of the biennial forest herb Alliaria petiolata to variation in population density, nutrient addition and light availability. J Ecol 88:447463 Google Scholar
Meekins, JF, McCarthy, BC (2001) Effect of environmental variation on the invasive success of a nonindigenous forest herb. Ecol Appl 11:13361348 Google Scholar
Meekins, JF, McCarthy, BC (2002) Effect of population density on the demography of an invasive plant (Alliaria petiolata, Brassicaceae) population in a southeastern Ohio forest. Am Midl Nat 147:256278 Google Scholar
Murphy, SD (2005) Concurrent management of an exotic species and initial restoration efforts in forests. Restor Ecol 13:584593 Google Scholar
Naeem, S, Knops, JMH, Tilman, D, Howe, KM, Kennedy, T, Gale, S (2000) Plant diversity increases resistance to invasion in the absence of covarying extrinsic factors. Oikos 91:97108 Google Scholar
Neufeld, HS, Young, DR, Gilliam, F, Roberts, M (2003) Ecophysiology of the herbaceous layer in temperate deciduous forests. Pages 3890 in Gilliam, FS, Roberts, MR, eds. The herbaceous layer in forests of eastern North America. Oxford, UK Oxford University Press Google Scholar
Nuzzo, VA (1991) Experimental control of garlic mustard [Alliaria petiolata (Bieb.) Cavara & Grande] in Northern Illinois using fire, herbicide, and cutting. Nat Areas J 11:158167 Google Scholar
Nuzzo, VA (1999) Invasion pattern of the herb garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) in high quality forests. Biol Invasions 1:169179 Google Scholar
Nuzzo, VA, Maerz, JC, Blossey, B (2009) Earthworm invasion as the driving force behind plant invasion and community change in northeastern North American forests. Conserv Biol 23:966974 Google Scholar
Pardini, EA, Drake, JM, Chase, JM, Knight, TM (2009) Complex population dynamics and control of the invasive biennial Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard). Ecol Appl 19:387397 Google Scholar
Rebek, K, O'Neil, R (2006) The effects of natural and manipulated density regimes on Alliaria petiolata survival, growth and reproduction. Weed Res 46:345352 Google Scholar
Robertson, GP, Sollins, P, Ellis, BG, Lajtha, K (1999) Exchangeable ions, pH, and cation exchange capacity. Pages 106114 in Robertson, GP, Coleman, DC, Bledsoe, CS, Sollins, P, eds. Standard Soil Methods for Long-Term Ecological Research. New York Oxford University Press Google Scholar
Rodgers, VL, Stinson, KA, Finzi, AC (2008a) Ready or not, garlic mustard is moving in: Alliaria petiolata as a member of eastern North American forests. Bioscience 58:426436 Google Scholar
Rodgers, VL, Wolfe, BE, Werden, LK, Finzi, AC (2008b) The invasive species Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) increases soil nutrient availability in northern hardwood-conifer forests. Oecologia 157:459471 Google Scholar
Rooney, TP, Rogers, DA (2011) Colonization and effects of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), and Bell's honeysuckle (Lonicera × bella) on understory plants after five decades in southern Wisconsin forests. Invasive Plant Sci Manage 4:317325 Google Scholar
Rooney, TP, Waller, DM (2003) Direct and indirect effects of white-tailed deer in forest ecosystems. For Ecol Manage 181:165176 Google Scholar
Soil Survey Staff (2010) Web Soil Survey. Available at http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/. Accessed June 22, 2010Google Scholar
Spehn, E, Joshi, J, Schmid, B, Diemer, M, Korner, C (2000) Above-ground resource use increases with plant species richness in experimental grassland ecosystems. Funct Ecol 14:326337 Google Scholar
Stinson, K, Kaufman, S, Durbin, L, Lowenstein, F (2007) Impacts of garlic mustard invasion on a forest understory community. Northeast Nat 14:7388 Google Scholar
Stinson, KA, Campbell, SA, Powell, JR, Wolfe, BE, Callaway, RM, Thelen, GC, Hallett, SG, Prati, D, Klironomos, JN (2006) Invasive plant suppresses the growth of native tree seedlings by disrupting belowground mutualisms. PLoS Biol 4:727 Google Scholar
Strickland, JDH, Parsons, TR (1972) A Practical Handbook of Seawater Analysis. Ottawa, Canada Fisheries Research Board of Canada. Pp. 4951 Google Scholar
Tilman, D, Knops, J, Wedin, D, Reich, P, Ritchie, M, Siemann, E (1997) The influence of functional diversity and composition on ecosystem processes. Science 277:13001302 Google Scholar
Tilman, D, Reich, PB, Knops, J, Wedine, D, Mielke, T, Lehman, C (2001) Diversity and productivity in a long-term grassland experiment. Science 294:843845 Google Scholar
Tilman, D, Wedin, D, Knops, J (1996) Productivity and sustainability influenced by biodiversity in grassland ecosystems. Nature 379:718720 Google Scholar
Trimbur, TJ (1973) An Ecological Life History of Alliaria officinalis, a Deciduous Forest “Weed.” MS thesis. Columbus, OH Ohio State University. 56 pGoogle Scholar
USDA NRCS (2011) The PLANTS Database. Baton Rouge, LA National Plant Data Center Google Scholar
Van Riper, LC, Becker, RL, Skinner, LC (2010) Population biology of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) in Minnesota hardwood forests. Invasive Plant Sci Manage 3:4859 Google Scholar
Von Holle, B, Simberloff, D (2005) Ecological resistance to biological invasion overwhelmed by propagule pressure. Ecology 86:32123218 Google Scholar
Webster, CR, Jenkins, MA, Rock, JH (2005) Long-term response of spring flora to chronic herbivory and deer exclusion in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. Biol Conserv 125:297307 Google Scholar
Whigham, DF (2004) Ecology of woodland herbs in temperate deciduous forests. Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst 35:583621 Google Scholar
Winterer, J, Walsh, MC, Poddar, M, Brennan, JW, Primak, SM (2005) Spatial and temporal segregation of juvenile and mature garlic mustard plants (Alliaria petiolata) in a central Pennsylvania woodland. Am Midl Nat 153:209216 Google Scholar
Wolfe, BE, Rodgers, VL, Stinson, KA, Pringle, A (2008) The invasive plant Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) inhibits ectomycorrhizal fungi in its introduced range. J Ecol 96:777783 Google Scholar