Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-lrblm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-09T14:06:37.606Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mechanisms Underlying Nonindigenous Plant Impacts: A Review of Recent Experimental Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Tanya C. Skurski ,
Lisa J. Rew  and
Bruce D. Maxwell
Tanya C. Skurski*
Affiliation:
Bureau of Land Management, Lander, WY 82520
Lisa J. Rew
Affiliation:
Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717
Bruce D. Maxwell
Affiliation:
Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Nonindigenous plant species (NIS) can affect individuals, communities, and ecosystems through numerous direct and indirect mechanisms. To synthesize the current understanding of how NIS cause impacts, we reviewed experimental research from the past decade. We found alteration of the microenvironment, such as incident light and air and soil temperature, was much more often a mechanism underlying NIS impacts than competition for soil water and nutrients. NIS litter frequently caused the alteration of microenvironments, and litter effects were often of greater consequence than the effects of live NIS plants. Results supported altered soil microbial communities and mycorrhizal associations as mechanisms underlying NIS impacts on native plant growth, community structure, and nutrient cycling. Impacts often could not be attributed to a single mechanism, highlighting the need for multi-factor studies that identify and distinguish between multiple, concurrently operating mechanisms. Overall, our synthesis indicates that effective management will require attention to legacy effects of NIS, that removing live NIS may not ameliorate impacts, and that removal of dead NIS biomass may be necessary for native species' survival. Furthermore, rehabilitating soil microbial and mycorrhizal communities may be crucial for successful post-NIS management revegetation.

Keywords

Competitionecological impactsexotic plantsinvasive plant speciessynthesis
Type
Research Article
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , September 2014 , pp. 432 - 444
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.)

References

Literature Cited

Bartomeus, I, Vilà, M, Steffan-Dewenter, I (2010) Combined effects of Impatiens glandulifera invasion and landscape structure on native plant pollination. J Ecol 98:440–450 Google Scholar
Belnap, J, Phillips, SL (2001) Soil biota in an ungrazed grassland: response to annual grass (Bromus tectorum) invasion. Ecol Appl 11:1261–1275 Google Scholar
Bjerknes, AL, Totland, O, Hegland, SJ, Nielsen, A (2007) Do alien plant invasions really affect pollination success in native plant species? Biol Conserv 138:1–12 Google Scholar
Byers, JE, Reichard, S, Randall, JM, Parker, IM, Smith, CS, Lonsdale, WM, Atkinson, IAE, Seastedt, TR, Williamson, M, Chornesky, E, Hayes, D (2002) Directing research to reduce the impacts of nonindigenous species. Conserv Biol 16:630–640 Google Scholar
Callaway, RM, Aschehoug, ET (2000) Invasive plants versus their new and old neighbors: a mechanism for exotic invasion. Science 290:521–523 Google Scholar
Chittka, L, Schurkens, S (2001) Successful invasion of a floral market—an exotic Asian plant has moved in on Europe's river-banks by bribing pollinators. Nature 411:653–653 Google Scholar
Cipollini, KA, McClain, GY, Cipollini, D (2008) Separating above- and belowground effects of Alliaria petiolata and Lonicera maackii on the performance of Impatiens capensis . Am Midl Nat 160:117–128 Google Scholar
Coleman, HM, Levine, JM (2007) Mechanisms underlying the impacts of exotic annual grasses in a coastal California meadow. Biol Invasions 9:65–71 Google Scholar
Connell, JH (1990) Apparent versus “real” competition in plants. Pages 9–26 in Grace, JB, Tilman, D, eds. Perspectives on Plant Competition. Caldwell, NJ The Blackburn Press Google Scholar
Crooks, JA (2002) Characterizing ecosystem-level consequences of biological invasions: the role of ecosystem engineers. Oikos 97:153–166 Google Scholar
Dangremond, EM, Pardini, EA, Knight, TM (2010) Apparent competition with an invasive plant hastens the extinction of an endangered lupine. Ecology 91:2261–2271 Google Scholar
DeMeester, JE, Richter, DB (2010) Differences in wetland nitrogen cycling between the invasive grass Microstegium vimineum and a diverse plant community. Ecol Appl 20:609–619 Google Scholar
Didham, RK, Tylianakis, JM, Hutchison, MA, Ewers, RM, Gemmell, NJ (2005) Are invasive species the drivers of ecological change? Trends Ecol Evol 20:470–474 Google Scholar
Ehrenfeld, JG (2003) Effects of exotic plant invasions on soil nutrient cycling processes. Ecosystems 6:503–523 Google Scholar
Ehrenfeld, JG (2010) Ecosystem consequences of biological invasions. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 41:59–80 Google Scholar
Evans, RD, Rimer, R, Sperry, L, Belnap, J (2001) Exotic plant invasion alters nitrogen dynamics in an arid grassland. Ecol Appl 11:1301–1310 Google Scholar
Farrer, EC, Goldberg, DE (2009) Litter drives ecosystem and plant community changes in cattail invasion. Ecol Appl 19:398–412 Google Scholar
Flanagan, RJ, Mitchell, RJ, Karron, JD (2010) Increased relative abundance of an invasive competitor for pollination, Lythrum salicaria, reduces seed number in Mimulus ringens . Oecologia 164:445–454 Google Scholar
Gomez-Aparicio, L, Canham, CD (2008) Neighbourhood analyses of the allelopathic effects of the invasive tree Ailanthus altissima in temperate forests. J Ecol 96:447–458 Google Scholar
Hierro, JL, Callaway, RM (2003) Allelopathy and exotic plant invasion. Plant Soil 256:29–39 Google Scholar
Hulme, PE, Pyšek, P, Jarošík, V, Pergl, J, Schaffner, U, Vilà, M (2013) Bias and error in understanding plant invasion impacts. Trends Ecol Evol 28:212–218 Google Scholar
Inderjit, Callaway RM (2003) Experimental designs for the study of allelopathy. Plant Soil 256:1–11 Google Scholar
Kandori, I, Hirao, T, Matsunaga, S, Kurosaki, T (2009) An invasive dandelion unilaterally reduces the reproduction of a native congener through competition for pollination. Oecologia 159:559–569 Google Scholar
Larkin, DJ, Freyman, MJ, Lishawa, SC, Geddes, P, Tuchman, NC (2012) Mechanisms of dominance by the invasive hybrid cattail Typha × glauca . Biol Invasions 14:65–77 Google Scholar
Lau, JA, Puliafico, KP, Kopshever, JA, Steltzer, H, Jarvis, EP, Schwarzländer, M, Strauss, SY, Hufbauer, RA (2008) Inference of allelopathy is complicated by effects of activated carbon on plant growth. New Phytol 178:412–423 Google Scholar
Lau, JA, Strauss, SY (2005) Insect herbivores drive important indirect effects of exotic plants on native communities. Ecology 86:2990–2997 Google Scholar
Lenz, TI, Moyle-Croft, JL, Facelli, JM (2003) Direct and indirect effects of exotic annual grasses on species composition of a South Australian grassland. Austral Ecol 28:23–32 Google Scholar
Levine, JM, Vilà, M, D'Antonio, CM, Dukes, JS, Grigulis, K, Lavorel, S (2003) Mechanisms underlying the impacts of exotic plant invasions. Proc R Soc Biol Sci Ser B 270:775–781 Google Scholar
Liao, CZ, Peng, RH, Luo, YQ, Zhou, XH, Wu, XW, Fang, CM, Chen, JK, Li, B (2008) Altered ecosystem carbon and nitrogen cycles by plant invasion: a meta-analysis. New Phytol 177:706–714 Google Scholar
Lopezaraiza-Mikel, ME, Hayes, RB, Whalley, MR, Memmott, J (2007) The impact of an alien plant on a native plant–pollinator network: an experimental approach. Ecol Lett 10:539–550 Google Scholar
Mack, MC, D'Antonio, CM (2003) Exotic grasses alter controls over soil nitrogen dynamics in a Hawaiian woodland. Ecol Appl 13:154–166 Google Scholar
Mack, RN, Simberloff, D, Lonsdale, WM, Evans, H, Clout, M, Bazzaz, FA (2000) Biotic invasions: causes, epidemiology, global consequences, and control. Ecol Appl 10:689–710 Google Scholar
Mahall, BE, Callaway, RM (1992) Root communication mechanisms and intracommunity distributions of two Mojave desert shrubs. Ecology 73:2145–2151 Google Scholar
Matsumoto, T, Takakura, KI, Nishida, T (2010) Alien pollen grains interfere with the reproductive success of native congener. Biol Invasions 12:1617–1626 Google Scholar
McKinney, AM, Goodell, K (2010) Shading by invasive shrub reduces seed production and pollinator services in a native herb. Biol Invasions 12:2751–2763 Google Scholar
Minchinton, TE, Simpson, JC, Bertness, MD (2006) Mechanisms of exclusion of native coastal marsh plants by an invasive grass. J Ecol 94:342–354 Google Scholar
Murrell, C, Gerber, E, Krebs, C, Parepa, M, Schaffner, U, Bossdorf, O (2011) Invasive knotweed affects native plants through allelopathy. Am J Bot 98:38–43 Google Scholar
Nielsen, C, Heimes, C, Kollmann, J (2008) Little evidence for negative effects of an invasive alien plant on pollinator services. Biol Invasions 10:1353–1363 Google Scholar
Pyšek, P, Jarošík, V, Hulme, PE, Pergl, J, Hejda, M, Schaffner, U, Vilà, M (2012) A global assessment of invasive plant impacts on resident species, communities and ecosystems: the interaction of impact measures, invading species' traits and environment. Glob Change Biol 18:1725–1737 Google Scholar
Ratchke, B (1983) Competition and facilitation among plants for pollination. Pages 305–329 in Real, L, ed. Pollination Biology. London Academic Google Scholar
Seabloom, EW, Harpole, WS, Reichman, OJ, Tilman, D (2003) Invasion, competitive dominance, and resource use by exotic and native California grassland species. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100:13384–13389 Google Scholar
Spellman, BT, Wurtz, TL (2011) Invasive sweetclover (Melilotus alba) impacts native seedling recruitment along floodplains of interior Alaska. Biol Invasions 13:1779–1790 Google Scholar
Strayer, DL, Eviner, VT, Jeschke, JM, Pace, ML (2006) Understanding the long-term effects of species invasions. Trends Ecol Evol 21:645–651 Google Scholar
Traveset, A, Richardson, DM (2006) Biological invasions as disruptors of plant reproductive mutualisms. Trends Ecol Evol 21:208–216 Google Scholar
Urgenson, LS, Reichard, SH, Halpern, CB (2012) Multiple competitive mechanisms underlie the effects of a strong invader on early- to late-seral tree seedlings. J Ecol 100:1204–1215 Google Scholar
van der Putten, WH, Klironomos, JN, Wardle, DA (2007) Microbial ecology of biological invasions. ISME J: Multidiscip J Microb Ecol 1:28–37 Google Scholar
Vilà, M, Espinar, JL, Hejda, M, Hulme, PE, Jarošík, V, Maron, JL, Pergl, J, Schaffner, U, Sun, Y, Pyšek, P (2011) Ecological impacts of invasive alien plants: a meta-analysis of their effects on species, communities and ecosystems. Ecol Lett 14:702–708 Google Scholar
Vitousek, PM (1990) Biological invasions and ecosystem processes: towards an integration of population biology and ecosystem studies. Oikos 57:7–13 Google Scholar
Vitousek, PM, Walker, LR, Whiteaker, LD, Mueller-Dombois, D, Matson, PA (1987) Biological invasion by Myrica faya alters ecosystem development in Hawaii. Science 238:802–804 Google Scholar
Wardle, DA, Nilsson, MC, Gallet, C, Zackrisson, O (1998) An ecosystem-level perspective of allelopathy. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 73:305–319 Google Scholar
Waser, NM, Fugate, ML (1986)) Pollen precedence and stigma closure: a mechanism of competition for pollination between Delphinium nelsonii and Ipomopsis aggregata . Oecologia 70:573–577 Google Scholar
White, EM, Wilson, JC, Clarke, AR (2006) Biotic indirect effects: a neglected concept in invasion biology. Divers Distrib 12:443–455 Google Scholar
Wixted, KL, McGraw, JB (2010) Competitive and allelopathic effects of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) on American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). Plant Ecol 208:347–357 Google Scholar
Wolfe, BE, Klironomos, JN (2005) Breaking new ground: soil communities and exotic plant invasion. Bioscience 55:477–487 Google Scholar
Wolkovich, EM (2010) Nonnative grass litter enhances grazing arthropod assemblages by increasing native shrub growth. Ecology 91:756–766 Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Skurski supplementary material

Data 1

Download Skurski supplementary material(File)
File 24.2 KB
Supplementary material: File

Skurski supplementary material

Data 2

Download Skurski supplementary material(File)
File 20.2 KB