A taxonomic,biogeographical and ecological overview of invasive woody plants

Abstract. Invasive plants are considered to be a major threat to the earth's biodiversity, but have not been sufficiently investigated. To address this problem a relational database on invasive woody plants has been set up. It is based on 2045 bibliographical references and contains records on 653 species representing 110 families. The families with the largest number of invasive species are: Rosaceae, Mimosaceae, Papilionaceae and Pinaceae. Out of 1060 recorded invasive events an equal number are reported from continents and oceanic islands. The highest number of invasive woody species are recorded from Europe, followed by the Pacific islands, North America, New Zealand, Australia, Indian Ocean islands and southern Africa. Included in these regions are areas which have fewer highly invasive species, e.g. islands on continental shelves, such as the British Isles. Although most invasions occur in disturbed habitats, most natural communities are susceptible to woody plant invasions. Data on species attributes are only available for a minority of species but indicate that invasive woody plant species may be either insect or wind-pollinated, have a wide array of fruit types, fruit and seed sizes, number of seeds per fruit and dispersal agents. The relative frequency of several attributes varies with the degree of invasiveness. Thus it is not yet possible to determine which set of attributes favours invasiveness and therefore it is difficult to make predictions.     

崩岗生态修复不同人工林林下入侵植物和本土植物对群落稳定性的影响

探寻基于自然的崩岗生态修复群落构建方案,以广东三岭山国家森林公园崩岗区早期恢复阶段的4种(湿地松Pinus elliottii、尾叶桉Eucalyptus urophylla、大叶相思Acacia auriculaeformis和樟树Cinnamomum camphora)林分为对象,进行样方调查,以林下入侵植物和本土植物作为切入点,以物种多样性指数、生态位宽度、生态位重叠度、生态响应指数和种间联结指数探究不同林分的群落稳定性,优化林下植物配置。结果表明：(1)4种林分中共有林下植物104种,隶51科92属,其中菊科(Asteraceae)种类最多,有33种;其次是禾本科(Poaceae),有24种。林下本土植物数目为湿地松>尾叶桉>樟树>大叶相思,林下入侵植物数目为湿地松=樟树>大叶相思>尾叶桉。与其他三种林分相比,尾叶桉林的林下入侵物种数目、多样性指数和生态位宽度均最少,同时入侵植物与本土植物的生态位重叠度也最小。(2)林下植物群落未来发展趋势最佳的是湿地松林,其次是尾叶桉林、樟树林,最差为大叶相思林,且除大叶相思林外,其它3种林分正向发展的平均速率大...     

DNA barcoding of invasive plants in China: A resource for identifying invasive plants

Invasive plants have aroused attention globally for causing ecological damage and having a negative impact on the economy and human health. However, it can be extremely challenging to rapidly and accurately identify invasive plants based on morphology because they are an assemblage of many different families and many plant materials lack sufficient diagnostic characteristics during border inspections. It is therefore urgent to evaluate candidate loci and build a reliable genetic library to prevent invasive plants from entering China. In this study, five common single markers (ITS, ITS2, matK, rbcL and trnH‐psbA) were evaluated using 634 species (including 469 invasive plant species in China, 10 new records to China, 16 potentially invasive plant species around the world but not introduced into China yet and 139 plant species native to China) based on three different methods. Our results indicated that ITS2 displayed largest intra‐ and interspecific divergence (1.72% and 91.46%). Based on NJ tree method, ITS2, ITS, matK, rbcL and trnH‐psbA provided 76.84%, 76.5%, 63.21%, 52.86% and 50.68% discrimination rates, respectively. The combination of ITS + matK performed best and provided 91.03% discriminatory power, followed by ITS2 + matK (85.78%). For identifying unknown individuals, ITS + matK had 100% correct identification rate based on our database, followed by ITS/ITS2 (both 93.33%) and ITS2 + matK (91.67%). Thus, we propose ITS/ITS2 + matK as the most suitable barcode for invasive plants in China. This study also demonstrated that DNA barcoding is an efficient tool for identifying invasive species.     

Landscape level effects of invasive plants and animals on water infiltration through Hawaiian tropical forests

Watershed degradation due to invasion threatens downstream water flows and associated ecosystem services. While this topic has been studied across landscapes that have undergone invasive-driven state changes (e.g., native forest to invaded grassland), it is less well understood in ecosystems experiencing within-system invasion (e.g. native forest to invaded forest). To address this subject, we conducted an integrated ecological and ecohydrological study in tropical forests impacted by invasive plants and animals. We measured soil infiltration capacity in multiple fenced (i.e., ungulate-free)/unfenced and native/invaded forest site pairs along moisture and substrate age gradients across Hawaii to explore the effects of invasion on hydrological processes within tropical forests. We also characterized forest composition, structure and soil characteristics at these sites to assess the direct and vegetation-mediated impacts of invasive species on infiltration capacity. Our models show that invasive ungulates negatively affect soil infiltration capacity consistently across the wide moisture and substrate age gradients considered. Additionally, several soil characteristics known to be affected by invasive ungulates were associated with local infiltration rates, indicating that the long-term secondary effects of high ungulate densities in tropical forests may be stronger than effects observed in this study. The effect of invasive plants on infiltration was complex and likely to depend on their physiognomy within existing forest community structure. These results provide clear evidence for managers that invasive ungulate control efforts can improve ecohydrological function of mesic and wet forest systems critical to protecting downstream and nearshore resources and maintaining groundwater recharge.

     

Soil biota and invasive plants

Interactions between plants and soil biota resist invasion by some nonnative plants and facilitate others. In this review, we organize research and ideas about the role of soil biota as drivers of invasion by nonnative plants and how soil biota may fit into hypotheses proposed for invasive success. For example, some invasive species benefit from being introduced into regions of the world where they encounter fewer soil-borne enemies than in their native ranges. Other invasives encounter novel but strong soil mutualists which enhance their invasive success. Leaving below-ground natural enemies behind or encountering strong mutualists can enhance invasions, but indigenous enemies in soils or the absence of key soil mutualists can help native communities resist invasions. Furthermore, inhibitory and beneficial effects of soil biota on plants can accelerate or decelerate over time depending on the net effect of accumulating pathogenic and mutualistic soil organisms. These 'feedback' relationships may alter plant-soil biota interactions in ways that may facilitate invasion and inhibit re-establishment by native species. Although soil biota affect nonnative plant invasions in many different ways, research on the topic is broadening our understanding of why invasive plants can be so astoundingly successful and expanding our perspectives on the drivers of natural community organization.     

云南的外来入侵植物

综述云南外来入侵植物的现状、分布、入侵的主要途径和危害等。列出云南外来入侵植物75种的详细资料,详细论述其中危害较严重的紫茎泽兰、飞机草、凤眼莲、空心莲子草、马缨丹和肿柄菊等,并讨论应采取的防治对策。提出云南是我国生物多样性最丰富的地区,但也是外来入侵植物危害最严重的地区;虽然很多外来入侵植物都能在云南蔓延,但真正引起严重危害的却不多;恢复本地植被,减少对生态系统的干扰,建立外来入侵物种监测机制和风险评价体系将是防范外来入侵植物的有效途径。     

Global Invader Impact Network (GIIN): toward standardized evaluation of the ecological impacts of invasive plants

Terrestrial invasive plants are a global problem and are becoming ubiquitous components of most ecosystems. They are implicated in altering disturbance regimes, reducing biodiversity, and changing ecosystem function, sometimes in profound and irreversible ways. However, the ecological impacts of most invasive plants have not been studied experimentally, and most research to date focuses on few types of impacts, which can vary greatly among studies. Thus, our knowledge of existing ecological impacts ascribed to invasive plants is surprisingly limited in both breadth and depth. Our aim was to propose a standard methodology for quantifying baseline ecological impact that, in theory, is scalable to any terrestrial plant invader (e.g., annual grasses to trees) and any invaded system (e.g., grassland to forest). The Global Invader Impact Network (GIIN) is a coordinated distributed experiment composed of an observational and manipulative methodology. The protocol consists of a series of plots located in (1) an invaded area; (2) an adjacent removal treatment within the invaded area; and (3) a spatially separate uninvaded area thought to be similar to pre-invasion conditions of the invaded area. A standardized and inexpensive suite of community, soil, and ecosystem metrics are collected allowing broad comparisons among measurements, populations, and species. The method allows for one-time comparisons and for long-term monitoring enabling one to derive information about change due to invasion over time. Invader removal plots will also allow for quantification of legacy effects and their return rates, which will be monitored for several years. GIIN uses a nested hierarchical scale approach encompassing multiple sites, regions, and continents. Currently, GIIN has network members in six countries, with new members encouraged. To date, study species include representatives of annual and perennial grasses; annual and perennial forbs; shrubs; and trees. The goal of the GIIN framework is to create a standard yet flexible platform for understanding the ecological impacts of invasive plants, allowing both individual and synthetic analyses across a range of taxa and ecosystems. If broadly adopted, this standard approach will offer unique insight into the ecological impacts of invasive plants at local, regional, and global scales.     

An invasive fish promotes invasive plants in Minnesota lakes

1. Biological invasions can greatly alter ecological communities, affecting not only the diversity and abundance but also composition of invaded assemblages. This is because invaders’ impacts are mediated by characteristics of resident species: some may be highly sensitive to invader impacts while others are unaffected or even facilitated. In some cases, this can result in invasive species promoting further invasions; in particular, herbivory by introduced animals has been shown to disproportionately harm native plants, which can indirectly benefit non-native plants. Here, we investigated whether such patterns emerged through the effects of an invasive fish species on lake plant communities.
2. Specifically, we tested whether invasion of Minnesota (U.S.A.) lakes by Cyprinus carpio (common carp), an omnivorous, benthivorous fish known to reduce abundance and richness of aquatic plants, differentially affected native versus non-native plant species. We applied statistical models to a large, long-term monitoring dataset (206 macrophyte taxa recorded in 913 lakes over a 20-year time period) to test whether carp altered community composition, to identify which macrophyte species were most sensitive to carp and determine whether species characteristics predicted carp sensitivity, and to characterise consequences of carp invasion on lake-level vegetation attributes.
3. We found that carp exerted strong selective pressure on community composition. Native macrophytes, those with a more aquatic growth form, and those considered less tolerant of disturbance (i.e. higher coefficients of conservatism) were more sensitive to carp. Conversely, no introduced macrophytes exhibited sensitivity to carp and all had higher probabilities of occurrence as carp abundance increased. The net effect of carp invasion was a shift toward less species-rich plant communities characterised by more non-native and disturbance-tolerant species.
4. These results have several implications for conservation and management. First, they reinforce the need to prevent further spread of carp outside of their native range. Where carp have already established, their control should be incorporated into efforts to restore aquatic vegetation; this may be an essential step for recovering particular plant species of high conservation importance. Furthermore, reducing carp abundance could have ancillary benefits of reducing dominance by invasive plant species. Lastly, where carp cannot be eliminated, managers should target native macrophytes that are relatively tolerant of carp in shoreline plantings and other revegetation efforts.

     

Novel chemistry of invasive exotic plants

Of the many exotic plants that have become naturalized in North America, only a small proportion are pests capable of invading and dominating intact natural communities. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that the most invasive plants are phytochemically unique in their new habitats. A comparison of exotic plant species that are highly invasive in North America with exotics that are widespread, but non-invasive revealed that the invasive plants were more likely to have potent secondary compounds that have not been reported from North American native plants. On average, the compounds found in the invasive plants were reported from fewer species, fewer genera and fewer families than those from non-invasive plants. Many of the unique phytochemicals from invasive plants have been reported to have multiple activities, including antiherbivore, antifungal, antimicrobial and allelopathic (phytotoxic) effects, which may provide the plants with several advantages in their new environments.     

五种高速公路边坡绿化植物的生理特性及抗旱性综合评价

采用盆栽控制土壤水分,测定不同程度水分胁迫梯度下5种高速公路边坡绿化植物的叶水势、光合作用参数及叶绿素荧光参数,并以水分胁迫下各生理指标的平均变化速率为原始数据进行抗旱性综合评价。结果表明:(1)随着水分胁迫的加强,5种植物的ΨL、Pn、Tr、GS、Fv、Fm、Fv/Fm、Fv/Fo均逐渐下降,Fo逐渐升高,WUE先升后降,Ci先降后升,不同生理指标的变化幅度及拐点有一定差异;平均变化速率相对较小的是八宝景天和马蔺,较大的是肥皂草和太行菊;(2)根据水分胁迫下Gs和Ci变化方向的差异判断八宝景天、马蔺以W2作为Pn降低由气孔限制转为非气孔因素的分界线,五叶地锦、肥皂草和太行菊以W1为分界线,八宝景天、马蔺在W2时WUE最高,五叶地锦、肥皂草和太行菊在W1时最高;(3)5种植物抗旱性大小排序为:八宝景天>马蔺>五叶地锦>太行菊>肥皂草,聚类分析结果为:八宝景天、马蔺为强抗旱植物,五叶地锦为中抗旱植物,太行菊、肥皂草为弱抗旱植物。     

Adaptation and ecological resistance

The notion fitness, widely used in genetics usually serves to measure a relative rate of organism reproduction. Another important character of an organism is its ecological resistance which is basically the product of macroevolution. It can be determined as a probability of an organism survival and participation in reproduction of the species. Ecological resistance determines the level of the accidental death of organisms that are genetically valuable. For the comparison of ecological resistance in different organisms and species the negative meanings of the Malthusian parameter can be used. Ecological resistance depends on the presence in genomes of essential genes and fairly complete sets of nonessential, or adaptive, genes which can reside in genomes both as "plus" and "minus" alleles. The recovery of complete sets of adaptive genes lost as a result of mutations and, thus, of a high level of ecological resistance in organisms is provided by genetic exchange between them. With respect to mutations leading to the increase in fitness the effect of genetic exchange is negative since it leads to the formation of recombination load, i.e. a decrease in fitness of the offspring. In microevolutionary processes, the elevation in ecological resistance level does not take place since it requires a long time for the formation of new genes and new elements of organization in the process of positive selection. At the same time, a constant recovery of a high level of ecological resistance of the species decreased as a result of mutations takes place in some individuals due to genetic exchange. Mutations affecting ecological resistance of an organism, as a rule, cause a decrease in its viability and they are usually excluded from populations as a result of negative (stabilizing) selection.     

Interacting impacts of invasive plants and invasive toads on native lizards

The ecological impacts of an invasive species may be reduced by prior invasions if selective pressures imposed by earlier events preadapt the native biota to deal with the newer arrival. In northwestern Australia, invasion of the cane toad (Rhinella marina) kills many native predators if they ingest the highly toxic toads. Remarkably, the toads' defensive toxins (bufadienolides) are chemically similar to those of another invasive species: an ornamental plant from Madagascar, Bryophyllum spp. (Crassulaceae, mother-of-millions). Omnivorous lizards (bluetongue skinks, Tiliqua scincoides) are imperiled by the invasion of toads in northwestern Australia, but conspecifics from other areas of the continent (those where exotic plants were introduced and including areas where toads have yet to invade) are less affected because they exhibit higher physiological tolerance of toad toxins (and also of plant toxins). The willingness of captive bluetongues to consume both toads and these plants and the high correlation in the lizards' sensitivity to toad toxins versus plant toxins suggest that exotic plants may have imposed strong selection on the lizards' physiological tolerance of bufadienolides. As a result, populations of lizards from areas previously exposed to these alien plants may be preadapted to deal with the toxins of the more recent anuran invader.     

京津冀外来入侵植物

基于文献报道和分类学考证, 首次全面、系统而又完整地整理了京津冀近20年报道的46科141属210种外来入侵植物种类及信息。经过分析并校正分为国产种和入侵种两大类。国产种又包括一般国产种22科39属39种、国产逸生类9科13属13种、国产归化类3科3属4种、国产入侵类1科1属1种; 外来种包括实则在京津冀没有达到入侵的温室及露地栽培类8科9属9种、外来逸生类12科32属36种、外来归化类10科19属20种、外来有待观察类6科6属6种, 真正对京津冀构成入侵的外来植物20科48属82种。根据京津冀目前标本数目及采集时间、京津冀报道文献次数及具体内容描述, 结合国家入侵等级及京津冀部分地区的实地考察情况, 对82个入侵种进行入侵级别划分, 分析并讨论了京津冀外来入侵物种的组成、原产地、分布特征、生活型和入侵途径以及京津冀外来入侵植物的危害现状, 并提出防治及管理措施。     

广西新记录入侵植物

报道了广西3种新记录入侵植物,它们分别是巴西含羞草(Mimosa diplotricha C.)、直立婆婆纳(Veronica arvensis L.)和大狼把草(Bidens frondosa L.),并提供了这3种植物的特征描述和形态图。凭证标本存放于广西壮族自治区中国科学院广西植物研究所标本馆(IBK)。     

广西的外来入侵植物

通过野外调查,结合相关文献资料,发现广西目前有外来入侵植物约74种,隶属于57属26科,其中,菊科的种类最多,有19种,其次是禾本科,有10种。草本植物最多,占总数的78.4 %。从来源看,大多来源于美洲。在广西,危害较为严重的外来入侵植物主要是紫茎泽兰、飞机草、银胶菊、凤眼莲等11种。此外,还进一步论述了外来植物在广西的基本特征和入侵成因,分析其在广西的发展状况,预测其可能入侵的区域,并提出了有关的防治对策。     

Deer feeding selectivity for invasive plants

Native generalist herbivores might limit plant invasion by consuming invading plants or enhance plant invasion by selectively avoiding them. The role of herbivores in plant invasion has been investigated in relation to plant native/introduced status, however, a knowledge gap exists about whether food selection occurs according to native/introduced status or to species. We tested preference of the native herbivore white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) for widespread and frequently occurring invasive introduced and native plants in the northeastern United States. Multiple-choice deer preference trials were conducted for the species and relative preference was determined using biomass consumption and feeding behavior. While more native than introduced plant biomass was consumed overall, deer food selection varied strongly by plant species. Results show consistent deer avoidance of several invasive introduced plants (Alliaria petiolata, Berberis thunbergii, and Microstegium vimineum) and a native plant (Dennstaedtia punctilobula). Other invasive introduced plants (Celastrus orbiculatus, Ligustrum vulgare, and Lonicera morrowii) and a native plant (Acer rubrum) were highly preferred. These results provide evidence that herbivore impacts on plant invaders depend on plant species palatability. Consequently, herbivore selectivity likely plays an important role in the invasion process. To the extent that herbivory impacts population demographics, these results suggest that native generalist herbivores promote enemy release of some plant invaders by avoiding them and contribute to biotic resistance of others by consuming them.