Ecological explanations for successful invasion of exotic plants

Abstract

The intentional introduction of exotic species can increase the level of local biodiversity, enrich people’s material lives, and bring significant social and economic benefits that are also the symbols of human progress. However, along with the frequent intercourse among countries and regions, the frequency of uncontrolled cross-regional migration of species is increased and there is a lack of scientific management strategy for the intentional introduction of exotic species. Exotic species invasion, which is behind habitat fragmentation, has become the second largest threatening factor to the maintenance of the global-scale level of biological diversity. Exotic species invasion can destroy the structure of an ecosystem, disturb the economic life of a society, and do harm to human health. In this paper, the authors review some of the ecological explanations for issues such as “what causes or mechanisms have led to the successful invasion of exotic species”, including the “ideal weeds characteristics”, “biodiversity resistance hypothesis”, “enemies release hypothesis”, “evolution of increased competitive ability hypothesis”, “niche opportunity hypothesis”, and “novel weapon hypothesis”. The authors also analyze and evaluate the background and theoretical basis of the hypotheses, providing explanations for some phenomena, as well as the deficiencies of these explanations.

Keywords

exotic plant / biological diversity / novel weapon hypothesis

References

[2] Bais H P, Vepachedu R, Gilroy S, Callaway R M, Vivanco J M (2003). Allelopathy and exotic plant invasion: From molecules and genes to species interactions. Science, 301: 1377-1380

[1] Bais H P, Walker T S, Stermitz F R, Vivanco J M (2002). Enantiomeric-dependent phytotoxic and antimicrobial activity (±)-catechin, A rhizosecreted racemic mixture from spotted knapweed. Plant Physiol, 128: 1173-1179

[3] Baker H G (1962). Weeds-native and introduced. Journal of the California Horticultural Society, 23: 97-104

[4] Baker H G (1965). Characteristics and modes of origin of weeds. In: Baker H G, Stebbins G L,eds. The genetics of colonizing species. London: Academic Press, 23: 147-172

[5] Baker H G (1974). The Evolution of Weeds. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 5: 1-24

[6] Baskin Y (1998). Winners and losers in a changing world: global changes may promote invasion and alter the fate of invasive species. Bioscience, 48(10): 788-792

[7] Blossey B, Notzold R (1995). Evolution increased competitive ability in invasive nonindigenous plants: A hypothesis. The Journal of Ecology, 83: 887-889

[8] Blumenthal D M, Hufbauer R A (2007). Increased plant size in exotic populations: A common-garden test with 14 invasive species. Ecology, 88(11): 2758-2765

[9] Callaway R M, DeLuca T, Ridenour W M (1999). Herbivores used for biological control may increase the competitive ability of the noxious weed Centaurea maculosa. Ecology, 80: 1196-1201

[10] Callaway R M, Ridenour W M (2004). Novel weapons: invasive success and evolution of increased competitive ability. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment. 2(8): 436-443

[11] Carlton J T (1979). History, biogeography, and ecology of the introduced marine and estuarine invertebrates of the pacific coast of North America. Veliger, 21(3): 375-378

[12] Castello J D (1995). Pathogens, patterns, and processes in forest ecosystem. Conservation Biology, 78: 207-214

[13] Chesson P (2000). Mechanisms of maintenance of species diversity. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 31: 343

[14] Crawley M J (1987). What makes a community invasible? London: Blackwell Scientific, 429-453

[15] Crawley M J (1989). Chance and timing in biological invasions. In: Drake J A, ed. Biological Invasions: A Global Perspective. Chichester, New York: John Wiley, 407-423

[16] Daehler C C, Strong D R (1993). Prediction and biological invasions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 8: 380

[17] Darwin C (1859). The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. London: Penguin Books Ltd, John Murray

[18] Dunkes J S (2002). Species composition and diversity affect grassland susceptibility and response to invasion. Ecological Applications, 12: 602-617

[19] Elton C S (1958). The Ecology of Invasion by Animals and Plants. London: Chapman and Hall, 143-153

[20] Enserink M (1999). Predicting invasions: biological invaders sweep in. Science, 285: 1834-1836

[21] Frank D A, Mcnaughton S J (1991). Stability increases with diversity in plant-communities-empirical-evidence from the 1988 Yellowstone drought. Oikos, 62(3), 360-362

[22] Gillett J B (1962). Pest pressure, an underestimated factor in evolution. Systematics AssociationPublication No. 4, Taxonomy and Geography, 37-46

[23] Gonzalez A, Lambert A, Ricciardi A (2008). When does ecosystem engineering cause invasion and species replacement? Oikos, 117(8): 1247-1257

[24] Hermes N (1992). Norfolk Island Ground-Dove. Threatened and Extinct Birds of Australia, Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, Melbourne, and Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra, 71

[25] Hierro J L, Callaway R M (2003). Allelopathy and exotic invasion. Plant and Soil, 256: 29-39

[26] Holm L G, Plucknett L, Pancho J V, Herberger J P (1978). The world’s worst weeds: The indistribution and biology. Hawaii: University Press

[27] Hull-Sanders H M, Clare R, Johnson R H, Meger G A (2007). Evaluation of the evolution of increased competitive ability (EICA) hypothesis: Loss of defense against generalist but not specialist herbivores. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 33(4): 781-799

[28] Julien B, Fenves S J, Small M J (1992). An environmental-impact identification system.Journal of Environmental Management, 36(3): 167-184

[29] Keane R M, Crawley M J (2002). Exotic plant invasions and the enemy release hypothesis. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 17(4): 164-170

[30] Kennedy T A, Naeem S, Howe K M, Knops J M, Tilman D, Reich P (2002). Biodiversity as barrier to ecological invasion. Nature, 417: 636-638

[31] Knops J M H. Griffin J R, Royalty A C(1995). Introduced and native plants of the Hastings Reservation, central coastal California-a comparison. Biological Conservation, 71(2): 115-123

[32] Kolar C S, Lodge D M (2001). Predicting invaders-response. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 16: 546

[33] Law R, Morton R D (1996). Permanence and the assembly of ecological communities. Ecology, 77: 762-775

[34] Levine J M, D’Antonio C M (1999). Elton revisited: a review of evidence linking diversity and invasibility. Oikos, 87: 15-26

[35] Levine J M, Vilá M, D’Antonio C M, Ughrin Y (2002). Mechanisms underlying the impacts of exotic plant invasions.Proceedings-Royal Society of London. Biological sciences, 270: 775-781

[36] Li W H (2005). Conservation Biodiversity. Ministry of Environment Protection of P R China

[37] Li Z Y, Xie Y (2002). Invasive alien species in China. Beijing: China Forestry Publishing House, 138 (in Chinese )

[38] Ling B, Zhang M X, Kong C H, Zhou A Y (2003). Chemical composition of volatile oil from Chromolaena odorataand its effect on plant, fungi and insect growth. Journal of Applied Ecology, 14(5): 744-746 (in Chinese)

[39] Lu Z J, Ma K P (2005). Scale dependent relationships between native plant diversity and the invasion of croftonweed (Eupatorium adenophorum) in southwest China. Weed Science, 53(5): 600-604 (in Chinese)

[40] MacArthur R H (1955). Fluctuations of animal populations and a measure of community stability. Ecology, 36: 533-536

[42] Mack R N (1996). Predicting the identity and fate of plant invaders: emergent and emerging approaches. Conservation Biology, 78: 107-121

[41] Mack R N, Simberloff D, Lonsdale W M, Evans H, Clout M, Bazzaz F A (2000). Biotic invasions: causes, epidemiology, global consequences, and control. Ecological Applications, 10(3): 689-710

[43] Mallik A U, Pellissier F (2000). Effects of Vaccinium myrtilluson spruce regeneration: testing the notion of coevolutionary significance of allelopathy. Chemical Ecology, 26: 2197-2209

[44] Maron J L, Connors P G (1996). A native nitrogen-fixing shrub facilitates weed invasion. Oecologia, 105: 302-312

[46] Maron J L, Vilá M (2001). When do herbivores affect plant invasion? Evidence for the natural enemies and biotic resistance hypotheses. Oikos, 95: 361-373

[45] Maron J L, Vilá M, Bommarco R, Elmendorf S, Beardsley P (2004). Rapid evolution of an invasive plant. Ecology, 74: 261-280

[47] May R M, MacArthur R H (1972). Niche overlap as a function of environment variability. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 69(5): 1109-1113

[48] McNeely J A (2001). National parks and protected areas: Keystones to conservation and sustainable development. Ecological Economics, 38(1): 156-157

[49] Mitchell C G, Power A G (2003). Release of invasive plants from fungal and viral pathogens. Nature, 421: 625-627

[50] Naeem S J, Knops J M H, Tilman D, Howe K M, Kennedy T, Gale S (2000). Plant diversity increases resistance to invasion in the absence of covarying extrinsic factors. Oikos, 91(1): 97-108

[51] Palmer M W, Maurer T (1997). Does diversity beget diversity? A case study of crops and weeds. Science, 8: 235-240

[52] Pimentel D, Lach L, Zuniga R, Morrison D (2000). Environmental and economic costs of non-indigenous species in the United States. Bioscience, 50: 53-65

[53] Post W M, Pimm S L (1983). Community assembly and food web stability. Mathematical Bioscience, 64(2): 169-182

[54] Pysek P, Prach K, Rejmanek M, Pysek A (1995). Plant Invasions-General Aspects and Special Problems. The Hague: SPB Academic, 263

[55] Randall J M, Hoshovsky M C (2000). California’s Wild land Invasive Plants. California: University of California Press, 360

[56] Reichard S H, Hamilton C W (1997). Predicting invasions of woody plants introduced into North America. Conservation Biology, 11(1): 193-203

[57] Reinhart K O, Packer A, Van der Putten W H, Clay K (2003). Plant-soil biota interactions and spatial distribution of black cherry in its native and invasive ranges. Ecology Letters, 6(12): 1046-1050

[58] Rejmanek M, Richardson D M (1996). What attributes make some plant species more invasive? Ecology, 77(6): 1655-1661

[59] Rice E L (1974). Allelopathy. 2nd ed. New York: Academic Press

[60] Shao H, Peng S L, Wei X Y, Zhang D Q, Zhang C (2005). Potential allelochemicals from an invasive weed Mikania micrantha H. B. K. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 31(7): 1657-1668.

[61] Shea K, Chesson P (2002). Community ecology theory as a framework for biological invasions. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 17(4): 170-176

[62] Siemann E, Rogers W E (2001). Genetic differences in growth of an invasive tree species. Ecology Letters, 4: 514-518

[63] Siemann E, Rogers W E (2003). Increased competitive ability of an invasive tree limited by an invasive beetle. Ecological Applications, 13: 1503-1507

[64] Stohlgren T J, Binkley D, Chong G W, Kalkhan M A, Schell L D, Bull K A, Otsuki Y, Newman G, Bashkin M, Son Y (1999). Exotic plant species invade hot spots of native plant diversity. Ecological Monographs, 69(1): 25-46

[65] Sun W H, Yu Z W, Yu S W (1988). Inhibitory effect of Eichhornia crassipes(Mart.) Solms on algae. Journal of Plant Physiology and Molecular Biology, 14(3): 294-300

[66] Sutherland S (2004). What makes a weed a weed: life history traits of native and exotic plants in the USA. Oecologia, 141: 24-39

[67] Symstad A J (2000). A test of the effects of functional group richness and composition on grassland invisibility. Ecology, 81(1): 99-109

[68] Vitousek P M (1997). Introduced species: a significant component of human-caused global change. New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 21: 1-16

[69] Vivanco J M, Bais H P, Stermitz F R, Thelen G C, Callaway R M (2004). Biogeographical variation in community response to root allelochemistry: novel weapons and exotic invasion. Ecology Letters, 7(4): 285-292

[70] Wang D L (1995). Review of allelopathy research of Ambrasia genus. Chinese Journal of Ecology, 14(4): 48-53

[71] Wang D L, Zhu X H (1996). Allelopathic research of Ambrosia trifida. Acta Phytoecology Sinica, 20: 330-337

[72] Wang Q, Ruan X, Li Z H, Pan C D (2007). Autotoxicity of plants and research of Coniferous forest autotoxicity. Scientia Silvae Sinicae, 43(6): 134-142

[73] White P S (1997). Biodiversity and exotic species threat. Nashville, TN: Tennessee exotic pest plant council, USDA Forest Service, 1-80

[74] Williams J R (1954). The Biological Control of Weeds. London: Report of the Sixth Commonwealth Entomological Congress, 95-98

[75] Williamson M (1996). Biological Invasions. New York: Chapman & Hall

[76] Williamson M (1999). Invasions. Ecography, 22(1): 5-12

[77] Willis A J, Thomas M B, Lawton J H (1999). Is the increased vigour of invasive weeds explained by trade-off between growth and herbivore resistance? Oecologia, 120(4): 632-640

[78] Wolfe L M (2002). Why alien invaders succeed: support for the escape-from-enemy hypothesis. The American Naturalist, 160: 705-11

[79] Yu X J, Yu D, Ma K P (2004). Relationships between allelopathy and invasiveness by Eupatorium Adenophrumat different sites. Acta Phytoecologica Sinica, 28(6): 773-780

[80] Zeng R S, Lin X L, Luo S M (1996). Allelopathic potential of wedelia chinensisand its allelochemicals. Ecology, 16(1): 20-27 (in Chinese)

[81] Zhang Q S (1997). Effects of soil extracts from repeated plantation woodland of Chinese-fir on microbial activities and soil nitrogen mineralization dynamics. Plant and Soil, 191(2): 205-212

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30770334).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg