TITLE:
Do Higher Resource Capture Ability and Utilization Efficiency Facilitate the Successful Invasion of Exotic Plant? A Case Study of Alternanthera philoxeroides
AUTHORS:
Xuyan Geng, Shang Jiang, Bo Li, Xiaoyun Pan
KEYWORDS:
Invasive Plant; Resource Use Efficiency; Construction Cost; Leaf Nitrogen
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.4 No.9,
August
29,
2013
ABSTRACT: We tested the
hypothesis that introduced populations may have higher resource capture ability
and utilization efficiency than native ones of invasive plants. We compared
ecophysiological traits including maximum photosynthetic rate (Pmax),
apparent quantum yield (Q), specific leaf area (SLA), photosynthetic energy use
efficiency (PEUE), photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE), water
use efficiency (WUE), mass-based and area-based leaf construction cost (CCmass and CCarea), and mass-based and area-based leaf nitrogen
concentration (Nmass and Narea) between native
(Argentina) and introduced (USA) populations of two varieties (North Apa and
South Apo) of Alternanthera philoxeroides under common garden
conditions in China. For Apo and Apa, Pmax,
Q, Nmass and WUE were not
significantly different between native and introduced populations; introduced
populations had significantly lower SLA and lower CCmass but significantly higher
Narea and CCarea than native ones. For Apa, the introduced
populations showed significantly lower PEUE and lower PNUE while for Apo, PEUE
and PNUE were not significantly different between native and introduced populations.
The results indicated that introduced populations of A. philoxeroides do
not show higher resource capture ability and resource utilization efficiency
than their native ones in the common garden experiment, suggesting that these
traits may not necessarily contribute to successful invasion of invasive
plants.