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Effects of leaf litter on inter-specific competitive ability of the invasive plant Wedelia trilobata

  • Original Article
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Ecological Research

Abstract

Allelochemicals released by invasive plants contribute to the successful invasion of new habitats. However, the relationship between allelopathic effects and competitive ability of invasive plants has not been characterized. We quantified the neighbor effects of Wedelia trilobata (family: Asteraceae) and the allelopathic effects of its leaf litter on two Asteraceae competitor species (invasive Eupatorium catarium and non-invasive Lactuca sativa) and on its own ramet growth. The seed germination rate and seedling biomass of the two competitor species decreased following treatment with W. trilobata leaf extracts. When co-cultured with W. trilobata, the total biomass of the two competitor species significantly decreased regardless of whether leaf extracts were present. Under low plant density co-culture conditions, W. trilobata leaf extracts enhanced the inhibitory effects on E. catarium. In contrast, W. trilobata leaf extracts promoted the growth of W. trilobata adventitious roots, resulting in increased competitive ability. Therefore, W. trilobata growth was promoted by its own allelochemicals in leaf extracts, whereas the growth of the invasive and non-invasive competitors was inhibited by the same chemicals. These responses facilitated the invasion by W. trilobata. Our study demonstrates that leaf litter of invasive plants may inhibit the growth of neighboring species to enhance the competitive ability of the invasive plants during the early stages of invasion.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170386, 31200316, and 31200317), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu (BK20150503 and BK20150504), the Jiangsu University Research Foundation (14JDG010 and 15JDG032), the Natural Science Research Project of Higher Education of Jiangsu (14KJB610005), the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program for College Students of Jiangsu (201310299024), the Jiangsu Planned Projects for Postdoctoral Research Funds (1501028B), the Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), the Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Water Treatment Technology and Materials. We would like to thank Si-Chong Chen for her helpful comments and discussions. We thank Jonathan Teichroew for carefully revising an earlier draft of this manuscript. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the journal editors for their comments that have helped to improve this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. **gjiang College, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China

    Zhi-Cong Dai

  2. Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China

    Zhi-Cong Dai, **ao-Ying Wang, Shan-Shan Qi, Hong-Hong Cai, Jian-Fan Sun, ** Huang & Dao-Lin Du

  3. Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education and Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China

    Zhi-Cong Dai & Dao-Lin Du

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  1. Zhi-Cong Dai
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Correspondence to Shan-Shan Qi or Dao-Lin Du.

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Dai, ZC., Wang, XY., Qi, SS. et al. Effects of leaf litter on inter-specific competitive ability of the invasive plant Wedelia trilobata . Ecol Res 31, 367–374 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-016-1344-0

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