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Processes and factors that affect regeneration and establishment of the invasive aquatic plant Cabomba caroliniana

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Abstract

Many invasive macrophytes reproduce through fragments that are transported actively or passively to new habitats. On arrival, regeneration of fragments and colonisation of the new environment are critical steps in the invasion process. The effects of environmental and plant factors that potentially affect regeneration and colonisation success of Cabomba caroliniana A. Gray (Cabombaceae; cabomba, fanwort) were studied. C. caroliniana fragments had a very high regeneration potential that was not affected by nutrient availability. However, larger and apical fragments had higher establishment rate and regenerative growth. The coarseness of the substrate did not have any effect on establishment of C. caroliniana. Overall, even a single-node fragment had 50% establishment success when planted in substrate and this increased to 100% for fragments with two or more nodes. In contrast, free-floating propagules had only a 1–30% chance of colonisation, depending on the size of the fragment. It appears that propagule pressure is of less importance for the colonisation of C. caroliniana than the process of physical establishment in the substrate which acts as a bottleneck. Future work should address the specific processes that determine retention and establishment of propagules in the sediment.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Christine Perrett and Cameron Clarke for assisting with all the experimental works of the project. The research was funded by the Queensland Government, Queensland local Governments and through a Rural Industries Research Grant (RIRDC, PRJ-006986). The constructive comments of the reviewers and the editor helped to greatly improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Invasive Plant Science, Biosecurity Queensland, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), Brisbane, Australia

    Tobias O. Bickel

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  1. Tobias O. Bickel
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Correspondence to Tobias O. Bickel.

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Handling editor: Luis Mauricio Bini

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

10750_2016_2995_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Mean precent regeneration of shoots from different fragment types over the course of the regeneration experiment. Supplementary Material 1 (PDF 10 kb)

10750_2016_2995_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

Mean precent regeneration of roots from different fragment types over the course of the regeneration experiment. Supplementary Material 2 (PDF 10 kb)

10750_2016_2995_MOESM3_ESM.pdf

Mean precent regeneration of shoots from different fragment types over the course of the nutrient regeneration experiment. Supplementary Material 3 (PDF 11 kb)

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Bickel, T.O. Processes and factors that affect regeneration and establishment of the invasive aquatic plant Cabomba caroliniana . Hydrobiologia 788, 157–168 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2995-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-016-2995-0

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