Abstract
Aims
Sea level rise and increases in species invasions are impacting estuarine ecosystems, but physiological tolerances of invasive plants are poorly understood. We investigated the responses of invasive Iris pseudacorus to increasing salinity, inundation and their interaction. We hypothesized that I. pseudacorus would show poor tolerance to salinity and high tolerance to inundation, and we expected deleterious effects in response to their interaction.
Methods
We analyzed 34 traits categorized into five functional groups (biomass production and allocation, leaf morphology, leaf chemistry, below-ground storage and gas exchange), and their responses to three salinity levels (0.5, 17 and 35 ppt), two inundation depths (-5 and -45 cm below water surface) and their combinations. These traits were recorded in a greenhouse experiment for pre-reproductive plants of three populations invading intertidal wetlands in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary.
Results
Experimental outcomes indicate I. pseudacorus is highly vulnerable to increasing salinity during the pre-reproductive life stage. Even a mid-range brackish salinity concentration (17 ppt) was sufficient to induce maximum negative response effects on I. pseudacorus compared to freshwater conditions. While the species showed tolerance to inundation, increasing salinity limited its capacity to acclimate to greater inundation.
Conclusions
Pre-reproductive plants of I. pseudacorus are vulnerable to salinity and tidal range increases that accompany sea level rise. Efforts to eradicate and control expansion of the invasive populations in estuaries should focus on rapid response to manage newly colonizing populations in freshwater tidal locations, since the successful growth of I. pseudacorus is best supported in these benign environments.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
Code availability
Not applicable.
Abbreviations
- SFE:
-
San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary
- A :
-
Photosynthetic rate
- gs :
-
Stomatal conductance
- WUE:
-
Water use efficiency
- AW:
-
Above the waterline
- LAI:
-
Leaf area index
- SLA:
-
Specific leaf area
- DW:
-
Dry weight
- AGB:
-
Above-ground biomass
- BGB:
-
Below-ground biomass
- RMR:
-
Root mass ratio
- LMR:
-
Leaf mass ratio
- LWC:
-
Leaf water content
- LRWC:
-
Leaf relative water content
- FW:
-
Fresh weight
- TW:
-
Turgid weight
- Chl:
-
Chlorophyll
- Car:
-
Carotenoids
- TNC:
-
Total nonstructural carbohydrates
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Acknowledgements
We thank Rebecca Drenovsky, John Carroll University, for comments that improved our manuscript. We thank Christina Freeman and Nita Barve, California State Parks, for scientific research and collection permits that granted access for seed collections at Brannan Island and Benicia State Recreation Areas (Delta and Carquinez sites). We also thank Christy Morgan, Laboratory Assistant, University of California, Davis for piloting a boat for essential water access and seed collections at Suisun. This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Mention of trade names or commercial products is solely to provide specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by USDA.
Funding
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service cooperative agreement with Universidad de Sevilla partially supported this work.
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BJG, BGT, CJF and JMC conceived and designed the study. BJG, CJF, RR, and JMC collected samples, implemented and harvested the experiment. Plant and soil analyses were carried out by BJG, CJF, and RR. BJG, BGT and JMC conducted the statistical analyses. BJG, BGT, MBG and JMC wrote the draft manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Grewell, B.J., Gallego-Tévar, B., Gillard, M.B. et al. Salinity and inundation effects on Iris pseudacorus: implications for tidal wetland invasion with sea level rise. Plant Soil 466, 275–291 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-04997-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-04997-8