Journal ArticleDOI
Allelopathy and exotic plant invasion
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TLDR
It is argued that non-resource mechanisms should be returned to the discussion table as a potential mechanism for explaining the remarkable success of some invasive species.Abstract:
The primary hypothesis for the astonishing success of many exotics as community invaders relative to their importance in their native communities is that they have escaped the natural enemies that control their population growth – the `natural enemies hypothesis'. However, the frequent failure of introduced biocontrols, weak consumer effects on the growth and reproduction of some invaders, and the lack of consistent strong top-down regulation in many natural ecological systems indicate that other mechanisms must be involved in the success of some exotic plants. One mechanism may be the release by the invader of chemical compounds that have harmful effects on the members of the recipient plant community (i.e., allelopathy). Here, we provide an abbreviated compilation of evidence for allelopathy in general, present a detailed case study for Centaurea diffusa, an invasive Eurasian forb in western North America, and review general evidence for allelopathic effects of invasive plants in native communities. The primary rationale for considering allelopathy as a mechanism for the success of invaders is based on two premises. First, invaders often establish virtual monocultures where diverse communities once flourished, a phenomenon unusual in natural communities. Second, allelopathy may be more important in recipient than in origin communities because the former are more likely to be naive to the chemicals possessed by newly arrived species. Indeed, results from experiments on C. diffusa suggest that this invader produces chemicals that long-term and familiar Eurasian neighbors have adapted to, but that C. diffusa's new North American neighbors have not. A large number of early studies demonstrated strong potential allelopathic effects of exotic invasive plants; however, most of this work rests on controversial methodology. Nevertheless, during the last 15 years, methodological approaches have improved. Allelopathic effects have been tested on native species, allelochemicals have been tested in varying resource conditions, models have been used to estimate comparisons of resource and allelopathic effects, and experimental techniques have been used to ameliorate chemical effects. We do not recommend allelopathy as a `unifying theory' for plant interactions, nor do we espouse the view that allelopathy is the dominant way that plants interact, but we argue that non-resource mechanisms should be returned to the discussion table as a potential mechanism for explaining the remarkable success of some invasive species. Ecologists should consider the possibility that resource and non-resource mechanisms may work simultaneously, but vary in their relative importance depending on the ecological context in which they are studied. One such context might be exotic plant invasion.read more
Citations
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The association of Lantana camara with elephant (Elephas maximus), their food, habitat use and feeding behaviour in southern India
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the association of an exotic invasive weed, Lantana camara L., with the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), its food resources (grass and browse), habitat use and feeding behavior in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, southern India.
Journal ArticleDOI
Meta-analytic evidence that allelopathy may increase the success and impact of invasive grasses
Manya Singh,Curtis C. Daehler +1 more
TL;DR: This paper conducted a meta-analysis of studies on grass allelopathy to test three prominent hypotheses from invasion biology and competition theory: (1) on native recipients, non-native grasses will have a significantly more negative effect compared to native grasses (Novel Weapons Hypothesis); (2) among native grassES, their effect on nonnative recipients will be significant more negative compared to their effect to native recipients; and (3) allelopathic impacts will increase with phylogenetic distance.
Dissertation
Résilience des services écosystémiques à l’échelle du paysage : un cadre conceptuel et une analyse pour un socio-écosystème de montagne
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose deux approches for evaluer les potentiels de resilience des differents etats dans lequel peut se trouver un socio-ecosystem, en considerant the resilience comme the capacite d'un systeme a maintenir une fourniture stable of services ecosystemiques (composante resistance) mais aussi sa capacite a l’adapter (differentes composantes selon le degre d'adaptation : resilience, transition, transformation).
DissertationDOI
The role of adaptive evolution of phenotypic plasticity and historical population genetic processes in purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.) invasion in North America
TL;DR: Phenotypic plasticity of native vs. invasive purple loosestrife: a two-state multivariate approach and the role of local Adaptation and Hybridization in this study.
References
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Book
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life
TL;DR: The "Penguin Classics" edition of "On the Origin of Species" as discussed by the authors contains an introduction and notes by William Bynum, and features a cover designed by Damien Hirst.
Journal ArticleDOI
Biotic invasions: causes, epidemiology, global consequences, and control
Richard N. Mack,Daniel Simberloff,W. Mark Lonsdale,Harry C. Evans,M. N. Clout,Fakhri A. Bazzaz +5 more
TL;DR: Given their current scale, biotic invasions have taken their place alongside human-driven atmospheric and oceanic alterations as major agents of global change and left unchecked, they will influence these other forces in profound but still unpredictable ways.
Journal ArticleDOI
Evidence for the existence of three primary strategies in plants and its relevance to ecological and evolutionary theory
TL;DR: A triangular model based upon the three strategies of evolution in plants may be reconciled with the theory of r- and K-selection, provides an insight into the processes of vegetation succession and dominance, and appears to be capable of extension to fungi and to animals.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants.
P. W. Richards,Charles Elton +1 more