Mechanisms of Phragmites australis invasion: feedbacks among genetic diversity, nutrients, and sexual reproduction
Karin M. Kettenring,Karin M. Kettenring,Melissa K. McCormick,Heather M. Baron,Heather M. Baron,Dennis F. Whigham +5 more
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TLDR
This research shows how nutrient enrichment and a weak Allee effect can interact across multiple scales to impact invasion success and how understanding the ecological mechanisms governing plant invasions can be used to better inform invasive plant management.Abstract:
Summary
1. A fundamental challenge to invasion ecology is to determine what factors cause an exotic species to spread rapidly long after the initial introduction. The increase of a resource (e.g. nitrogen) could trigger an expansion, but in other instances, species have overcome biological limitations (e.g. an Allee effect) like accumulating sufficient genetic diversity for successful reproduction. Understanding the ecological mechanisms governing plant invasions, such as nutrient enrichment or Allee effects, can be used to improve invasive plant management.
2. We used the invasive, introduced grass Phragmites australis as a model to evaluate the role of nutrient enrichment and Allee effects in invasion. Based on recent studies that demonstrated the importance of sexual reproduction in this plant’s spread, we chose to focus our efforts on reproductive output. We examined the effects of patch-level genetic diversity on viable seed production across watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay, USA, with differing levels of anthropogenic development (a proxy for nutrient enrichment). In an outdoor mesocosm experiment, we treated Phragmites plants originating from forested and developed watersheds with elevated vs. ambient nutrients and cross vs. self-pollination and determined the effects on viable seed, floret and inflorescence production.
3. The proportion of viable seeds produced at field sites varied widely and was not directly related to watershed development. Instead, seed viability was positively related to patch-level genetic diversity, and patches in more developed watersheds had higher genetic diversity. Also, plants in larger patches produced a higher proportion of viable seeds. In the mesocosm experiment, seed viability was substantially higher for out-crossed plants. Elevated nutrients resulted in greater floret and inflorescence production, particularly for plants originating from developed vs. forested watersheds.
4. These findings have important management implications: small populations should be controlled before they accumulate sufficient genetic variation for prolific viable seed production, and landscape-scale nutrient management could further limit reproductive output.
5. Synthesis and applications. Our research shows how nutrient enrichment and a weak Allee effect can interact across multiple scales to impact invasion success and how understanding the ecological mechanisms governing plant invasions can be used to better inform invasive plant management.read more
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Phragmites australis management in the United States: 40 years of methods and outcomes
Eric L. G. Hazelton,Eric L. G. Hazelton,Thomas J. Mozdzer,Thomas J. Mozdzer,David M. Burdick,Karin M. Kettenring,Karin M. Kettenring,Dennis F. Whigham +7 more
TL;DR: This model of Phragmites establishment and reproduction describes the invasion as a symptom of watershed-scale land use and disturbance and advocates more holistic approaches to control and management that focus on improving water quality and minimizing human disturbance to deter future invasion and improve resilience of native plant communities.
Journal ArticleDOI
Cosmopolitan Species As Models for Ecophysiological Responses to Global Change: The Common Reed Phragmites australis
Franziska Eller,Hana Skálová,Joshua S. Caplan,Ganesh P. Bhattarai,Melissa K. Burger,James T. Cronin,Wen-Yong Guo,Xiao Guo,Xiao Guo,Eric L. G. Hazelton,Karin M. Kettenring,Carla Lambertini,Melissa K. McCormick,Laura A. Meyerson,Thomas J. Mozdzer,Petr Pyšek,Petr Pyšek,Brian K. Sorrell,Dennis F. Whigham,Hans Brix +19 more
TL;DR: It is suggested that the diverse lineages of P. australis will undergo intense selective pressure in the face of global change such that the distributions and interactions of co-occurring lineages, as well as those of genotypes within-lineages, are very likely to be altered.
Journal ArticleDOI
Biological Flora of the British Isles: Phragmites australis
Jasmin G. Packer,Jasmin G. Packer,Laura A. Meyerson,Hana Skálová,Petr Pyšek,Petr Pyšek,Petr Pyšek,Christoph Kueffer,Christoph Kueffer +8 more
TL;DR: A detailed account of the biology of Phragmites australis (Cav. ex Steud) can be found in this article, where the main topics are presented within the standard framework of the Biological Flora of the British Isles: distribution, habitat, communities, responses to biotic factors and to the abiotic environment.
Journal ArticleDOI
Genetic diversity, reproductive mode, and dispersal differ between the cryptic invader, Phragmites australis, and its native conspecific
TL;DR: This work uses genetic tools to compare the non-native, invasive Phragmites australis to its native conspecific, P. americanus, in wetlands of Utah and southern Idaho and finds striking differences in genetic structuring, population diversity, and mode of reproduction.
Journal ArticleDOI
Invasion of Old World Phragmites australis in the New World: precipitation and temperature patterns combined with human influences redesign the invasive niche
TL;DR: It is suggested that an increase in precipitation in the 20th century, global warming and human-made habitats have shaped the invasive niches of the two lineages in the New World.
References
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