Cross‐Continental Shifts of Ecological Strategy in a Global Plant Invader
ABSTRACT Aim Plant invasions are a global problem that requires studying plants and their environmental associations across native and introduced ranges. Location 2000 km transects in China, Europe and North America. Time Period June 2019–July 2020. Major Taxa Studied Japanese knotweed ( Reynoutria japonica ). Methods We surveyed 150 populations of Japanese knotweed, a noxious invader of the temperate zone, along 2000 km transects in native China and the introduced ranges of Europe and North America. Results We found that larger plants and denser populations in the introduced ranges were associated with shifts in leaf economy and chemical defences. Introduced knotweed populations had higher SLA but reduced leaf chlorophyll, lignin, C:N ratio and leaf toughness along with altered leaf tannins, flavonoids and alkaloids. We found three distinct multivariate knotweed phenotypes primarily in the introduced ranges, and two multivariate knotweed phenotypes mainly in native populations. Main Conclusions Decreased herbivore and pathogen impacts in introduced populations and changes in environmental associations indicate that enemy release and novel habitat conditions might have driven the emergence of novel ecological strategies in this global plant invader.
Authors
- Ramona-Elena Irimia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5304-8660)
- Zuzana Chumová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6865-6183)
- Conner Richardson
- Julia Carolina Rafalski
- Jeannie Mounger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4315-3301)
- Christina L. Richards (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7848-5165)
- Madalin Parepa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3567-3884)
- Zhiyong Liao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6411-2042)
- Oliver Bossdorf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7504-6511)
- Shengyu Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2161-5317)
- Fatima Elkott
- Jihua Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8623-8519)
- Xin Zhuang
- Jingwen Bi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5161-3952)
- Pavel Trávníček (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5806-1645)
- Rui‐Ting Ju (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9265-8245)
- Yujie Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7028-2408)
- Eva Schloter
- Bo Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0439-5666)
- Peipei Cao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0026-9787)
- Ji Xin Yang
- Jie-Ren Jin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0836-0107)
- Weihan Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6575-7623)
- Elodie Kugler
Institutions
- Yunnan University (CN)
- University of Konstanz (DE)
- Fudan University (CN)
- University of South Florida (US)
- Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (CN)
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany (CZ)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Global Ecology and Biogeography
- Published
- 2025-02-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.70001
- Citations
- 8
- Primary Topic
- Plant Parasitism and Resistance
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 14.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- European Commission
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Akademie Věd České Republiky
- Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Department
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
- Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences
- H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions