Minimal effects of an invasive flowering shrub on the pollinator community of native forbs.

Biological invasions can strongly influence species interactions such as pollination. Most of the documented effects of exotic plant species on plant-pollinator interactions have been observational studies using single pairs of native and exotic plants, and have focused on dominant exotic plant spec...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Y Anny Chung, Laura A Burkle, Tiffany M Knight
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4208741?pdf=render
_version_ 1828752126150443008
author Y Anny Chung
Laura A Burkle
Tiffany M Knight
author_facet Y Anny Chung
Laura A Burkle
Tiffany M Knight
author_sort Y Anny Chung
collection DOAJ
description Biological invasions can strongly influence species interactions such as pollination. Most of the documented effects of exotic plant species on plant-pollinator interactions have been observational studies using single pairs of native and exotic plants, and have focused on dominant exotic plant species. We know little about how exotic plants alter interactions in entire communities of plants and pollinators, especially at low to medium invader densities. In this study, we began to address these gaps by experimentally removing the flowers of a showy invasive shrub, Rosa multiflora, and evaluating its effects on the frequency, richness, and composition of bee visitors to co-flowering native plants. We found that while R. multiflora increased plot-level richness of bee visitors to co-flowering native plant species at some sites, its presence had no significant effects on bee visitation rate, visitor richness, bee community composition, or abundance overall. In addition, we found that compared to co-flowering natives, R. multiflora was a generalist plant that primarily received visits from generalist bee species shared with native plant species. Our results suggest that exotic plants such as R. multiflora may facilitate native plant pollination in a community context by attracting a more diverse assemblage of pollinators, but have limited and idiosyncratic effects on the resident plant-pollinator network in general.
first_indexed 2024-12-10T21:04:51Z
format Article
id doaj.art-87a7aeabf81740169f1e6644596ff717
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1932-6203
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-10T21:04:51Z
publishDate 2014-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj.art-87a7aeabf81740169f1e6644596ff7172022-12-22T01:33:41ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-01910e10908810.1371/journal.pone.0109088Minimal effects of an invasive flowering shrub on the pollinator community of native forbs.Y Anny ChungLaura A BurkleTiffany M KnightBiological invasions can strongly influence species interactions such as pollination. Most of the documented effects of exotic plant species on plant-pollinator interactions have been observational studies using single pairs of native and exotic plants, and have focused on dominant exotic plant species. We know little about how exotic plants alter interactions in entire communities of plants and pollinators, especially at low to medium invader densities. In this study, we began to address these gaps by experimentally removing the flowers of a showy invasive shrub, Rosa multiflora, and evaluating its effects on the frequency, richness, and composition of bee visitors to co-flowering native plants. We found that while R. multiflora increased plot-level richness of bee visitors to co-flowering native plant species at some sites, its presence had no significant effects on bee visitation rate, visitor richness, bee community composition, or abundance overall. In addition, we found that compared to co-flowering natives, R. multiflora was a generalist plant that primarily received visits from generalist bee species shared with native plant species. Our results suggest that exotic plants such as R. multiflora may facilitate native plant pollination in a community context by attracting a more diverse assemblage of pollinators, but have limited and idiosyncratic effects on the resident plant-pollinator network in general.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4208741?pdf=render
spellingShingle Y Anny Chung
Laura A Burkle
Tiffany M Knight
Minimal effects of an invasive flowering shrub on the pollinator community of native forbs.
PLoS ONE
title Minimal effects of an invasive flowering shrub on the pollinator community of native forbs.
title_full Minimal effects of an invasive flowering shrub on the pollinator community of native forbs.
title_fullStr Minimal effects of an invasive flowering shrub on the pollinator community of native forbs.
title_full_unstemmed Minimal effects of an invasive flowering shrub on the pollinator community of native forbs.
title_short Minimal effects of an invasive flowering shrub on the pollinator community of native forbs.
title_sort minimal effects of an invasive flowering shrub on the pollinator community of native forbs
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4208741?pdf=render
work_keys_str_mv AT yannychung minimaleffectsofaninvasivefloweringshrubonthepollinatorcommunityofnativeforbs
AT lauraaburkle minimaleffectsofaninvasivefloweringshrubonthepollinatorcommunityofnativeforbs
AT tiffanymknight minimaleffectsofaninvasivefloweringshrubonthepollinatorcommunityofnativeforbs