Suppression of an Invasive Native Plant Species by Designed Grassland Communities
Grassland biodiversity is declining due to climatic change, land-use intensification, and establishment of invasive plant species. Excluding or suppressing invasive species is a challenge for grassland management. An example is <i>Jacobaea aquatica</i>, an invasive native plant in wet gr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Plants |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/4/775 |
| _version_ | 1827695102349279232 |
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| author | Kathrin Möhrle Hugo E. Reyes-Aldana Johannes Kollmann Leonardo H. Teixeira |
| author_facet | Kathrin Möhrle Hugo E. Reyes-Aldana Johannes Kollmann Leonardo H. Teixeira |
| author_sort | Kathrin Möhrle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Grassland biodiversity is declining due to climatic change, land-use intensification, and establishment of invasive plant species. Excluding or suppressing invasive species is a challenge for grassland management. An example is <i>Jacobaea aquatica</i>, an invasive native plant in wet grasslands of Central Europe, that is causing problems to farmers by being poisonous, overabundant, and fast spreading. This study aimed at testing designed grassland communities in a greenhouse experiment, to determine key drivers of initial <i>J. aquatica</i> suppression, thus dismissing the use of pesticides. We used two base communities (mesic and wet grasslands) with three plant traits (plant height, leaf area, seed mass), that were constrained and diversified based on the invader traits. Native biomass, community-weighted mean trait values, and phylogenetic diversity (PD) were used as explanatory variables to understand variation in invasive biomass. The diversified traits leaf area and seed mass, PD, and native biomass significantly affected the invader. High native biomass permanently suppressed the invader, while functional traits needed time to develop effects; PD effects were significant at the beginning of the experiment but disappeared over time. Due to complexity and temporal effects, community weighted mean traits proved to be moderately successful for increasing invasion resistance of designed grassland communities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:18:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fa331f2170e94602ae1123730c468031 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:18:52Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-fa331f2170e94602ae1123730c4680312023-11-21T15:40:23ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472021-04-0110477510.3390/plants10040775Suppression of an Invasive Native Plant Species by Designed Grassland CommunitiesKathrin Möhrle0Hugo E. Reyes-Aldana1Johannes Kollmann2Leonardo H. Teixeira3Restoration Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, GermanyDepartment of River Ecology, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research—UFZ, 39114 Magdeburg, GermanyRestoration Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, GermanyRestoration Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, GermanyGrassland biodiversity is declining due to climatic change, land-use intensification, and establishment of invasive plant species. Excluding or suppressing invasive species is a challenge for grassland management. An example is <i>Jacobaea aquatica</i>, an invasive native plant in wet grasslands of Central Europe, that is causing problems to farmers by being poisonous, overabundant, and fast spreading. This study aimed at testing designed grassland communities in a greenhouse experiment, to determine key drivers of initial <i>J. aquatica</i> suppression, thus dismissing the use of pesticides. We used two base communities (mesic and wet grasslands) with three plant traits (plant height, leaf area, seed mass), that were constrained and diversified based on the invader traits. Native biomass, community-weighted mean trait values, and phylogenetic diversity (PD) were used as explanatory variables to understand variation in invasive biomass. The diversified traits leaf area and seed mass, PD, and native biomass significantly affected the invader. High native biomass permanently suppressed the invader, while functional traits needed time to develop effects; PD effects were significant at the beginning of the experiment but disappeared over time. Due to complexity and temporal effects, community weighted mean traits proved to be moderately successful for increasing invasion resistance of designed grassland communities.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/4/775design of seed mixturesgrassland establishmentnative invasive speciesphylogenetic diversitytrait-based restoration |
| spellingShingle | Kathrin Möhrle Hugo E. Reyes-Aldana Johannes Kollmann Leonardo H. Teixeira Suppression of an Invasive Native Plant Species by Designed Grassland Communities Plants design of seed mixtures grassland establishment native invasive species phylogenetic diversity trait-based restoration |
| title | Suppression of an Invasive Native Plant Species by Designed Grassland Communities |
| title_full | Suppression of an Invasive Native Plant Species by Designed Grassland Communities |
| title_fullStr | Suppression of an Invasive Native Plant Species by Designed Grassland Communities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Suppression of an Invasive Native Plant Species by Designed Grassland Communities |
| title_short | Suppression of an Invasive Native Plant Species by Designed Grassland Communities |
| title_sort | suppression of an invasive native plant species by designed grassland communities |
| topic | design of seed mixtures grassland establishment native invasive species phylogenetic diversity trait-based restoration |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/4/775 |
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