J Plant Ecol ›› 2022, Vol. 15 ›› Issue (3): 473-484 .DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtab103

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Increased precipitation magnifies the effects of N addition on performance of invasive plants in subtropical native communities

Xiang-Qin Li1,2, Sai-Chun Tang1, *, Yu-Mei Pan1, Chun-Qiang Wei1 and Shi-Hong Lü1   

  1. 1 Guangxi Key Laboratory of Plant Conservation and Restoration Ecology in Karst Terrain, Guangxi Institute of Botany, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guilin 541006, China, 2 Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, China

    *Corresponding author. E-mail: tangs0448@sina.com
  • Received:2021-01-28 Revised:2021-03-06 Accepted:2021-08-22 Online:2021-09-18 Published:2022-06-01

Abstract:

Nitrogen (N) deposition, precipitation and their interaction affect plant invasions in temperate ecosystems with limiting N and water resources, but whether and how they affect plant invasions in subtropical native communities with abundant N and precipitation remains unclear.

We constructed in situ artificial communities with 12 common native plant species in a subtropical system and introduced four common invasive plant species and their native counterparts to these communities. We compared plant growth and establishment of introduced invasive species and native counterparts in communities exposed to ambient (CK), N addition (N+), increased precipitation (P+) and N addition plus increased precipitation (P+N+). We also investigated the density and aboveground biomass of communities under such conditions.

P+ alone did not enhance the performance of invasive species or native counterparts. N+ enhanced only the aboveground biomass and relative density of invasive species. P+N+ enhanced the growth and establishment performance of both invasive species and native counterparts. Most growth and establishment parameters of invasive species were greater than those of native counterparts under N+, P+ and P+N+ conditions. The density and aboveground biomass of native communities established by invasive species were significantly lower than those of native communities established by native counterparts under P+N+ conditions. These results suggest that P+ may magnify the effects of N+ on performance of invasive species in subtropical native communities where N and water are often abundant, which may help to understand the effect of global change on plant invasion in subtropical ecosystems.

Key words: community aboveground biomass, community density, growth and establishment, increased precipitation, invasive plants, nitrogen addition, subtropical native communities

摘要:
亚热带本地植物群落中增加降水扩大了氮增加对入侵植物表现的影响
氮沉降、降水以及它们的交互作用会影响氮和水是限制性资源的温带生态系统中的外来植物 入侵,但它们是否会影响以及怎样影响外来植物在富氮和降水丰富的亚热带植物群落中的入侵, 仍不清楚。本研究在亚热带生态系统中,在野外用12种常见本地植物构建群落,将4种入侵植物及其近缘的4种本地植物分别引入到群落中,对群落进行氮添加(0和5 g N m−2 a−1)和降水增加(自然降水和增加降水30%)交互处理,比较了引入的入侵植物和近缘本地植物在群落中的生长和定居表现以及群落特征(包括群落密度和地上生物量等)。研究结果显示,只增加降水没有提高入侵植物或近缘本地植物的表现;氮添加仅提高入侵植物地上生物量和相对密度;氮和降水同时增加提高了入侵植物和近缘本地植物在群落中的生长和定居表现。在氮添加、降水增加和氮与降水同时增加处理下,入侵植物的大多数生长和定居参数高于近缘本地植物。在氮与降水同时增加时,入侵植物所定居本地群落的密度和地上生物量显著低于近缘本地植物所定居本地群落的密度和地上生物量。这些结果说明,在富氮和降水丰富的亚热带本地群落中,降水增加扩大了氮增加对入侵植物表现的影响。这将有助于理解在富氮和降水丰富的亚热带生态系统中,全球变化对植物入侵的影响。


关键词: 群落地上生物量, 群落密度, 生长和定居, 降水增加, 入侵植物, 氮添加, 亚热带本地群落