Research Article

Effects of cadmium pollution on plant-soil feedback between invasive plant Phytolacca americana and native plant Phytolacca acinose

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  • 1State Key Laboratory of Vegetation Structure, Function and Construction (VegLab), Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Transboundary Ecosecurity of Southwest China, and Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Adaptation and Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Biodiversity, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China 
    2Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, National Observations and Research Station of Wetland Ecosystems of the Yangtze Estuary, Institute of Biodiversity Science and Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China 
    3State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China 

    4Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA


    *Corresponding authors. E-mail: wjh@lzu.edu.cn (J.W.); xuyunjian1992@ynu.edu.cn (Y.X.); iwang@ynu.edu.cn (Y.W.) 

    These authors contributed equally to this work. 

Received date: 2025-06-28

  Accepted date: 2025-08-25

  Online published: 2025-08-29

Supported by

The study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFC2604500 and 2022YFC2601100), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U2102218 and 32371751), and the Department of Science and Technology of Yunnan Province (grant no. 202405AS350011).

Abstract

Understanding plant-soil feedback (PSF) between native and invasive plants under heavy metal pollution can inform invasion management strategies. However, the PSF and mechanism between native species Phytolacca acinosa and invasive species Phytolacca americana under heavy metal pollution remain unclear. Here, in a greenhouse experiment, we created soils with varying concentrations of cadmium (Cd) and conditioned them with either the invasive species Phytolacca americana, the native species Phytolacca acinosa, or without any plants. We measured soil chemical, microbial and physical properties. In a subsequent PSF phase, we grew individual plants of P. americana or P. acinosa in these soils. Soil cadmium (Cd) increased the biomass of invasive species while decreasing that of native species. Fungi and bacteria were abundant in soils conditioned by invasive plants, particularly in the absence of Cd. The concentrations of phenols, flavonoids, and tannins, as well as soil pH, increased with the concentration of Cd when plants were present. Phenol and tannin concentrations were higher in the presence of invasive plants, whereas flavonoid concentrations were lower. During the PSF phase, the biomass of invasive species was sensitive to soil microbes. Native plants exhibited reduced growth in soils dominated by invasive species, particularly in soils with higher concentrations of cadmium, indicating their sensitivity to soil chemistry and physical characteristics. This study provides valuable insights into the influence of PSF on plant invasion processes in the context of soil heavy metal pollution.

Cite this article

Yue Zhu, Jun Chen, Yu Ming, Jingru Zhang, Shaoyu Zhang, Yunshan Liu, Bo Li, Jihua Wu, Evan Siemann, Yunjian Xu, Yi Wang . Effects of cadmium pollution on plant-soil feedback between invasive plant Phytolacca americana and native plant Phytolacca acinose[J]. Journal of Plant Ecology, 0 : 1 -0 . DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf144

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