Record ID No. |
2018 |
Author(s) |
Nijjer S., Rogers W.E., Lee C.T.A., Siemann E , 2008 |
Affiliation |
Rice University, Department of Ecol & Evolutionary Biology, Houston,TX 77005 USA |
Title |
The effects of soil biota and fertilization on the success of Sapium sebiferum |
Source. Vol.(no):Page |
Applied Soil Ecology.38(1):1-11p. |
Categories |
Mycorrhiza General |
Subjects |
Biochemistry |
Sub-subjects |
Miscellaneous |
Organism |
n.a. |
Country |
United States |
Abstracts |
Soil organisms can have important impacts on the structure, diversity, and
invasion potential of plant communities. In particular, the short co-evolutionary history of
non-native plants with soil biota could confer unusual benefits or costs to hosts in the
introduced range with consequences for invasion success. We used parallel pot and field studies
to examine how soil biota (active or sterilized soil) and fungicide (addition or control)
affected the growth and survival of the invasive, non-native tree, Sapium sebiferum, and three
co-occurring native tree species Liquidambar styraciflua, Nyssa sylvatica, and Quercus nigra in
the Big Thicket National Preserve in east Texas, USA. In addition, because plant interactions
with soil microbes vary with abiotic factors, we also included a fertilization treatment. The
aboveground and belowground biomass of all species were higher in the presence of an active soil
biotic community than in sterilized soil. Sapium alone showed more than additive growth increases
under the combination of both field active and fertilized soils. It was also the only species to
maintain high aboveground biomass and high aboveground nitrogen levels under those conditions.
The high levels of arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization found on Sapium compared to natives
suggest that arbuscular mycorrhizae may be involved in this phenomenon. These results indicate
that belowground soil organisms provide unusual positive benefits to the invader that are not
experienced by native species. This benefit may increase Sapium growth rates compared to natives
in the forest understory and therefore facilitate Sapium invasion into mesic temperate forests
currently experiencing high levels of anthropogenic nutrient inputs. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All
rights reserved. |