Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Little evidence for release from herbivores as a driver of plant invasiveness from a multi-species herbivore-removal experiment

Dawson, W.; Bottini, A.; Fischer, M.; van Kleunen, M.; Knop, E.

Little evidence for release from herbivores as a driver of plant invasiveness from a multi-species herbivore-removal experiment Thumbnail


Authors

A. Bottini

M. Fischer

M. van Kleunen

E. Knop



Abstract

Enemy release is frequently posed as a main driver of invasiveness of alien species. However, an experimental multi-species test examining performance and herbivory of invasive alien, non-invasive alien and native plant species in the presence and absence of natural enemies is lacking. In a common garden experiment in Switzerland, we manipulated exposure of seven alien invasive, eight alien non-invasive and fourteen native species from six taxonomic groups to natural enemies (invertebrate herbivores), by applying a pesticide treatment under two different nutrient levels. We assessed biomass production, herbivore damage and the major herbivore taxa on plants. Across all species, plants gained significantly greater biomass under pesticide treatment. However, invasive, non-invasive and native species did not differ in their biomass response to pesticide treatment at either nutrient level. The proportion of leaves damaged on invasive species was significantly lower compared to native species, but not when compared to non-invasive species. However, the difference was lost when plant size was accounted for. There were no differences between invasive, non-invasive and native species in herbivore abundance. Our study offers little support for invertebrate herbivore release as a driver of plant invasiveness, but suggests that future enemy release studies should account for differences in plant size among species.

Citation

Dawson, W., Bottini, A., Fischer, M., van Kleunen, M., & Knop, E. (2014). Little evidence for release from herbivores as a driver of plant invasiveness from a multi-species herbivore-removal experiment. Oikos, 123(12), 1509-1518. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.01485

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 7, 2014
Publication Date Dec 1, 2014
Deposit Date Jan 5, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Oikos
Print ISSN 0030-1299
Electronic ISSN 1600-0706
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 123
Issue 12
Pages 1509-1518
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.01485

Files

Accepted Journal Article (667 Kb)
PDF

Copyright Statement
This is the accepted version of the following article: Dawson, W., Bottini, A., Fischer, M., van Kleunen, M. and Knop, E. (2014), Little evidence for release from herbivores as a driver of plant invasiveness from a multi-species herbivore-removal experiment. Oikos, 123(12): 1509-1518, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/oik.01485. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.




You might also like



Downloadable Citations