Invasion success of three cool-season grasses in the northern prairie: a test of three hypotheses

Villasor C. Robertson K. Becker T. Cahill J.F. Deák B. Hensen I. Otfinowski R. Rosche C. Borovyk D. Vakhlamova T. Valkó O. Wagner V.
March 2024 John Wiley and Sons Inc

Oikos
2024 #2024 Issue 3

Empirical invasion ecology is laden with high context dependency. If general mechanisms underlying invasion success exist, they should be detectable in species that share biological and ecological characteristics. We carried out a growth experiment with Agropyron cristatum, Bromus inermis and Poa pratensis (subsp. angustifolia), to better understand the mechanisms underlying the invasion success of cool-season grasses in northern prairie grasslands of North America. By using a home–away approach, we tested whether 1) non-native plants have a higher performance than native plants, and whether invasiveness is 2) mediated by interactions with soils, such as a release from pathogens or enhanced mutualism, or 3) an adaptation to local soils. We compared seed size and weight of populations in Canada (non-native range) and Eurasia (native range) and carried out an experiment, in which seeds from the non-native and native ranges were planted into sterilized soil (control) and soil from a population in Canada or Eurasia, or local soils, respectively. We found inconsistent effects across species and response variables. Seed size and weight were not significantly different between native and non-native populations. The experiment showed a seed origin effect in A. cristatum (root and total biomass) and B. inermis (root biomass), with non-native populations outperforming native ones. Soil-mediated effects were supported in A. cristatum (root biomass) and local adaptation in B. inermis (root and total biomass). Germination across all species and biomass in P. pratensis did not respond to treatments. Despite the high similarity of our study group, our results indicate that invasiveness might be driven by idiosyncratic causes at the species level. Mechanisms not considered in our study, such as high propagule pressure and preadaptation could also potentially explain the invasion success across species.

biogeographic comparison , enemy release hypothesis , enhanced mutualism , evolution of invasiveness , greenhouse experiment , invasive species

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Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Geobotany, Regional and Environmental Sciences, University of Trier, Trier, Germany
Lendület Seed Ecology Research Group, Institute of Ecology and Botany, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary
National Laboratory for Health Security, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Budapest, Hungary
Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Department of Biology, The University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Department of Ecology, Research and Technical Centre Environmental Safety, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan
Chair of Restoration Ecology, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany

Department of Biological Sciences
Geobotany
Lendület Seed Ecology Research Group
National Laboratory for Health Security
Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Department of Biology
M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany
Department of Botany and Zoology
Department of Ecology
Chair of Restoration Ecology

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