Dataset Information

The Impact of the Invasive Alien Plant, Impatiens glandulifera, on Pollen Transfer Networks.

ABSTRACT: Biological invasions are a threat to the maintenance of ecological processes, including pollination. Plant-flower visitor networks are traditionally used as a surrogated for pollination at the community level, despite they do not represent the pollination process, which takes place at the stigma of plants where pollen grains are deposited. Here we investigated whether the invasion of the alien plant Impatiens glandulifera (Balsaminaceae) affects pollen transfer at the community level. We asked whether more alien pollen is deposited on the stigmas of plants on invaded sites, whether deposition is affected by stigma type (dry, semidry and wet) and whether the invasion of I. glandulifera changes the structure of the resulting pollen transfer networks. We sampled stigmas of plants on 10 sites invaded by I. glandulifera (hereafter, balsam) and 10 non-invaded control sites. All 20 networks had interactions with balsam pollen, although significantly more balsam pollen was found on plants with dry stigmas in invaded areas. Balsam pollen deposition was restricted to a small subset of plant species, which is surprising because pollinators are known to carry high loads of balsam pollen. Balsam invasion did not affect the loading of native pollen, nor did it affect pollen transfer network properties; networks were modular and poorly nested, both of which are likely to be related to the specificity of pollen transfer interactions. Our results indicate that pollination networks become more specialized when moving from the flower visitation to the level of pollen transfer networks. Therefore, caution is needed when inferring pollination from patterns of insect visitation or insect pollen loads as the relationship between these and pollen deposition is not straightforward.

SUBMITTER: Emer C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4669169 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Impact of the Invasive Alien Plant, Impatiens glandulifera, on Pollen Transfer Networks.

Emer Carine C Vaughan Ian P IP Hiscock Simon S Memmott Jane J

PloS one 20151203 12

Biological invasions are a threat to the maintenance of ecological processes, including pollination. Plant-flower visitor networks are traditionally used as a surrogated for pollination at the community level, despite they do not represent the pollination process, which takes place at the stigma of plants where pollen grains are deposited. Here we investigated whether the invasion of the alien plant Impatiens glandulifera (Balsaminaceae) affects pollen transfer at the community level. We asked w ...[more]

PMID: 26633170

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Invasive species can be a major threat to native biodiversity and the number of invasive plant species is increasing across the globe. Population genetic studies of invasive species can provide key insights into their invasion history and ensuing evolution, but also for their control. Here we genetically characterise populations of Impatiens glandulifera, an invasive plant in Europe that can have a major impact on native plant communities. We compared populations from the species' native range in Kashmir, India, to those in its invaded range, along a latitudinal gradient in Europe. For comparison, the results from 39 other studies of genetic diversity in invasive species were collated. RESULTS:Our results suggest that I. glandulifera was established in the wild in Europe at least twice, from an area outside of our Kashmir study area. Our results further revealed that the genetic diversity in invasive populations of I. glandulifera is unusually low compared to native populations, in particular when compared to other invasive species. Genetic drift rather than mutation seems to have played a role in differentiating populations in Europe. We find evidence of limitations to local gene flow after introduction to Europe, but somewhat less restrictions in the native range. I. glandulifera populations with significant inbreeding were only found in the species' native range and invasive species in general showed no increase in inbreeding upon leaving their native ranges. In Europe we detect cases of migration between distantly located populations. Human activities therefore seem to, at least partially, have facilitated not only introductions, but also further spread of I. glandulifera across Europe. CONCLUSIONS:Although multiple introductions will facilitate the retention of genetic diversity in invasive ranges, widespread invasive species can remain genetically relatively invariant also after multiple introductions. Phenotypic plasticity may therefore be an important component of the successful spread of Impatiens glandulifera across Europe.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Impacts of invasive species on native communities are often difficult to assess, because they depend on a range of factors, such as species identity and traits. Such context-dependencies are poorly understood yet, but knowledge is required to predict the impact of invasions. MATERIALS AND METHODS:We assessed species- and developmental stage-specificity of competitive and allelopathic effects of the invasive plant Impatiens glandulifera on different developmental stages of four native plant species. While some studies have shown a reduction in plant growth caused by I. glandulifera, the magnitude of its impact is ambiguous. For our study we used seedlings and juveniles of I. glandulifera and the native target species Geum urbanum, Filipendula ulmaria, Urtica dioica, and Salix fragilis (seedlings only of the latter), which often co-occur with I. glandulifera in different habitats. Plants were grown in competition with I. glandulifera or treated with I. glandulifera leaf material, or 2-metoxy-1,4-naphtoquinone (2-MNQ), its supposedly main allelochemical. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:Overall I. glandulifera had a negative effect on the growth of all target species depending on the species and on the plant's developmental stage. F. ulmaria was the least affected and U. dioica the most, and seedlings were less affected than juveniles. The species-specific response to I. glandulifera may lead to an altered community composition in the field, while growth reduction of seedlings and juveniles should give I. glandulifera an advantage in cases where plant recruitment is crucial. 2-MNQ led to minor reductions in plant growth, suggesting that it may not be the only allelopathic substance of I. glandulifera. Surprisingly, I. glandulifera was not fully tolerant to 2-MNQ. This autotoxicity could contribute to I. glandulifera population dynamics. We conclude that I. glandulifera reduces the growth of native vegetation and alters early successional stages without fully hindering it.

Dataset Information

The Impact of the Invasive Alien Plant, Impatiens glandulifera, on Pollen Transfer Networks.

Publications

The Impact of the Invasive Alien Plant, Impatiens glandulifera, on Pollen Transfer Networks.

Similar Datasets

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