Intra- and Interspecific Competition Altered the Competitive Strategies of Alternanthera philoxeroides and Trifolium regens under Cadmium Contamination

Heavy metal accumulation in soils has been one of the environmental and ecological issues, as it caused life and biodiversity problems. However, many invasive plants can survive in heavy metal polluted areas, but little is known about the invasiveness while under different densities either with native species or themselves. In this study, a greenhouse experiment was performed to examine how cadmium contamination with different concentrations (0, 100, and 200 mg/kg) may influence the interspecific competition between invasive plant Alternanthera philoxeroides and the landscape grass T. regens, as well as the intraspecific competition of A. philoxeroides with different densities. The results showed that stronger interspecific competition would alleviate cadmium damage to both A. philoxeroides and T. regens, but the two species adopted different allocation strategies. A. philoxeroides allocated more biomass to belowground and less to aboveground, while T. regens showed exactly the opposite allocation strategy. There was a significant density effect of intraspecific competition on A. philoxeroides. That is to say, with the increase of A. philoxeroides density, the cadmium stress on the growth of A. philoxeroides decreased. Our findings provide a theoretical basis and technical support for the effective control of A. philoxeroides invasion, as well as the restoration and reconstruction of green vegetation.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effect of cadmium contamination on the interspecific competition between the invasive plant Alternanthera philoxeroides and the landscape grass T. regens, as well as the intraspecific competition of A. philoxeroides at different densities. The results showed that interspecific competition alleviated cadmium damage, with the two species adopting different allocation strategies. Intraspecific competition had a significant density effect on A. philoxeroides.