Journal
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
Volume -, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/pce.14747
Keywords
chemical defence; elemental defence hypothesis; interspecific competition; leaf metabolome; mechanical defence
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This study compared the differences in plant growth and herbivore feeding preference between the invasive weed A. philoxeroides and its native congener A. sessilis under soil cadmium pollution. The results showed that soil cadmium pollution increased the herbivore resistance of A. philoxeroides and gave it a competitive advantage over A. sessilis.
A number of invasive plant species, such as Alternanthera philoxeroides, have been documented to be able to accumulate trace metal elements in their tissues. Since metal accumulation in plants can serve as a defence against herbivores, we hypothesized that metal pollution will increase herbivore resistance of metal-accumulating invasive plant species and such a benefit will grant them a competitive advantage over local co-occurring plants. In this study, we compared the differences in plant growth and herbivore feeding preference between A. philoxeroides and its native congener Alternanthera sessilis in single and mixed cultures with and without soil cadmium (Cd) pollution. The results showed that A. philoxeroides plants were more tolerant to Cd stress and accumulated more Cd in the leaves than A. sessilis. Cd exposure increased the resistance of A. philoxeroides against a specialist and a generalist herbivore compared with A. sessilis. Competition experiments indicated that Cd stress largely increased the competitive advantage of A. philoxeroides over A. sessilis with or without herbivore pressures. The differences in herbivore resistance between the two plant species under soil Cd stress are most likely due to the deterring effect of Cd accumulation and Cd-enhanced mechanical defences rather than changes in leaf specialized metabolites. Soil cadmium pollution largely increased the resistance of the invasive weed A. philoxeroides against both a generalist and a specialist herbivore, giving it a competitive advantage over the local competitor A. sessilis regardless of the presence or absence of herbivore pressure.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available