Biogeographical variation in community response to root allelochemistry: novel weapons and exotic invasion

Centaurea diffusa is one of the most destructive invasive weeds in the western USA and allelopathy appears to contribute to its invasiveness (Callaway & Aschehoug 2000). Here we identify a chemical from the root exudates of C. diffusa, 8-hydroxyquinoline, not previously reported as a natural product, and find that it varies biogeographically in its natural concentration and its effect as an allelochemical. 8-Hydroxyquinoline is at least three times more concentrated in C. diffusa-invaded North American soils than in this weed's native Eurasian soils and has stronger phytotoxic effects on grass species from North America than on grass species from Eurasia. Furthermore, experimental communities built from North American plant species are far more susceptible to invasion by C. diffusa than communities built from Eurasian species, regardless of the biogeographical origin of the soil biota. Sterilization of North American soils suppressed C. diffusa more than sterilization of Eurasian soils, indicating that North American soil biota may also promote invasion by C. diffusa. Eurasian plants and soil microbes may have evolved natural resistance to 8-hydroxyquinoline while North American plants have not, suggesting a remarkable potential for evolutionary compatibility and homeostasis among plants within natural communities and a mechanism by which exotic weeds destroy these communities.