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Experimental Tests of Priority Effects and Light Availability on Relative Performance of Myriophyllum spicatum and Elodea nuttallii Propagules in Artificial Stream Channels

Submersed macrophytes have important ecological functions in many streams, but fostering growth of beneficial native species while suppressing weedy invasives may be challenging. Two approaches commonly used in management of terrestrial plant communities may be useful in this context: (1) altering r...

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Autor principal: Zefferman, Emily P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4366179/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25790180
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120248
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author Zefferman, Emily P.
author_facet Zefferman, Emily P.
author_sort Zefferman, Emily P.
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description Submersed macrophytes have important ecological functions in many streams, but fostering growth of beneficial native species while suppressing weedy invasives may be challenging. Two approaches commonly used in management of terrestrial plant communities may be useful in this context: (1) altering resource availability and (2) establishing desirable species before weeds can invade (priority effects). However, these approaches are rarely used in aquatic systems, despite widespread need for sustainable solutions to aquatic weed problems. In artificial stream channels in California, USA, I conducted experiments with asexual propagules of non-native invasive Myriophyllum spicatum (Eurasian watermilfoil) and native Elodea nuttallii (western waterweed) to address the questions: (1) How does light availability affect relative performance of the two species?; (2) Does planting the native earlier than the invasive decrease survival or growth rate of the invasive?; and (3) Do light level and priority effects interact? The relative performance between E. nuttallii and M. spicatum had an interesting and unexpected pattern: M. spicatum had higher growth rates than E. nuttallii in the zero and medium shade levels, but had similar performance in the low and high shade levels. This pattern is most likely the result of E. nutallii’s sensitivity to both very low and very high light, and M. spicatum’s sensitivity to very low light only. Native priority did not significantly affect growth rate or survival of M. spicatum, possibly because of unexpectedly poor growth of the E. nuttallii planted early. This study suggests that altering light levels could be effective in reducing growth of an invasive macrophyte, and for changing the competitive balance between a native and a non-native species in the establishment phase. Further investigations into the use of priority effects and resource alteration for submersed macrophyte management are warranted, given their mixed results in other (limited) studies.
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spelling pubmed-43661792015-03-23 Experimental Tests of Priority Effects and Light Availability on Relative Performance of Myriophyllum spicatum and Elodea nuttallii Propagules in Artificial Stream Channels Zefferman, Emily P. PLoS One Research Article Submersed macrophytes have important ecological functions in many streams, but fostering growth of beneficial native species while suppressing weedy invasives may be challenging. Two approaches commonly used in management of terrestrial plant communities may be useful in this context: (1) altering resource availability and (2) establishing desirable species before weeds can invade (priority effects). However, these approaches are rarely used in aquatic systems, despite widespread need for sustainable solutions to aquatic weed problems. In artificial stream channels in California, USA, I conducted experiments with asexual propagules of non-native invasive Myriophyllum spicatum (Eurasian watermilfoil) and native Elodea nuttallii (western waterweed) to address the questions: (1) How does light availability affect relative performance of the two species?; (2) Does planting the native earlier than the invasive decrease survival or growth rate of the invasive?; and (3) Do light level and priority effects interact? The relative performance between E. nuttallii and M. spicatum had an interesting and unexpected pattern: M. spicatum had higher growth rates than E. nuttallii in the zero and medium shade levels, but had similar performance in the low and high shade levels. This pattern is most likely the result of E. nutallii’s sensitivity to both very low and very high light, and M. spicatum’s sensitivity to very low light only. Native priority did not significantly affect growth rate or survival of M. spicatum, possibly because of unexpectedly poor growth of the E. nuttallii planted early. This study suggests that altering light levels could be effective in reducing growth of an invasive macrophyte, and for changing the competitive balance between a native and a non-native species in the establishment phase. Further investigations into the use of priority effects and resource alteration for submersed macrophyte management are warranted, given their mixed results in other (limited) studies. Public Library of Science 2015-03-19 /pmc/articles/PMC4366179/ /pubmed/25790180 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120248 Text en © 2015 Emily P. Zefferman http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Zefferman, Emily P.
Experimental Tests of Priority Effects and Light Availability on Relative Performance of Myriophyllum spicatum and Elodea nuttallii Propagules in Artificial Stream Channels
title Experimental Tests of Priority Effects and Light Availability on Relative Performance of Myriophyllum spicatum and Elodea nuttallii Propagules in Artificial Stream Channels
title_full Experimental Tests of Priority Effects and Light Availability on Relative Performance of Myriophyllum spicatum and Elodea nuttallii Propagules in Artificial Stream Channels
title_fullStr Experimental Tests of Priority Effects and Light Availability on Relative Performance of Myriophyllum spicatum and Elodea nuttallii Propagules in Artificial Stream Channels
title_full_unstemmed Experimental Tests of Priority Effects and Light Availability on Relative Performance of Myriophyllum spicatum and Elodea nuttallii Propagules in Artificial Stream Channels
title_short Experimental Tests of Priority Effects and Light Availability on Relative Performance of Myriophyllum spicatum and Elodea nuttallii Propagules in Artificial Stream Channels
title_sort experimental tests of priority effects and light availability on relative performance of myriophyllum spicatum and elodea nuttallii propagules in artificial stream channels
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4366179/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25790180
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120248
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