Differential responses of invasive and native plants to warming with simulated changes in diurnal temperature ranges

Although many studies have documented the effects of global warming on invasive plants, little is known about whether the effects of warming on plant invasion differ depending on the imposed change in different diurnal temperature ranges (DTR). We tested the impact of warming with DTR change on seed germination and seedling growth of eight species in the family Asteraceae. Four of these are invasive (Eupatorium catarium, Mikania micrantha, Biodens pilosa var. radiate, Ageratum conyzoides) in China, and four are native (Sonchus arvensis, Senecios candens, Pterocypsela indica, Eupatorium fortunei). Four temperature treatments were set in growth chambers (three warming by 3 °C with different DTRs and control), and experiments were run to mimic wintertime and summertime conditions. The control treatment (T(c)) was set to the mean temperature for the corresponding time of year, and the three warming treatments were symmetric (i.e. equal night-and-day) (DTR(sym)), asymmetric warming with increased (DTR(inc)) and decreased (DTR(dec)) DTR. The warming treatments did not affect seed germination of invasive species under any of the conditions, but DTR(sym) and DTR(inc) increased seed germination of natives relative to the control, suggesting that warming may not increase success of these invasive plant species via effects on seed germination of invasive plants relative to native plants. The invasive plants had higher biomass and greater stem allocation than the native ones under all of the warming treatments. Wintertime warming increased the biomass of the invasive and wintertime DTR(sym) and DTR(inc) increased that of the native plants, whereas summertime asymmetric warming decreased the biomass of the invasives but not the natives. Therefore, warming may not facilitate invasion of these invasive species due to the suppressive effects of summertime warming (particularly the asymmetric warming) on growth. Compared with DTR(sym), DTR(dec) decreased the biomass of both the invasive and native plants, while the asymmetric summer warming treatments (DTR(inc) and DTR(dec)) decreased the biomass of the invasive but not the native plants. In addition, wintertime DTR(inc) did not enhance the biomass of all the plants relative to DTR(sym). Our results were obtained in an unrealistic setting; the growth conditions in chambers (e.g. low light, low herbivory, no competition) are quite different from natural conditions (high light, normal herbivory and competition), which may influence the effects of warming on the seedling establishment and growth of both invasive and native plants. Nonetheless, our work highlights the importance of asymmetric warming, particularly in regards to the comparison with the effects of symmetric warming on both invasive and native plants. Conclusions regarding the effects of future warming should be made cautiously because warming with different DTRs may suggest different implications for invasion, and effects of warming may be different in different seasons.