Plastic responses of invasive Bidens frondosa to water and nitrogen addition
26 October 2016
Wei, Chunqiang; Tang, Saichun; Pan, Yumei; Li, XiangqinInvasive species are hypothesized to be more plastic than co-occurring native congeners, and variation in plasticity among invasive populations is predicted to facilitate invasion of new habitats. To explore the invasive ability of Bidens frondosa, we compared the plastic responses of plant traits to water and nitrogen addition between invasive B. frondosa and co-occurring native congener B. tripartita and among B. frondosa populations. The invasive plant performed better and showed higher phenotypic plasticity to water and nitrogen addition than the native. There were variations in performance and phenotypic plasticity among the invasive populations. The biomass of HN (Henan province) population increased greater than other populations in response to nitrogen addition. The specific leaf area (SLA) value of GX (Guangxi province) population increased, the SLA value of HN population decreased, and the values of HB (Hebei province) and EZ (Hubei province) populations showed no change in response to nitrogen addition. The observed higher phenotypic plasticity of B. frondosa relative to B. tripartita and variation in plasticity among B. frondosa populations may underlie the invasion of this species. The predicted increases in precipitation and atmospheric N deposition may further increase the invasiveness of this species.