Enemy release and plant invasion: patterns of defensive traits and leaf damage in Hawaii.

Oecologia
Jennifer L Funk, Heather L Throop

Abstract

Invasive species may be released from consumption by their native herbivores in novel habitats and thereby experience higher fitness relative to native species. However, few studies have examined release from herbivory as a mechanism of invasion in oceanic island systems, which have experienced particularly high loss of native species due to the invasion of non-native animal and plant species. We surveyed putative defensive traits and leaf damage rates in 19 pairs of taxonomically related invasive and native species in Hawaii, representing a broad taxonomic diversity. Leaf damage by insects and pathogens was monitored in both wet and dry seasons. We found that native species had higher leaf damage rates than invasive species, but only during the dry season. However, damage rates across native and invasive species averaged only 2% of leaf area. Native species generally displayed high levels of structural defense (leaf toughness and leaf thickness, but not leaf trichome density) while native and invasive species displayed similar levels of chemical defenses (total phenolics). A defense index, which integrated all putative defense traits, was significantly higher for native species, suggesting that native species may allocate fewe...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 10, 2015·Ecology and Evolution·Jennifer L FunkJ Michael Macpherson
Apr 12, 2012·Annals of Botany·Srijana Joshi, Katja Tielbörger
Jan 1, 2013·Conservation Physiology·Jennifer L Funk
Apr 3, 2019·Frontiers in Microbiology·Marta ManrubiaWim H van der Putten

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