Increased susceptibility to enemies following introduction in the invasive plant Silene latifolia

L.M. Wolfe, J.A. Elzinga, A. Biere

    Research output: Contribution to journal/periodicalArticleScientificpeer-review

    146 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    One of the influential hypotheses invoked to explain why species become invasive following introduction is that release from natural enemies favours a shift in investment from defence to traits enhancing growth and reproduction. Silene latifolia was introduced from Europe (EU) to North America (NA) c. 200 years ago where it experiences lower damage by natural enemies. A common garden experiment in EU using seeds from 20 EU and 20 NA populations revealed (1) genetically-based differences in life history between plants from EU and NA; plants from NA have evolved a weedy phenotype that flowers earlier, and has a two- to threefold higher reproductive potential; (2) higher susceptibility of NA plants to fungal infection, fruit predation, and aphid infestation. These results suggest that the invasive NA phenotype has evolved at the expense of defensive abilities. Despite this increased susceptibility to enemies, NA populations still outperformed EU populations in this common garden. [KEYWORDS: Aphid biological invasion; common garden; Brachycaudus populi; enemy release; hypothesis fruit; predation; Hadena bicruris; Microbotryum violaceum; pathogen infection; Silene latifolia]
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)813-820
    JournalEcology Letters
    Volume7
    Issue number9
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2004

    Keywords

    • NIOO/CTE/PVP

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