High competitive ability of Centaurea melitensis L. (Asteraceae) does not increase in the invaded range
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ORIGINAL PAPER
High competitive ability of Centaurea melitensis L. (Asteraceae) does not increase in the invaded range Gasto´n J. Sotes . Lohengrin A. Cavieres
. Susana Go´mez-Gonza´lez
Received: 9 June 2020 / Accepted: 25 October 2020 Ó Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Understanding why alien species become dominant in recipient communities requires a biogeographical perspective comparing the ecology of native and introduced populations. The genus Centaurea (Asteraceae) is well-known in invasion ecology because several aggressive invaders, including Centaurea melitensis L., belong to this genus. We compared the competitive ability of C. melitensis individuals from Spain (native range) and Chile (invaded range) when competing against Helenium aromaticum (Hook.) L.H. Bailey, a native relative from Chile. We performed germination bioassays and
G. J. Sotes Departamento de Biologı´a, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Tarapaca´, Arica, Chile G. J. Sotes L. A. Cavieres Instituto de Ecologı´a y Biodiversidad (IEB), Santiago, Chile L. A. Cavieres Departamento de Bota´nica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanogra´ficas, Universidad de Concepcio´n, Casilla 160-C, Concepcio´n, Chile S. Go´mez-Gonza´lez Departamento de Biologı´a-IVAGRO, Universidad de Ca´diz, Puerto Real, Spain
common garden competition experiments to compare: (1) the germination capacities of C. melitensis (Spain and Chile) and H. aromaticum (2) the potential allelopathic effect of leaf lixiviates of C. melitensis (Spain and Chile) on the seed germination of H. aromaticum, (3) the ability of C. melitensis from both origins to reduce the growth of H. aromaticum. No significant differences in the capacity of seed germination were found among C. melitensis from Chile and Spain and the native H. aromaticum. However, the seed germination of H. aromaticum was inhibited by the presence of C. melitensis leaves from Chile and Spain. Also, the biomass of H. aromaticum was reduced in the presence of C. melitensis, regardless of their origin. Our results demonstrate the competitive superiority of the invasive C. melitensis over H. aromaticum, but we found no evidence of an evolutionary increase in the competitive ability of the invader populations. Therefore, at least part of the invasive potential of C. melitensis seems to be acquired by selective processes in their original range. Keywords Allelopathic advantage against resident Competitive index EICA hypothesis Invasion mechanisms Novel weapon hypothesis
S. Go´mez-Gonza´lez (&) Centro de Ciencia del Clima y la Resiliencia (CR)2, Santiago, Chile e-mail: [email protected]
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Introduction In recent decades, many studies have been advocated to understand the ecological mechanisms underlying the success of invasive alien species. While some hypotheses explaining the success of invasive species have pointed to the presence of advantageous intrinsic attributes, such as a rapid growth rate (Grotkopp and Rejma´nek 2007),
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