Differential plant invasiveness is not always driven by host promiscuity with bacterial symbionts.

ABSTRACT: Identification of mechanisms that allow some species to outcompete others is a fundamental goal in ecology and invasive species management. One useful approach is to examine congeners varying in invasiveness in a comparative framework across native and invaded ranges. Acacia species have been widely introduced outside their native range of Australia, and a subset of these species have become invasive in multiple parts of the world. Within specific regions, the invasive status of these species varies. Our study examined whether a key mechanism in the life history of Acacia species, the legume-rhizobia symbiosis, influences acacia invasiveness on a regional scale. To assess the extent to which species varying in invasiveness correspondingly differ with regard to the diversity of rhizobia the

SUBMITTER: Klock MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5018393 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature