A native parasitic plant and soil microorganisms facilitate a native plant co-occurrence with an invasive plant.

ABSTRACT: Invasive plants often interact with antagonists that include native parasitic plants and pathogenic soil microbes, which may reduce fitness of the invaders. However, to date, most of the studies on the ecological consequences of antagonistic interactions between invasive plants and the resident biota focused only on pairwise interactions. A full understanding of invasion dynamics requires studies that test the effects of multiple antagonists on fitness of invasive plants and co-occurring native plants. Here, we used an invasive plant Mikania micrantha, a co-occurring native plant Coix lacryma-jobi, and a native holoparasitic plant Cuscuta campestris to test whether parasitism on M. micrantha interacts with soil fungi and bacteria to reduce fitness of the invader

SUBMITTER: Li J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6686308 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature