Potential interactive effects between invasive Lumbricus terrestris earthworms and the invasive plant Alliaria petiolata on a native plant Podophyllum peltatum in northeastern Ohio, USA.

ABSTRACT: We test whether the invasive earthworm Lumbricus terrestris and leaf litter of the invasive herbaceous plant Alliaria petiolata interact to influence the native plant, Podophyllum peltatum, using both observational field data and a multi-year experiment. We hypothesized invader interactive effects on the native plant might result from either changes in allelochemical distribution in the soil or nutrient availability mediated by the invasive earthworm pulling leaf litter down into the soil. Within the field data we found that Alliaria petiolata presence and higher soil nitrogen correlated with reduced Podophyllum peltatum cover, and no evidence for an invader-invader interaction. Within the factorial experiment, we found a super-additive effect of the two

SUBMITTER: Cope CG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7877696 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature