Effects of the invasive plant Xanthium strumarium on diversity of native plant species: A competitive analysis approach in North and Northeast China

Abstract

Xanthium strumarium is native to North America and now has become one of the invasive alien species (IAS) in China. In order to detect the effects of the invader on biodiversity and evaluate its suitable habitats and ecological distribution, we investigated the abundance, relative abundance, diversity indices, and the number of the invasive and native plants in paired invaded and non-invaded quadrats in four locations in North and Northeast China. We also analyzed the effects of monthly mean maximum and minimum temperatures, relative humidity (%), and precipitations (mm). Strong positive significant (P < 0.01) correlation and maximum interspecific competition (41%) were found in Huailai between invaded and non-invaded quadrats. Shannon’s Diversity Index showed that non-invaded plots had significantly (P < 0.05) more diversified species than invaded ones. The significant (P < 0.05) Margalef’s Richness Index was found in Huailai and Zhangjiakou in non-invaded recorded heterogeneous nature of plant communities. Similarly, significant (P < 0.05) species richness found in Huailai and Zhangjiakou in non-invaded quadrats compared to invaded ones. Maximum evenness of Setaria feberi (0.47, 0.37), Seteria viridis (0.43) found in Fushun and Zhangjiakou recorded more stable in a community compared to other localities. Evenness showed positive relationship of Shannon Entropy within different plant species. The higher dissimilarity in plant communities found in Huailai (87.06%) followed by Yangyuan (44.43%), Zhangjiakou (40.13%) and Fushun (29.02%). The significant (P < 0.01) value of global statistics R (0.943/94.3%) showed high species diversity recorded in Huailai followed by Zhangjiakou recorded by non-metric multidimensional scaling and analysis of similarity between invaded and non-invaded plots. At the end it was concluded that the diversity indices reduced significantly (P < 0.05) in invaded quadrats indicated that native plant species become less diverse due to X. strumarium invasion. The degrees of X. strumarium invasion affected on species richness resulted to reduce diversity indices significantly in invaded quadrats.

Phenotypic plasticity and exotic plant invasions: Effects of soil nutrients, species nutrient requirements, and types of traits

“…Under high‐nutrient environment, the invasive species X. strumarium and A. trifida showed significantly higher growth plasticity than their respective related native species, contributing to their growth advantage and, therefore, to their invasions. These two invaders have posed a serious threat to the agricultural production of soybean, cotton, maize, sunflower, peanut, and so on, causing huge economic losses (Danuso et al, 2012; Dong et al, 2020; Follak et al, 2013; Iqbal et al, 2020). They have high‐nutrient requirements and prefer to invade fertile habitats such as farmlands (Feng, 2020), where fertilizers are applied regularly.…”

“…However, Solanum rostratum and Erigeron canadensis usually invade nutrient‐limited habitats such as sandy soil, having low‐nutrient requirements (Đurđević et al, 2015; Juan et al, 2013; Thébaud et al, 1996; Zhang et al, 2017; Zhao et al, 2013). Bidens frondosa , Xanthium strumarium , and Ambrosia trifida generally invade nutrient‐rich habitats with regular nutrient addition, such as farmlands and wetlands, having high‐nutrient requirements (Danuso et al, 2012; Dong et al, 2020; Follak et al, 2013; Iqbal et al, 2020; Ronzhina, 2017). The native species Bidens tripartita and Solanum nigrum are often found in fertile habitats (Jagatheeswari & Ali, 2013; Särkinen et al, 2018) with high Ellenberg's nitrogen indicators (Hill et al, 1999), exhibiting high‐nutrient requirements.…”

Direct and indirect targets of carboxyatractyloside, including overlooked toxicity toward nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK) and mitochondrial H + leak

“…Therefore, Mediterranean cultures were not necessarily the first users of Xanthium -based medicine in Europe (Müller-Kiefer and Tomasello 2022 ), although the supposition regarding the Mediterranean-European or American origin of X. strumarium is still repeated in various sources (Iqbal et al. 2020 , 2021 ; Kelečević et al. 2020 ; Saeed et al.…”

Nitrogen acquisition strategy and its effects on invasiveness of a subtropical invasive plant

“…Invasions by exotic plant species can not only severely affect species composition, structure, and function of invaded ecosystems, but also pose a serious threat to the social economy ( Chen et al., 2016 ; Kerr et al., 2016 ; Iqbal et al., 2020 ; Kumar Rai and Singh, 2020 ; Zhao et al., 2020 ). Many studies have focused on understanding how exotic plants successfully invade new environments, and how to predict and prevent exotic plant invasions ( Catford et al., 2009 ; Lau and Schultheis, 2015 ; Enders et al., 2020 ; Huang et al., 2020 ; Liu et al., 2022 ).…”