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Variation in herbivore-mediated indirect effects of an invasive plant on a native plant
Russell, F. Leland Louda, Svata M. Rand, Tatyana A. Kachman, Stephen D.
Russell, F. Leland
Louda, Svata M.
Rand, Tatyana A.
Kachman, Stephen D.
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2007-02
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Keywords
Apparent competition,Associational defense,Biological control,Carduus nutans L.,Cirsium undulatum Spreng.,Insect herbivory,Invasive plants,Non-target effects,Rhinocyllus conicus,Thistle,Weeds,Weevil
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Abstract
Theory predicts that damage by a shared herbivore to a secondary host plant
species may either be higher or lower in the vicinity of a preferred host plant species. To
evaluate the importance of ecological factors, such as host plant proximity and density, in
determining the direction and strength of such herbivore-mediated indirect effects, we
quantified oviposition by the exotic weevil Rhinocyllus conicus on the native wavyleaf thistle
Cirsium undulatum in midgrass prairie on loam soils in the upper Great Plains, USA. Over
three years (2001–2003), the number of eggs laid by R. conicus on C. undulatum always
decreased significantly with distance (0–220 m) from a musk thistle (Carduus nutans L.) patch.
Neither the level of R. conicus oviposition on C. undulatum nor the strength of the distance
effect was predicted by local musk thistle patch density or by local C. undulatum density (≤5m). The results suggest that high R. conicus egg loads on C. undulatum near musk thistle
resulted from the native thistle’s co-occurrence with the coevolved preferred exotic host plant
and not from the weevil’s response to local host plant density. Mean egg loads on C.
undulatum also were greater at sites with higher R. conicus densities. We conclude that both
preferred-plant proximity and shared herbivore density strongly affected the herbivoremediated
indirect interaction, suggesting that such interactions are important pathways by
which invasive exotic weeds can indirectly impact native plants.
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This is the authors' version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the publisher for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ecology, 88(2), 2007, pp. 413–423.
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Ecology, 88(2), 2007, pp. 413–423
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0012-9658