Cappuccino Naomi, Arnason J Thor
Carleton University, Department of Biology, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada.
Biol Lett. 2006 Jun 22;2(2):189-93. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2005.0433.
Of the many exotic plants that have become naturalized in North America, only a small proportion are pests capable of invading and dominating intact natural communities. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that the most invasive plants are phytochemically unique in their new habitats. A comparison of exotic plant species that are highly invasive in North America with exotics that are widespread, but non-invasive revealed that the invasive plants were more likely to have potent secondary compounds that have not been reported from North American native plants. On average, the compounds found in the invasive plants were reported from fewer species, fewer genera and fewer families than those from non-invasive plants. Many of the unique phytochemicals from invasive plants have been reported to have multiple activities, including antiherbivore, antifungal, antimicrobial and allelopathic (phytotoxic) effects, which may provide the plants with several advantages in their new environments.
在众多已在北美归化的外来植物中，只有一小部分是能够入侵并主导完整自然群落的有害生物。在本研究中，我们检验了这样一个假设：最具入侵性的植物在其新栖息地具有独特的植物化学特征。将在北美具有高度入侵性的外来植物物种与广泛分布但不具入侵性的外来植物进行比较后发现，入侵植物更有可能含有北美本土植物中未报道过的强效次生化合物。平均而言，入侵植物中发现的化合物在物种、属和科的数量上比非入侵植物中的化合物要少。据报道，许多来自入侵植物的独特植物化学物质具有多种活性，包括抗食草动物、抗真菌、抗菌和化感（植物毒性）作用，这些作用可能使这些植物在新环境中具有多种优势。
