Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, Brno 611 37, Czech Republic.
Department of Economic Plants and Biotechnology, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Wild Plant Resources, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China.
Plant Physiol. 2021 Apr 23;185(4):1309-1324. doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiaa069.
Parasitic plants are mostly viewed as pests. This is caused by several species causing serious damage to agriculture and forestry. There is however much more to parasitic plants than presumed weeds. Many parasitic plans exert even positive effects on natural ecosystems and human society, which we review in this paper. Plant parasitism generally reduces the growth and fitness of the hosts. The network created by a parasitic plant attached to multiple host plant individuals may however trigger transferring systemic signals among these. Parasitic plants have repeatedly been documented to play the role of keystone species in the ecosystems. Harmful effects on community dominants, including invasive species, may facilitate species coexistence and thus increase biodiversity. Many parasitic plants enhance nutrient cycling and provide resources to other organisms like herbivores or pollinators, which contributes to facilitation cascades in the ecosystems. There is also a long tradition of human use of parasitic plants for medicinal and cultural purposes worldwide. Few species provide edible fruits. Several parasitic plants are even cultivated by agriculture/forestry for efficient harvesting of their products. Horticultural use of some parasitic plant species has also been considered. While providing multiple benefits, parasitic plants should always be used with care. In particular, parasitic plant species should not be cultivated outside their native geographical range to avoid the risk of their uncontrolled spread and the resulting damage to ecosystems.
寄生植物在大多数情况下被视为害虫。这是由于一些物种对农业和林业造成了严重的破坏。然而，寄生植物的作用远不止于被认为是杂草。许多寄生植物对自然生态系统和人类社会都有积极的影响，本文对此进行了综述。寄生植物通常会降低宿主的生长和适应性。然而，寄生植物附着在多个宿主植物个体上所形成的网络可能会引发这些宿主之间的系统信号传递。寄生植物已经多次被记录为生态系统中的关键物种。对群落优势种（包括入侵物种）的有害影响可能会促进物种共存，从而增加生物多样性。许多寄生植物促进了养分循环，并为食草动物或传粉者等其他生物提供资源，这有助于生态系统中的促进级联。在全世界范围内，人类还长期以来一直将寄生植物用于药用和文化目的。少数几个物种提供可食用的果实。甚至有几种寄生植物被农业/林业种植，以有效地收获其产品。一些寄生植物的园艺用途也已被考虑。寄生植物虽然提供了多种益处，但在使用时仍需谨慎。特别是，寄生植物不应在其原生地理范围之外种植，以避免其不受控制的传播和对生态系统造成的破坏的风险。
