College of Forestry Science and Technology, Lishui Vocational and Technical College, Lishui 323000, Zhejiang, China.
School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Nov 25;953:176230. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176230. Epub 2024 Sep 11.
Wetlands are one of the ecosystems most easily and severely invaded by alien species. Biological invasions can have significant impacts on local plant communities and ecosystem functioning. While numerous studies have assessed the impacts of biological invasions on wetlands, relatively few have been conducted in protected areas such as national wetland parks. We conducted a field survey to investigate the effects of the invasive herb Alternanthera philoxeroides (alligator weed) on the productivity and structure of plant communities and soil microbial communities in the Lishui Jiulong National Wetland Park in Zhejiang, China. We also examined the potential influence of the distance to the river edge on the impact of the alligator weed invasion. The alligator weed invasion significantly altered the plant community structure. It reduced the coverage of co-occurring plant species, including native (-31.2 %), invasive (-70.1 %), and non-invasive alien plants (-58.4 %). However, it increased species richness by 50 %, Pielou's evenness by 20 %, and Simpson's diversity index by 29.1 % for the overall plant community. Furthermore, within the community not invaded by alligator weed, increasing the distance to the river edge decreased the number of native plants by 57.0 % and the aboveground biomass of other invasive plants by 78.6 %. Contrary to expectations, no effects of the alligator weed invasion were observed on soil fungal and bacterial communities. Therefore, the impacts of the alligator weed invasion varied with spatial context and plant category, emphasizing the need to consider multiple scales and environmental factors when assessing the effects of invasive species on plant biodiversity. These insights enhance our understanding of plant invasions in wetlands and can guide the development of effective management strategies for these important ecosystems.
湿地是最容易被外来物种入侵的生态系统之一。生物入侵会对当地植物群落和生态系统功能产生重大影响。尽管许多研究评估了生物入侵对湿地的影响，但在像国家湿地公园这样的保护区进行的研究相对较少。我们进行了实地调查，以研究入侵草本植物空心莲子草（喜旱莲子草）对中国浙江丽水九龙国家湿地公园植物群落和土壤微生物群落生产力和结构的影响。我们还研究了距河边缘的距离对喜旱莲子草入侵影响的潜在影响。喜旱莲子草入侵显著改变了植物群落结构。它减少了伴生植物物种的覆盖度，包括本地种（-31.2%）、入侵种（-70.1%）和非入侵外来植物（-58.4%）。然而，它使整个植物群落的物种丰富度增加了 50%，Pielou 均匀度增加了 20%，Simpson 多样性指数增加了 29.1%。此外，在未被喜旱莲子草入侵的群落中，距河边缘的距离增加会使本地植物的数量减少 57.0%，其他入侵植物的地上生物量减少 78.6%。与预期相反，喜旱莲子草入侵对土壤真菌和细菌群落没有影响。因此，喜旱莲子草入侵的影响因空间背景和植物类别而异，这强调了在评估入侵物种对植物生物多样性的影响时需要考虑多个尺度和环境因素。这些见解增强了我们对湿地植物入侵的理解，并可以为这些重要生态系统的有效管理策略提供指导。
