Skip Navigation


AOBPreview originally published online on November 10, 2008
Annals of Botany 2009 103(1):107-115; doi:10.1093/aob/mcn214
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow ContentSelect
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
103/1/107    most recent
mcn214v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in Ann Bot
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Prider, J.
Right arrow Articles by Facelli, J. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Prider, J.
Right arrow Articles by Facelli, J. M.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Prider, J.
Right arrow Articles by Facelli, J. M.
Related Collections
Right arrow Ecology
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?


© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Impacts of a native parasitic plant on an introduced and a native host species: implications for the control of an invasive weed

Jane Prider*, Jennifer Watling and José M. Facelli

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia

* For correspondence: E-mail jane.prider{at}adelaide.edu.au

Received: 22 July 2008    Returned for revision: 2 September 2008    Accepted: 22 September 2008    Published electronically: 10 November 2008

Background and Aims: While invasive species may escape from natural enemies in the new range, the establishment of novel biotic interactions with species native to the invaded range can determine their success. Biological control of plant populations can be achieved by manipulation of a species' enemies in the invaded range. Interactions were therefore investigated between a native parasitic plant and an invasive legume in Mediterranean-type woodlands of South Australia.

Methods: The effects of the native stem parasite, Cassytha pubescens, on the introduced host, Cytisus scoparius, and a co-occurring native host, Leptospermum myrsinoides, were compared. The hypothesis that the parasitic plant would have a greater impact on the introduced host than the native host was tested. In a field study, photosynthesis, growth and survival of hosts and parasite were examined.

Key Results: As predicted, Cassytha had greater impacts on the introduced host than the native host. Dead Cytisus were associated with dense Cassytha infections but mortality of Leptospermum was not correlated with parasite infection. Cassytha infection reduced the photosynthetic rates of both hosts. Infected Cytisus showed slower recovery of photosystem II efficiency, lower transpiration rates and reduced photosynthetic biomass in comparison with uninfected plants. Parasite photosynthetic rates and growth rates were higher when growing on the introduced host Cytisus, than on Leptospermum.

Conclusions: Infection by a native parasitic plant had strong negative effects on the physiology and above-ground biomass allocation of an introduced species and was correlated with increased plant mortality. The greater impact of the parasite on the introduced host may be due to either the greater resources that this host provides or increased resistance to infection by the native host. This disparity of effects between introduced host and native host indicates the potential for Cassytha to be exploited as a control tool.

Key words: Biological control, Cassytha pubescens, Cytisus scoparius, Leptospermum myrsinoides, parasitic plant, plant interactions, plant invasion, Scotch broom


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?

Related articles in Ann Bot:

ContentSnapshots

Ann Bot 2009 103: i. [Extract] [Full Text]  

John Bryant takes a closer look at some of this month's Original Articles
J. A. Bryant
Ann Bot 2009 103: iii. [Extract] [Full Text]  





Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.