@article{YannelliKarrerHalletal.2018,
  author    = {Yannelli, Florencia A. and Karrer, Gerhard and Hall, Rea and Kollmann, Johannes and Heger, Tina},
  title     = {Seed density is more effective than multi-trait limiting similarity in controlling grassland resistance against plant invasions in mesocosms},
  series = {Applied vegetation science : official organ of the International Association for Vegetation Science},
  volume    = {21},
  journal   = {Applied vegetation science : official organ of the International Association for Vegetation Science},
  number    = {3},
  publisher = {Wiley},
  address   = {Hoboken},
  issn      = {1402-2001},
  doi       = {10.1111/avsc.12373},
  pages     = {411 -- 418},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {QuestionDisturbed areas offer great opportunities for restoring native biodiversity, but they are also prone to invasion by alien plants. Following the limiting similarity hypothesis, we address the question of whether or not similarity of plant functional traits helps developing seed mixtures of native communities with high resistance to invasive species at an early stage of restoration. LocationCentre of Greenhouses and Laboratories Durnast, Technische Universitat Munchen, Freising, Germany. MethodsUsing a system of linear equations, we designed native communities maximizing the similarity between the native and two invasive species according to ten functional traits. We used native grassland plants, two invasive alien species that are often problematic in disturbed areas (i.e., Ambrosia artemisiifolia and Solidago gigantea) and trait information obtained from databases. The two communities were then tested for resistance against establishment of the two invaders separately in a greenhouse experiment. We measured height of the invasive species and above-ground biomass, along with leaf area index, 4 and 8months after sowing respectively. ResultsBoth invasive species were successfully reduced by the native community designed to suppress S. gigantea dominated by small-seeded species. These results could be considered as partial support for the limiting similarity hypothesis. However, given the success of this mixture against both invasive species, suppression was better explained by a seed density effect resulting from the smaller seed mass of the native species included in this mixture. Further, the dominance of a fast-developing competitive species could also contribute to its success. ConclusionsThere was no unequivocal support for the limiting similarity hypothesis in terms of the traits selected. Instead we found that increasing seeding density of native species and selecting species with a fast vegetative development is an effective way to suppress invasive plants during early stages of restoration. If limiting similarity is used to design communities for restoration, early life-history traits should be taken into account.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{EckertHerdenStiftetal.2020,
  author    = {Eckert, Silvia and Herden, Jasmin and Stift, Marc and Joshi, Jasmin Radha and van Kleunen, Mark},
  title     = {Manipulation of cytosine methylation does not remove latitudinal clines in two invasive goldenrod species in Central Europe},
  series = {Molecular ecology},
  volume    = {30},
  journal   = {Molecular ecology},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Wiley},
  address   = {Hoboken},
  issn      = {0962-1083},
  doi       = {10.1111/mec.15722},
  pages     = {222 -- 236},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Invasive species frequently differentiate phenotypically in novel environments within a few generations, often even with limited genetic variation. For the invasive plants Solidago canadensis and S. gigantea, we tested whether such differentiation might have occurred through heritable epigenetic changes in cytosine methylation. In a 2-year common-garden experiment, we grew plants from seeds collected along a latitudinal gradient in their non-native Central European range to test for trait differentiation and whether differentiation disappeared when seeds were treated with the demethylation agent zebularine. Microsatellite markers revealed no population structure along the latitudinal gradient in S. canadensis, but three genetic clusters in S. gigantea. Solidago canadensis showed latitudinal clines in flowering phenology and growth. In S. gigantea, the number of clonal offspring decreased with latitude. Although zebularine had a significant effect on early growth, probably through effects on cytosine methylation, latitudinal clines remained (or even got stronger) in plants raised from seeds treated with zebularine. Thus, our experiment provides no evidence that epigenetic mechanisms by selective cytosine methylation contribute to the observed phenotypic differentiation in invasive goldenrods in Central Europe.},
  language  = {en}
}