Plant invaders outperform congeneric natives on amino acids

• Published in: Basic and applied ecology Vol. 54; pp. 75 - 84
• Main Authors: Yu, Hong-Wei, He, Wei-Ming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier GmbH 01.08.2021
• Subjects: amino acids; ammonium; applied ecology; Biomass allocation; Congeneric comparison; dry matter partitioning; economics; Growth advantage; invasive species; nitrates; nitrogen; Nitrogen forms; Nitrogen use efficiency; nutrient use efficiency; nutrition; soil; Congeneric comparison; Nitrogen forms; Nitrogen use efficiency; Biomass allocation; Growth advantage
• ISSN: 1439-1791
• DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2021.04.009

As a key nitrogen (N) source, soil amino acids play an important role in plant N nutrition. However, how amino acids differentially influence the N use strategies of native and invasive plants remains unclear. We performed a potted experiment using five pairs of native and invasive plant congeners, which were subject to 23 N treatments (i.e., 20 protein primary amino acids, nitrate, ammonium, and control), each with 10 replicates. We determined their growth, biomass allocation, N use efficiency, and the growth advantage of plant invaders over their natives. Native and invasive plants used the same 18 amino acid N sources (i.e., a similar amino acid economics spectrum). The growth of plant invaders was invariably better than the growth of native plants, and this superior growth of invaders was linked to their higher root biomass allocation and greater N use efficiency. Additionally, invasive plants had a greater growth advantage on amino acid N than on inorganic N, so was this advantage greater on neutral amino acids than on acidic amino acids. These findings suggest that the differences in amino acid use strategies between invasive and native congeners could help to explain plant invasiveness, as indicated by a growth advantage.