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Responses of soil biota and nitrogen availability to an invasive plant under aboveground herbivory

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Abstract

Aims

Recently, much attention has been paid to the plant-mediated effects of aboveground herbivory on soil ecosystems. However, studies about the herbivore-induced effects of invasive plants on soil ecosystem are still lacking. In this study, we aimed to examine the soil biota and nutrient availability to an invasive plant under aboveground herbivory stress, and compare the soil responses with a native plant.

Methods

We subjected an invasive plant (Spartina alterniflora) and a native plant (Phragmites australis) to herbivory by caterpillars of native moth Laelia coenosa, and measured soil microbes, nematodes, inorganic nitrogen (N), plant biomass and N content.

Results

Soil microbial biomass, nematode abundance, ammonium N concentrations and N mineralization rates were significantly stimulated by herbivory of the invasive S. alterniflora. Besides, the stimulation of bacteria: fungi ratio, abundance of bacterivorous nematodes, and ammonium N availability were significantly higher for S. alterniflora than for P. australis.

Conclusions

In general, aboveground insect herbivory of the invasive S. alterniflora enhanced the abundance of soil biota, and the soil N availability. The greater soil responses associated with S. alterniflora suggest stronger positive soil feedback than those with the native P. australis, which might facilitate the invasive plant to successfully invade its new range under biotic stress.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Professor Anthony John Davy for his constructive comments on an early version of this manuscript. We also thank Ding Ma for assistance with preparing insect materials, Sikai Wang and Zaichao Yang for help with collecting plant and soil materials. This research was financially supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2013CB430404) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31670544).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, 2005 Songhu Road, Shanghai, 200438, People’s Republic of China

    Jiahui Zhou, Ruiting Ju, Bo Li & Jihua Wu

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  1. Jiahui Zhou
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  2. Ruiting Ju
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Correspondence to Jihua Wu.

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Zhou, J., Ju, R., Li, B. et al. Responses of soil biota and nitrogen availability to an invasive plant under aboveground herbivory. Plant Soil 415, 479–491 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3179-z

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