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Mycorrhizal colonization and its relationship with plant performance differs between exotic and native grassland plant species

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Abstract

Many grasslands have been transformed by exotic species with potentially novel ecological interactions. We hypothesized that exotic and native plant species differ, on average, in their percentage mycorrhizal colonization, and that mycorrhizal colonization is positively related to plant performance in the field. We compared colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) fungi in perennial native and exotic species that were paired phylogenetically and by functional groups and grown under a common environment in field plots in Central Texas, USA. Roots were collected from plants in monoculture plots, stained, and percent colonization was assessed with a microscope. Aboveground biomass and dominance in mixture were used as measures of plant performance. Exotic species had significantly higher colonization of AM than native species, and this result was consistent across functional groups. Percent colonization was positively correlated with biomass and dominance in mixture across native species, but not across exotic species. Our results indicate that mycorrhizal dependence is a more important predictor of competitive balance among native than exotic plant species in the subhumid grasslands of the USA.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Aurora Davis for help with lab work, and Pedram Daneshgar, Katherine Jones, and Chris Kolodziejczyk with help planting and maintaining the field plots. Phillip Dixon provided statistical advice. We also thank the USDA—NIFA—2014-67003-22067 Grant to BJW for funding support. AFR is grateful for the support received from Concurso Nacional Inserción en la Academia 2017, CONICYT-PAI79170054, Chilean Ministry of Education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, 251 Bessey Hall, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    Aleksandra Checinska Sielaff, Andres Fuentes-Ramirez, Kirsten Hofmockel & Brian J. Wilsey

  2. USDA-ARS, Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory, Temple, TX, USA

    H. Wayne Polley

  3. Laboratorio de Biometría, Departamento de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile

    Andres Fuentes-Ramirez

  4. Department of Energy, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richmond, WA, USA

    Kirsten Hofmockel

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  1. Aleksandra Checinska Sielaff
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Correspondence to Brian J. Wilsey.

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Sielaff, A.C., Polley, H.W., Fuentes-Ramirez, A. et al. Mycorrhizal colonization and its relationship with plant performance differs between exotic and native grassland plant species. Biol Invasions 21, 1981–1991 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-019-01950-w

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