Open AccessChemical novelty facilitates herbivore resistance and biological invasions in some introduced plant species
Author(s) -
Sedio Brian E.,
Devaney John L.,
Pullen Jamie,
Parker Geoffrey G.,
Wright S. Joseph,
Parker John D.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.6575
Subject(s) - herbivore , ecology , biology , invasive species , resistance (ecology) , introduced species , chemical ecology , novelty , plant community , native plant , plant species , insect , plant tolerance to herbivory , species richness , philosophy , theology
Ecological release from herbivory due to chemical novelty is commonly predicted to facilitate biological invasions by plants, but has not been tested on a community scale. We used metabolomics based on mass spectrometry molecular networks to assess the novelty of foliar secondary chemistry of 15 invasive plant species compared to 46 native species at a site in eastern North America. Locally, invasive species were more chemically distinctive than natives. Among the 15 invasive species, the more chemically distinct were less preferred by insect herbivores and less browsed by deer. Finally, an assessment of invasion frequency in 2,505 forest plots in the Atlantic coastal plain revealed that, regionally, invasive species that were less preferred by insect herbivores, less browsed by white‐tailed deer, and chemically distinct relative to the native plant community occurred more frequently in survey plots. Our results suggest that chemically mediated release from herbivores contributes to many successful invasions.