Premium
Influence of obligate parasite Cuscuta campestris on the community of its host Mikania micrantha
Author(s) -
LIAN J Y,
YE W H,
CAO H L,
LAI Z M,
WANG Z M,
CAI C X
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
weed research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1365-3180
pISSN - 0043-1737
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3180.2006.00538.x
Subject(s) - mikania micrantha , cuscuta , biology , weed , botany , obligate , ageratum conyzoides , obligate parasite , biomass (ecology) , host (biology) , agronomy , ecology
Summary As a means of biologically controlling Mikania micrantha in South China, the influence of the native obligate parasite Cuscuta campestris on its natural community was studied in the field. Mikania micrantha is a non‐indigenous vine that smothers other vegetation and has become a major invader of agricultural land and native areas in Southern China. These preliminary results showed pronounced effects on M. micrantha by C. campestris . Cuscuta campestris significantly reduced biomass of M. micrantha , increased species diversity and helped re‐establishment of native species. Biomass of M. micrantha decreased from 328 g m −2 to 82 g m −2 , biomass of companion species increased from 41 g m −2 to 145 g m −2 , the total number of species increased from 7 to 19 and the species diversity index from 1.8 to 5.6, when C. campestris was present. These results indicated that the use of C. campestris could be a potentially effective way of controlling M. micrantha and could help us achieve the novel objective of biological control of weeds using weeds.