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Insect herbivory stimulates allelopathic exudation by an invasive plant and the suppression of natives
Author(s) -
Thelen Giles C.,
Vivanco Jorge M.,
Newingham Beth,
Good William,
Bais Harsh P.,
Landres Peter,
Caesar Anthony,
Callaway Ragan M.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00713.x
Subject(s) - allelopathy , herbivore , biology , invasive species , biological pest control , fungus , botany , ecology , native plant , insect , larva , introduced species , germination
Abstract Exotic invasive plants are often subjected to attack from imported insects as a method of biological control. A fundamental, but rarely explicitly tested, assumption of biological control is that damaged plants are less fit and compete poorly. In contrast, we find that one of the most destructive invasive plants in North America, Centaurea maculosa , exudes far higher amounts of (±)‐catechin, an allelopathic chemical known to have deleterious effects on native plants, when attacked by larvae of two different root boring biocontrol insects and a parasitic fungus. We also demonstrate that C. maculosa plants experimentally attacked by one of these biocontrols exhibit more intense negative effects on natives.