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Traits of invasives reconsidered: phenotypic comparisons of introduced invasive and introduced noninvasive plant species within two closely related clades
Author(s) -
Muth Norris Z,
Pigliucci Massimo
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.3732/ajb.93.2.188
Subject(s) - biology , invasive species , asteraceae , trait , inflorescence , range (aeronautics) , clade , centaurea , introduced species , taxon , ecology , evolutionary biology , phylogenetics , biochemistry , materials science , computer science , gene , composite material , programming language
In attempting to determine the traits associated with invasive plant species, ecologists have often used species native to the invaded range as “control species.” Because many native species themselves are aggressive colonizers, comparisons using this type of control do not necessarily yield information relevant to distinctions between invasive and noninvasive species. Here we implement an alternative study design that compares phenological, architectural, size, and fitness traits of several introduced invasive species to introduced noninvasive species within two genera of Asteraceae ( Crepis and Centaurea ). While there were many significant differences between the genera, there were few shared attributes among invasive or noninvasive congeners, even for traits as seemingly important as the number of inflorescences produced and the size of seed heads. Instead, the results suggest that differences in invasiveness between closely related species is better explained as the result of complex trait interactions and specific introduction histories.