The global invader Ligustrum lucidum accumulates beneficial arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a novel range

BORDA, VALENTINA ; LONGO, SILVANA; MARRO, NICOLÁS; URCELAY, CARLOS

PLANT ECOLOGY

SPRINGER

Año: 2021

1385-0237

Alien invasive trees may expand and form monospecific forests by enhancingmutualism with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and/or preventing theestablishment of other plants through accumulation of antagonists for native plants.The success of invasive plants also has been associated with their higher phenotypicplasticity. Here we tested these mechanisms by studying the global invasive treeLigustrum lucidum (hereafter Ligustrum ) and the dominant native tree of theChaquean montane forest (central Argentina) Lithraea molleoides (hereafter Lithraea). We experimentally addressed the effects of soil biota from Ligustrum monospecificforest stands and native montane forests on growth, biomass allocation, and nutritionof alien Ligustrum and native Lithraea . Soil biota was recovered from the rootingzone of adult trees of both species in each forest type. We found that arbusculescolonization in Ligustrum roots was significantly higher in seedlings grown with AMFcommunities from monospecific invaded forests in comparison to native soils.Mycorrhizal colonization in Lithraea roots did not differed between forest types. Soilbiota from the rooting zone of the native Lithraea has no major effects on both itselfand the invasive Ligustrum . Instead, AMF from Ligustrum rooting zone almosttripled and doubled P nutrition of the alien and the native compared with non-AMFtreatments, respectively. Besides, antagonistic effects of soil biota were not observed.Lithraea root mass fraction (root mass/total plant mass, RMF) was not affected byforest type nor by soil treatment but Ligustrum RMF was affected by both factors. Inparticular, RMF decreased when seedlings grew with AMF from its rooting zone. Theobserved positive plant-soil feedback and the phenotypic plasticity of Ligustrum couldexplain, at least in part, the high invasiveness and the formation of monospecific foreststands by this global invader.