新西兰坎特伯雷大学I. A. Dickie研究团队取得最新进展。他们发现生物相互作用驱动生态系统对外来入侵植物的应答。该研究于2020年5月29日发表于国际学术期刊《科学》杂志上。

他们创建了在外来植物优势、植物性状、土壤生物区系和无脊椎动物草食动物以及碳循环测量指标方面各不相同的生物圈。与土壤生物区系和食草动物的相互作用是外来植物影响的最强驱动力，特别是在土壤碳循环量方面。

此外，与本地植物相比，与生长和养分获取有关的植物性状解释了外来植物与新型生物群相互作用的方式的差异。他们得出的结论是，与外来物种的新型生物相互作用是生态系统转型的重要驱动力，远非以前所公认的。

研究人员表示，植物入侵后，生态系统进程速率通常会提高，但其程度是由（i）生产率的变化，（ii）外来物种的性状或（iii）新的（非进化的）生物相互作用所决定的。

附：英文原文

Title: Biotic interactions drive ecosystem responses to exotic plant invaders

Author: L. P. Waller, W. J. Allen, B. I. P. Barratt, L. M. Condron, F. M. Frana, J. E. Hunt, N. Koele, K. H. Orwin, G. S. Steel, J. M. Tylianakis, S. A. Wakelin, I. A. Dickie

Issue&Volume: 2020/05/29

Abstract: Ecosystem process rates typically increase after plant invasion, but the extent to which this is driven by (i) changes in productivity, (ii) exotic species’ traits, or (iii) novel (non-coevolved) biotic interactions has never been quantified. We created communities varying in exotic plant dominance, plant traits, soil biota, and invertebrate herbivores and measured indicators of carbon cycling. Interactions with soil biota and herbivores were the strongest drivers of exotic plant effects, particularly on measures of soil carbon turnover. Moreover, plant traits related to growth and nutrient acquisition explained differences in the ways that exotic plants interacted with novel biota compared with natives. We conclude that novel biological interactions with exotic species are a more important driver of ecosystem transformation than was previously recognized.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aba2225

Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6494/967