Drought eliminates soil microbially mediated indirect competitive advantage among exotic plants.
Tao Z, Zhang Z, Wan J, Zhang K, Otieno EO
Invasive Species
The weedy exotic plants taking over your native garden bed may be winning not just by growing faster, but by quietly reshaping the soil life beneath them to poison the natives growing nearby.
When exotic (non-native) plants grow in soil, they leave behind a community of microbes — including disease-causing pathogens — that later help other exotic plants thrive while making it harder for native plants to survive. Native plants don't do this; they don't build up the same harmful microbes. Surprisingly, drought breaks this cycle by preventing those harmful microbes from accumulating in the first place.
Key Findings
Soil conditioned by exotic plants under normal watering gave later-arriving exotic plants a competitive advantage over natives, an effect not seen with native-conditioned soil.
Exotic-conditioned soils had a higher relative abundance of plant pathogens, which negatively correlated with native plant growth and positively correlated with exotic competitive effects on natives.
Drought eliminated the pathogen-mediated competitive advantage of exotic plants by preventing pathogen accumulation in soil.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Invasive plants may spread more easily than native plants partly because they cultivate soil microbes that harm natives — but drought disrupts this underground advantage, stopping the pathogen buildup that normally helps exotics outcompete local species.
Abstract Preview
Ecosystems world-wide are experiencing an accelerating accumulation of exotic plant species, posing serious threats to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. While soil microbially mediated indire...
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