Invasive species:

Microbial invasions

Justine Bigot
Hanna El-Khouri
Donald Juarez
Abbot Oghenekaro

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 What is an invasive specie?

• Invasion: the process by which species, with no historical record

in an area, breach biogeographic barriers and extend their range.

• Invasive species: are species that aggressively compete with and

displace native plant communities.

• Prevention, early detection and rapid response, are the first line
http://art4linux.org/system/files/invasion-1600.jpg
of defense against new introductions.

• Invasive species threaten biodiversity by causing disease, acting

as predators or parasites, acting as competitors, altering habitat,

or hybridizing with local species.

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 How are invasive plants moved?

– By purpose
• ornamentals
• plants for economic usage

– by mistake
• for example seed attached to clothing

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 Why are invasive plants very good
invaders?
• Presence of fewer viral and fungal pathogens in
introduced habitats.

• Capable of rapid growth

• Good competitors under conditions of high

resource availability

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 Interaction between invasive plants
and microbes
Two important aspects:
• Invasive plants influence microbial community composition and its
ecological functions.

• The microbial community influences the process of invasive plants by

acting as drivers of the invasion process.

Types of interactions
• Plant-pathogen
• Plant-symbiont
• Plant-decomposer interaction

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 Plant - pathogen

• Newly introduced plant species have to face a set of challenges:

Surviving

Growing

Reproducing in the new habitat.

• Tolerance to local abiotic conditions is most likely the dominant factor influencing initial

survival of most species.

• Until an invading plant becomes dominant in the new habitat, there should be only weak

selection on local pathogens to increase their ability to infect the new species.

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 Plant - pathogen

• Introduced plants, if susceptible to local generalist pathogens, should

experience strong selection pressure to develop resistance mechanisms.

• Both host and pathogen may find themselves in a novel environment. There

may be selection on both to adapt to the local environment.

• Although conditions in the new range may be less optimal for disease

development, in some cases the reverse may also occur.

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Mutualists or Symbionts Invasive
Plants
• Myccorhizas and nitrogen fixers help invasive plants in
two different ways

• Beneficial association to outcompete native plants

by changing the composition of the soil to their
advantage

• Disrupt the mutualism systems of native plants

by excreting toxic chemicals to their mutualists

ex: Alliaria petiolata

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Decomposers and Invasive Plants

• In case where native plants have different life strategy

• Invasive plants acquire new capacities:

• fast-growth
• short-lived poorly defended tissues
• high nutrient concentrations

• Native plants conserve their traits

• slow growth,
• long-lived well-defended tissues
• low nutrient concentration

• invasive plants have greater influences on native decomposers:

• add exotic nutrient resources which affect native saprophytic microbial community,
native decomposition, and native soil proce

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Microbial Processes

• Three categories about how invasive plants and

microorganism interact to invade Invasive plants suffer less
negative soil feedback than native species
• Ex: Enemy Release hypothesis.

• Invasive plants are able to disturb habitat by enhancing

pathogen levels or destructing symbionts systems
• Ex: Accumulation of Local Pathogens hypothesis

• Allelochemicals can help exotic plants establishing invaded

habitats. There are hardly detoxified by local microbial
community and harm native plant species
• Ex: Novel Weapons hypothesis
• successfully

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