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Short-term responses to warming vary between native vs. exotic species and with latitude in an early successional plant community

  • Global change ecology – original research
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Abstract

Climate change is expected to favor exotic plant species over native species, because exotics tend to have wider climatic tolerances and greater phenological plasticity, and also because climate change may intensify enemy release. Here, we examine direct effects of warming (+ 1.8 °C above ambient) on plant abundance and phenology, as well as indirect effects of warming propagated through herbivores, in two heavily invaded plant communities in Michigan, USA, separated by approximately three degrees latitude. At the northern site, warming increased exotic plant abundance by 19% but decreased native plant abundance by 31%, indicating that exotic species may be favored in a warmer world. Warming also resulted in earlier spring green-up (1.65 ± 0.77 days), earlier flowering (2.18 ± 0.92 days), and greater damage by herbivores (twofold increase), affecting exotic and native species equally. Contrary to expectations, native and exotic plants experienced similar amounts of herbivory. Warming did not have strong ecological effects at the southern site, only resulting in a delay of flowering time by 2.42 ± 0.83 days for both native and exotic species. Consistent with the enemy release hypothesis, exotic plants experienced less herbivory than native plants at the southern site. Herbivory was lower under warming for both exotic and native species at the southern site. Thus, climate warming may favor exotic over native plant species, but the response is likely to depend on additional environmental and individual species’ traits.

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Acknowledgements

KBW was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) and Michigan State University (MSU) Plant Sciences Fellowship. PLZ was supported by MSU and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch Project 1010055. QDR was supported by MSU. NKL was supported by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation and MSU. We thank MSU’s Forestry Department, Kellogg Biological Station and their Long-Term Ecological Research Station (NSF DEB 1027253), and the University of Michigan Biological Station for providing support for research equipment, travel, and housing. Many thanks to Tori Niewohner, Patrick Duffy, and Matt Chansler for their indispensable help in the field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Kileigh B. Welshofer, Phoebe L. Zarnetske, Nina K. Lany & Quentin D. Read

  2. Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Kileigh B. Welshofer, Phoebe L. Zarnetske, Nina K. Lany & Quentin D. Read

  3. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Phoebe L. Zarnetske

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  1. Kileigh B. Welshofer
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  2. Phoebe L. Zarnetske
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KBW and PLZ conceived and designed the experiments. KBW performed the experiments. KBW, NKL, and QDR analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors provided editorial advice.

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Correspondence to Kileigh B. Welshofer.

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Communicated by Jennifer Funk.

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Welshofer, K.B., Zarnetske, P.L., Lany, N.K. et al. Short-term responses to warming vary between native vs. exotic species and with latitude in an early successional plant community. Oecologia 187, 333–342 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-018-4111-9

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