Generalist versus Specialist Herbivores on the Invasive Senecio inaequidens and a Native Related Species: What Makes the Difference? - American Journal of Plant Sciences

AJPS > Vol.4 No.2, February 2013

Volume 4, Issue 2 (February 2013)

ISSN Print: 2158-2742 ISSN Online: 2158-2750

Google-based Impact Factor: 1.20 Citations h5-index & Ranking

Generalist versus Specialist Herbivores on the Invasive Senecio inaequidens and a Native Related Species: What Makes the Difference? ()

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Download as PDF (Size: 1370KB) PP. 386-394

DOI: 10.4236/ajps.2013.42A050 4,553 Downloads 7,421 Views Citations

Author(s)

Anne-Laure Jacquemart, Valérie Vanparys, Pierre Meerts

Affiliation(s)

Earth and Life Institute, Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Plant Ecology and Biogeochemistry, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.

ABSTRACT

We compared herbivory pressure in the native Jacobaea vulgaris (formely Senecio jacobaea) and the alien invasive S. inaequidens in sites where they co-occur in Belgium. We predicted that the alien species experiences relaxed herbivory pressure by specialist herbivores (enemy release hypothesis ERH) whereas it is still attacked by generalist herbivores. Impacts of two generalist (gastropods and rabbits) and one specialist (the caterpillar Tyria jacobaeae) herbivores were assessed with field observations and exclusion experiments. The generalist herbivores had a higher impact on the biomass and survival of the seedlings of the alien S. inaequidens than on the native J. vulgaris. On the contrary, the specialist Tyria jacobaeae attacked exclusively the adults of the native species, supporting one of the main predictions of the ERH. These results are discussed in relation to differences in pyrrolizidine alkaloid profiles between the two species.

KEYWORDS

Enemy Release; Biotic Resistance; Invasive Plant; Invasive Success; Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids

Share and Cite:

A. Jacquemart, V. Vanparys and P. Meerts, "Generalist versus Specialist Herbivores on the Invasive Senecio inaequidens and a Native Related Species: What Makes the Difference?," American Journal of Plant Sciences, Vol. 4 No. 2A, 2013, pp. 386-394. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2013.42A050.

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