As ecosystem engineers, invasive earthworms are one of the main drivers of plant
community changes in North American forests previously devoid of earthworms.
One explanation for these community changes is the effects of earthworms on the
reproduction, recruitment, and development of plant species. However, few studies
have investigated functional trait responses of native plants to earthworm invasion to
explain the mechanisms underlying community changes. In a mesocosm (Ecotron)
experiment, we set up a plant community composed of two herb and two grass species
commonly found in northern North American forests under two earthworm treatments
(presence vs. absence). We measured earthworm effects on above- and belowground
plant biomass and functional traits after 3 months of experiment. Our results showed
that earthworm presence did not significantly affect plant community biomass and cover.
Furthermore, only four out of the fifteen above- and belowground traits measured were
affected by earthworm presence. While some traits, such as the production of ramets,
the carbon and nitrogen content of leaves, responded similarly between and within
functional groups in the presence or absence of earthworms, we observed opposite
responses for other traits, such as height, specific leaf area, and root length within
some functional groups in the presence of earthworms. Plant trait responses were
thus species-specific, although the two grass species showed a more pronounced
response to earthworm presence with changes in their leaf traits than herb species.
Overall, earthworms affected some functional traits related to resource uptake abilities
of plants and thus could change plant competition outcomes over time, which could be
an explanation of plant community changes observed in invaded ecosystems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:84570 |
| Date | 05 April 2023 |
| Creators | Thouvenot, Lise, Ferlian, Olga, Beugnon, Rémy, Künne, Tom, Lochner, Alfred, Thakur, Madhav P., Türke, Manfred, Eisenhauer, Nico |
| Publisher | Frontiers Research Foundation |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 1664-462X, 627573 |
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