Biological Invasions (2009) 11, 651-661

Susana Rodríguez-Echeverría, João A. Crisóstomo, Cristina Nabais and Helena Freitas (2009)
Belowground mutualists and the invasive ability of Acacia longifolia in coastal dunes of Portugal
Biological Invasions 11 (3), 651-661
Abstract: The ability to form symbiotic associations with soil microorganisms and the consequences for plant growth were studied for three woody legumes grown in five different soils of a Portuguese coastal dune system. Seedlings of the invasive Acacia longifolia and the natives Ulex europaeus and Cytisus grandiflorus were planted in the five soil types in which at least one of these species appear in the studied coastal dune system. We found significant differences between the three woody legumes in the number of nodules produced, final plant biomass and shoot ¹⁵N content. The number of nodules produced by A. longifolia was more than five times higher than the number of nodules produced by the native legumes. The obtained ¹⁵N values suggest that both A. longifolia and U. europaeus incorporated more biologically-fixed nitrogen than C. grandiflorus which is also the species with the smallest distribution. Finally, differences were also found between the three species in the allocation of biomass in the different studied soils. Acacia longifolia displayed a lower phenotypic plasticity than the two native legumes which resulted in a greater allocation to aboveground biomass in the soils with lower nutrient content. We conclude that the invasive success of A. longifolia in the studied coastal sand dune system is correlated to its capacity to nodulate profusely and to use the biologically-fixed nitrogen to enhance aboveground growth in soils with low N content.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Susana Rodriguez-Echeverria

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ulex europaeus (weed)		Portugal (continental)
	Acacia longifolia (weed)		Portugal (continental)