Invasion syndromes:hypotheses on relationships among invasive species attributes and characteristics of invaded sites

As invasion science accepts that there is no single causal factor for biological invasion, the identification of groups of traits that are often associated, or ＂syndromes＂, is a logical move forward. Invasion syndromes are proposed to identify suites of site conditions （biotic and environmental） that render a site vulnerable to invasion by different types of invaders. This paper proposed four invasion syndromes which relate invader attributes （competitive ability, niche construction, phenotypic plasticity, and phenological niche separation） to the biotic characteristics （biodiversity and enemies） and environmental conditions （resource abundance and fluctuation） of invaded sites. The four invasion syndromes described in this paper are a development of hypotheses of how the many factors that influence species invasion might be associated. Invasion Syndrome 1 proposes that sites with relatively high resource abundance and high diversity should be vulnerable to invasion by species with high competitive ability. Invasion Syndrome 2 hypothesizes that sites with relatively low resource abundance and low diversity should be vulnerable to invasion by species with niche construction ability. Invasion Syndrome 3 postulates that sites with moderate or fluctuating resources and moderate diversity should be vulnerable to invasion by species with high phenotypic plasticity. Invasion Syndrome 4 hypothesizes that species introduced into a site where it has phenological niche separation from natives will not have to contend with interference from the biotic community at a site （diversity or natural enemies） and may invade where ever site environmental conditions suit its life history. Further work is needed to support, contradict, or refine these hypotheses and almost certainly will identify more invasion syndromes.

Effects of plant species richness on stand structure and productivity

Aims Aboveground biomass production commonly increases with species richness in plant biodiversity experiments.Little is known about the direct mechanisms that cause this result.We tested if by occupying different heights and depths above and below ground,and by optimizing the vertical distribution of leaf nitrogen,species in mixtures can contribute to increased resource uptake and,thus,increased productivity of the community in comparison with monocultures.Methods We grew 24 grassland plant species,grouped into four nonoverlapping species pools,in monoculture and 3-and 6-species mixture in spatially heterogeneous and uniform soil nutrient conditions.Layered harvests of above-and belowground biomass,as well as leaf nitrogen and light measurements,were taken to assess vertical canopy and root space structure.Important Findings The distribution of leaf mass was shifted toward greater heights and light absorption was correspondingly enhanced in mixtures.How ever,only some mixtures had leaf nitrogen concentration profiles predicted to optimize whole-community carbon gain,whereas in other mixtures species seemed to behave more‘selfish’.Nevertheless,even in these communities,biomass production increased with species richness.The distribution of root biomass below ground did not change from monocultures to three-and six-species mixtures and there was also no indication that mixtures were better than monocultures at extracting heterogeneously as compared to homogeneously distributed soil resources.We conclude that positive biodiversity effect on aboveground biomass production cannot easily be explained by a single or few common mechanisms of differential space use.Rather,it seems that mechanisms vary with the particular set of species combined in a community.