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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2005

  • Title: Maternal habitat effects on the understory invasive species Alliaria petiolata
  • Author: Jens T Stevens (Carleton College)
  • Abstract:

    Alliaria petiolata (Bieb) Cavara and Grande (Brassicaceae), commonly known as garlic mustard, is an invasive herb native to Eurasia and found in forest edge and understory habitats across eastern North America. In understory habitats, A. petolata is known to have negative impacts on native plant species and tree seedlings. In this study, we tested whether the maternal environment of individuals affects understory populations of A. petiolata. We reciprocally transplanted plants from sun, intermediate and forest “maternal habitats” into each of the same three “growth habitats.” The different habitat classifications reflected variation in light levels and soil temperatures. We collected data on biomass, phenology, fitness, and survivorship. In the forest “growth habitat,” plants from maternal forest habitats had higher germination rates than plants from maternal sun habitats (Fig. 1). Furthermore, the subpopulation of sun maternal plants has a lower growth rate in the forest than in the sun, while the subpopulation of forest maternal plants showed no difference. However, plants from maternal sun habitats tended to have higher reproductive biomass and relative fitness, and were under stronger selection pressure to grow larger. These data suggest some survival advantages to forest-reared seeds, but their fitness attributes may be inferior to sun-reared seeds. Effective management of invasive A. petiolata populations should address both the edge and the understory components.

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