This is a preprint, a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Research
GOWHER WANI
Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2276-9633
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background
The invasion of non-native species is a major cause of the global biodiversity loss and creates enormous economic costs. What determines alien invasive species dominance over native plant species is still little known, but there is an emerging pattern that many of the world’s worst invasive plants are successful invaders due to the significant connection between their clonal traits and invasiveness. Freshwater ecosystems are relatively more prone to decline and extinction of species caused by biological invasion than terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In view of the lack of information about whether or not aquatic alien species at different stages of invasion exhibit any significant relation with clonality, the specific question addressed in this study was whether there is any relationship between clonality and invasiveness in aquatic macrophytes and how does it vary along different stages of invasion?
Results
While the link between clonality and species invasiveness has recently been recognized, whether and how clonality varies with different invasion-stages remains open questions. Hence, we tested the relationship between clonality and species invasiveness of Kashmir Himalayan aquatic macrophytes vis-à-vis its variability along different stages of invasion. The data on clonality, stage of invasion, and growth form was obtained through an extensive survey of literature and database like CLO-PLA (CLOnal PLAnts, version 3) and PLADIAS (Plant Diversity Analysis and Synthesis, 2014–2018) followed by evaluation of the clonal organs thorough intensive field surveys undertaken over a period of 3 years (2014-2017) in different aquatic habitats of the Kashmir valley. Our results showed that 84% of the studied species and almost 90% of the most invasive species (stage V sensu Colautti and MacIsaac 2004) are clonal. A strong positive correlation (r=0.94; p<0.05) between clonality and invasiveness was observed, which further substantiates this association at a broad geographical scale representing the whole region. From the scatter matrix and Pearson’s correlation matrix, clonality seems to have a strong positive correlation with fragments, rhizomes, runners, turions, tubers, and buds, thereby further affirming the strong nexus of clonality with species invasions.
Conclusions
Our results showed strong association of clonal architecture with not only the stages of invasion but also the distribution pattern of alien species in aquatic habitats, thereby indicating the pivotal contribution of clonality to invasiveness. Future studies directed at unraveling the reasons behind clonality need to be undertaken from the genomic perspective, in order to evolve better models for proper management of alien aquatic invasive species.
Keywords
Clonality, Clonal growth organs, CLO-PLA, Growth form, Kashmir Himalaya, PLADIAS, Plant invasion
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
This is a list of supplementary files associated with this preprint. Click to download.
Loading...
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 1
Posted 03 Feb, 2021
No community comments so far
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Botany
Learn more about our company.
This is a preprint. It has not completed peer review.
Research
GOWHER WANI
Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2276-9633
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 1
Posted 03 Feb, 2021
No community comments so far
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Botany
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background
The invasion of non-native species is a major cause of the global biodiversity loss and creates enormous economic costs. What determines alien invasive species dominance over native plant species is still little known, but there is an emerging pattern that many of the world’s worst invasive plants are successful invaders due to the significant connection between their clonal traits and invasiveness. Freshwater ecosystems are relatively more prone to decline and extinction of species caused by biological invasion than terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In view of the lack of information about whether or not aquatic alien species at different stages of invasion exhibit any significant relation with clonality, the specific question addressed in this study was whether there is any relationship between clonality and invasiveness in aquatic macrophytes and how does it vary along different stages of invasion?
Results
While the link between clonality and species invasiveness has recently been recognized, whether and how clonality varies with different invasion-stages remains open questions. Hence, we tested the relationship between clonality and species invasiveness of Kashmir Himalayan aquatic macrophytes vis-à-vis its variability along different stages of invasion. The data on clonality, stage of invasion, and growth form was obtained through an extensive survey of literature and database like CLO-PLA (CLOnal PLAnts, version 3) and PLADIAS (Plant Diversity Analysis and Synthesis, 2014–2018) followed by evaluation of the clonal organs thorough intensive field surveys undertaken over a period of 3 years (2014-2017) in different aquatic habitats of the Kashmir valley. Our results showed that 84% of the studied species and almost 90% of the most invasive species (stage V sensu Colautti and MacIsaac 2004) are clonal. A strong positive correlation (r=0.94; p<0.05) between clonality and invasiveness was observed, which further substantiates this association at a broad geographical scale representing the whole region. From the scatter matrix and Pearson’s correlation matrix, clonality seems to have a strong positive correlation with fragments, rhizomes, runners, turions, tubers, and buds, thereby further affirming the strong nexus of clonality with species invasions.
Conclusions
Our results showed strong association of clonal architecture with not only the stages of invasion but also the distribution pattern of alien species in aquatic habitats, thereby indicating the pivotal contribution of clonality to invasiveness. Future studies directed at unraveling the reasons behind clonality need to be undertaken from the genomic perspective, in order to evolve better models for proper management of alien aquatic invasive species.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Loading...