Rapid plant evolution in the presence of an introduced species alters community composition

David Solance Smith, Matthew K. Lau, Ryan Jacobs, Jenna A. Monroy, Stephen M. Shuster, Thomas G. Whitham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Because introduced species may strongly interact with native species and thus affect their fitness, it is important to examine how these interactions can cascade to have ecological and evolutionary consequences for whole communities. Here, we examine the interactions among introduced Rocky Mountain elk, Cervus canadensis nelsoni, a common native plant, Solidagovelutina, and the diverse plant-associated community of arthropods. While introduced species are recognized as one of the biggest threats to native ecosystems, relatively few studies have investigated an evolutionary mechanism by which introduced species alter native communities. Here, we use a common garden design that addresses and supports two hypotheses. First, native S. velutina has rapidly evolved in the presence of introduced elk. We found that plants originating from sites with introduced elk flowered nearly 3 weeks before plants originating from sites without elk. Second, evolution of S. velutina results in a change to the plant-associated arthropod community. We found that plants originating from sites with introduced elk supported an arthropod community that had ~35 % fewer total individuals and a different species composition. Our results show that the impacts of introduced species can have both ecological and evolutionary consequences for strongly interacting species that subsequently cascade to affect a much larger community. Such evolutionary consequences are likely to be long-term and difficult to remediate.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)563-572
Number of pages10
JournalOecologia
Volume179
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 22 2015

Keywords

  • Community genetics
  • Elk
  • Exotic species
  • Invasive species
  • Phenological mismatch
  • Solidago

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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