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Title: FOOD WEB CONSEQUENCES OF SECONDARY COMPOUNDS IN INVASIVE PLANTS

Author
item Chapin, Carmen
item BROWN, C - CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Society of Wetland Scientists
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/8/2003
Publication Date: 8/8/2003
Citation: CHAPIN, C.T., BROWN, C.J. FOOD WEB CONSEQUENCES OF SECONDARY COMPOUNDS IN INVASIVE PLANTS. PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF WETLAND SCIENTISTS. 2003. p. 103.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Invasive plant species are known to alter community and food web dynamics. Of critical concern is the decline in many amphibian populations. Beyond native plant displacement, mechanisms by which these changes occur are poorly understood. Using common native Typha latifolia and Phragmites australis native haplotype (and introduced plants Lythrum salicaria and Phragmites australis introduced haplotype), we analyzed levels and rates of potentially inhibitory compounds as they leached from collected leaf tissue in a laboratory equipment. The introduced plants had levels of phenol reactive tannins an order of magnitude greater than native plants. Even within species, the introduced Phragmites type was three times that of the native type. We hypothesize that reactive tannins associated with these wetland plant invaders affect food web processes both directly and indirectly by influencing primary production and consumer dynamics. This hypothesis is supported by a tadpole inclusion field experiment in which the fitness of the tadpoles was reduced in regions with Lythrum salicaria. Although yet untested, these tannic compounds could be directly affecting tadpole growth and survivorship or indirectly affecting the composition of the algal community as a food source.