Abstract:
Invasive alien plants together with their natural enemies from the native range used as biocontrol agents are ideal study system to address questions of whether and how fast organisms adapt to changing environments. Climate change is likely to impose further selection on invasive plant populations in interaction with the biocontrol process. We conducted an experimental evolution study to get insights into the evolvability to a biocontrol insect and global warming of the European plant invader, Ambrosia artemisiifolia. We tracked genomic and metabolomic changes across generations in field populations and assessed plant offspring phenotypes in a common environment. Using an integrated Bayesian model, we show that increased offspring biomass in response to warming arose through changes in the genetic composition of populations. In contrast, increased resistance to herbivory arose through a shift in plant metabolomic profiles without genetic changes, most likely by transgenerational induction of defences. Importantly, while increased resistance was costly at ambient temperatures, warming removed this constraint and favoured both vigorous and better defended plants under biocontrol. Climate warming may thus decrease biocontrol efficiency and promote Ambrosia invasion, with potentially serious economic and health consequences. Furthermore, I developed a novel population density distribution model that integrates by species’ vital rates and defence strategies extricated from field observations and experiments. This model allows to more accurately predict the distribution and population density of a selected plant invader and its biological control agents on a global scale, as well as the ecological effects and cost savings of biological control management. These results provide a scientific foundation for green management interventions on invasive plants, and they add to the theory of rapid evolution in invasion science.
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Yan Sun
Affiliation: Huazhong Agricultural University
Time: 4:30 PM, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023
Venue: ZOOM 会议平台 会议 ID：312 430 8960 会议密码 PWD：666666
ZOOM
会议 ID：312 430 8960
会议密码 PWD：666666
