Iqbal, M.F., Feng, Y.-L., Feng, W.-W., Lu, X.-R., & Liu, M.-C. 2021 Ecological impacts of the invasive plant Xanthium strumarium and the impacts of three aboveground herbivores on the invader. Ecological Indicators 131: 108140

Keywords:

ecology

Notes: To address problems associated with exotic plant invasions, we determined the abundance of the invasive plant Xanthium strumarium, its impacts on co-occurring native plants, and abundances of three herbivores and their impacts on the invader at five sites in the rice tract of Punjab, Pakistan. The polyphagous insects Phenacoccus solenopsis, Podisus maculiventris and Spodoptera frugiperda were all found on the invader (not on crops) at all study sites, which significantly reduced growth of the invader. Our study indicates that natural enemies may accumulate on invasive plants with the increase of their abundance and/or invasion time, inhibiting further invasions, and provides evidence for enemy release hypothesis.