Kristina Vagos
Young forest and native shrublands are rapidly disappearing throughout much of the northeastern United States. These areas are important to many plants and animals in the region; however, many of the remaining early-successional habitats are being invaded by non-native invasive shrubs. Because these plants are suspected of altering community interactions and suitability, it is important to identify the factors enabling invasion for conservation management purposes. This study seeks to determine if the relationship between plants and soil biota, or soil feedback, plays a role in the invasion of this declining habitat, and also examines whether this relationship changes with land use history. The soil community, composed of beneficial, benign, and harmful microorganisms, has been shown to affect the growth and abundance of plant species. In addition, past land use practices, such as plowing, can modify soil community composition and may change the relationships between soil biota and plants. In this greenhouse study, three native and three invasive shrubs were planted in two field soil types, soil with a history of tilled agriculture and forest soil that had not been plowed. After a total of six months and two rounds of plant growth, the effect of the soil community on the plants was assessed for each species. If an invasive is able to avoid more of the negative factors associated with the soil community and/or take advantage of more of the positive soil microorganisms than the native species, the invasive will have a significant advantage over the native species, facilitating invasion.
Keywords: SOIL FEEDBACK, INVASIVE SPECIES, EARLY-SUCCESSIONAL HABITAT, SOIL BIOTA, LAND USE HISTORY
