RT Journal Article
T1 Functional responses to climate change may increase invasive potential of Carpobrotus edulis
A1 González Campoy, Josefina
A1 Lema Márquez, Margarita
A1 Fenollosa, Erola
A1 Munné-Bosch, Sergi
A1 Retuerto Franco, José Carlos Rubén
K1 Aizoaceae
K1 Biomass allocation patterns
K1 Ecophysiology
K1 Evolutionary change
K1 Global warming
K1 Ice plant
K1 Invasive species
K1 Isotope composition
K1 Photoprotection
K1 Pigment contents
AB Premise: Biological invasions and climate change are major threats to biodiversity. It is therefore important to anticipate how the climate changes projected for Southern Europe would affect the ecophysiological performance of the invasive South African plant, Carpobrotus edulis (ice plant or sour fig), and its capacity to undergo rapid adaptive evolution.Methods: We manipulated the climate conditions in a field plot located on the island of Sálvora (northwest of the Iberian Peninsula) to establish a full factorial experiment with C. edulis plants transplanted from four native (southern African) and four invasive (northwestern Iberian Peninsula) populations. Throughout 14 months we measured growth and functional traits of this species under two temperatures (control vs. increased), and two rainfall levels (control vs. reduced).Results: Temperature increased photochemical efficiency and relative growth rate of C. edulis. Rainfall modulated some of the effects of temperature on C and N isotopic composition, and pigment contents. Invasive populations showed lower root mass  allocation and higher survival rates, as well as increased water use efficiency, lipid peroxidation, chlorophyll, and xanthophyll cycle pigment contents than native populations.Conclusions: The increased growth and physiological performances observed under our experimental conditions suggest that the expected climate changes would further promote the invasion of C. edulis. Differences between native and invasive genotypes in survival and functional traits revealed that populations have diverged during the process of invasion, what gives support to the invasiveness hypothesis. Our findings highlight the importance of analyzing intraspecific variability in functional responses to better predict how invasive species will respond to environmental changes.
PB Wiley
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/29048
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/29048
LA eng
NO American Journal of Botany 108 (10): 1902–1916. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1745
NO The authors are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for funding the study (grants Ref. CGL2013-48885-C2-2-R and Ref. CGL2017-87294-C3-1-P, awarded to R.R.)
DS Minerva
RD 24 abr 2026