Novel weapons: invasive success and the evolution of increased competitive ability

When introduced to new habitats by humans, some plant species become much more dominant. This is primarily attributed to escape from specialist consumers. Release from these specialist enemies is also thought by some to lead to the evolution of increased competitive ability, driven by a decrease in the plant's resource allocation to consumer defense and an increase in allocation to size or fecundity. Here, we discuss a new theory for invasive success – the “novel weapons hypothesis”. We propose that some invaders transform because they possess novel biochemical weapons that function as unusually powerful allelopathic agents, or as mediators of new plant–soil microbial interactions. Root exudates that are…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture
• CG
  CRDF Global