2021年10月27日 卢新民： A biocontrol beetle may promote rather than suppress, invasion of target exotic plant via plant-soil feedbacks

讲座题目：A biocontrol beetle may promote rather than suppress, invasion of target exotic plant via plant-soil feedbacks
主 讲 人：卢新民 教授
主 持 人：黎绍鹏 研究员
开始时间：10月27日下午3点
讲座地址：资环楼273
主办单位：生态与环境科学学院、科技处

报告人简介：

卢新民，华中农业大学教授、农业微生物国家重点实验室/湖北洪山实验室独立PI. 长期外来物种入侵机制研究。目前侧重整合多组学手段、长期大尺度野外调查和同质园实验，探讨: 1)沿纬度梯度，土壤生物-植物-食叶昆虫相互作用变化规律和驱动机制、三者关系变化对入侵和本土植物生物学性状的筛选，为优化现有入侵植物防控技术、研发“因地而异”的外来入侵植物新防控技术提供理论基础；2）野生农作物品种重要性状沿海拔梯度的变化规律、遗传学基础和关键驱动机制，为应对气候变化改良农作物品种提供种质资源和理论指导。目前部分成果已发表于Ecology Letters、ISME Journal、Global Change Biology(2篇)、New Phytologist（2篇）等杂志。

Many insects were released to control invasive plants yet their impacts on invasive and native plants via soil biota remain unknown. Here, we show that invasive plant Alternanthera philoxeroides proliferated in China from 2013 to 2019, despite experiencing increasing damage mainly from the  biocontrol beetle Agasicles hygrophila that infested co-occurring native plant A.sessilis more heavier per cover area in the field. Experiments revealed that biocontrol beetle could extend negative soil legacy effects of invasive plant on A.sessilis and increase subsequent invasive individuals’ herbivore defences,via modifying invasive plant’s rhizosphere microbiome. Beetle  larvae thus performed better fed on leaves of native vs. invasive plants grown in beetle-damaged invasive plant conditioned soils. These findings elucidate that above-ground herbivores could promote plant invasions by amplifying/triggering soil-mediated invasion self-reinforcement.