The bright side of parasitic plants: what are they good for?
The bright side of parasitic plants: what are they good for?
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DOI：
10.1093/plphys/kiaa069
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发表时间：
2021-04-01
期刊：
影响因子：
7.4
通讯作者：
Watson, David M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Tesitel, Jakub;Li, Ai-Rong;Watson, David M.
寄生植物大多被视为害虫。这是由几个物种造成的，对农业和林业造成严重损害。然而，寄生植物比假定的杂草更多。许多寄生植物甚至对自然生态系统和人类社会产生了积极的影响，本文对此进行了综述。植物寄生通常会降低宿主的生长和适应性。然而，由附着于多个宿主植物个体的寄生植物创建的网络可能触发在这些个体之间传递系统信号。寄生植物在生态系统中扮演着关键物种的角色。对包括入侵物种在内的群落优势物种的有害影响可能会促进物种共存，从而增加生物多样性。许多寄生植物增强了营养循环，并为其他生物如食草动物或传粉者提供资源，这有助于生态系统中的促进级联。人类利用寄生植物用于医学和文化目的也有悠久的传统。很少有种类提供可食用的果实。一些寄生植物甚至被农业/林业种植，以有效收获其产品。一些寄生植物物种的园艺用途也被考虑。在提供多种益处的同时，应始终小心使用寄生植物。特别是，寄生植物物种不应在其原生地理范围之外种植，以避免其不受控制的传播和对生态系统造成损害的风险。
Parasitic plants are mostly viewed as pests. This is caused by several species causing serious damage to agriculture and forestry. There is however much more to parasitic plants than presumed weeds. Many parasitic plans exert even positive effects on natural ecosystems and human society, which we review in this paper. Plant parasitism generally reduces the growth and fitness of the hosts. The network created by a parasitic plant attached to multiple host plant individuals may however trigger transferring systemic signals among these. Parasitic plants have repeatedly been documented to play the role of keystone species in the ecosystems. Harmful effects on community dominants, including invasive species, may facilitate species coexistence and thus increase biodiversity. Many parasitic plants enhance nutrient cycling and provide resources to other organisms like herbivores or pollinators, which contributes to facilitation cascades in the ecosystems. There is also a long tradition of human use of parasitic plants for medicinal and cultural purposes worldwide. Few species provide edible fruits. Several parasitic plants are even cultivated by agriculture/forestry for efficient harvesting of their products. Horticultural use of some parasitic plant species has also been considered. While providing multiple benefits, parasitic plants should always be used with care. In particular, parasitic plant species should not be cultivated outside their native geographical range to avoid the risk of their uncontrolled spread and the resulting damage to ecosystems.