the danger of re-introduction of invasive plants: A novel experimental test with two species from their introduced and native range

入侵植物对原生群落产生了重大影响。解释入侵悖论的理论是基于对生物相互作用的快速微进化变化。竞争能力增强的进化假说(EICA)预测，由于植物从食草动物身上释放出来，植物在新的范围内进化为优势竞争对手。在这里，我们制定了一个基于EICA的创新预测：当将入侵生态型重新引入它们的原生范围时，它们应该表现出入侵行为。通过检验这一预测，我们以一种综合的方式解决了EICA假说中以前被忽视的几个方面。我们提出了一个创新的实验组合，测试新范围内的生态型是否受到食草动物的影响较小，并且比它们的原生祖先具有更大的竞争效应。如果是这样的话，当它们重新引入它们的原生范围时，就会构成威胁，就像最近的跨洲研究所做的那样。我们通过对两种入侵模式截然不同的植物进行实验来解决这个问题：千金娘(原产：欧洲；入侵：美国)和凤仙花(原生：印度；入侵：欧洲)。我们的研究将有助于预测入侵能力，显著加深我们对自然植物群落结构的基本过程的理解，并为保护生态学的理论和实践增添重要的创新。

Invasive plants exert significant impacts on native communities. Theories explaining the invasion paradox are based on rapid microevolutionary change in response to biotic interactions. The Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability (EICA) hypothesis predicts that plants evolved into superior competitors in their new range due to release from herbivores. Here, we formulate an innovative prediction based on the EICA: when reintroducing invasive ecotypes back into their native range they should exhibit an invasive behaviour. By testing this prediction, we address several previously neglected aspects of the EICA hypothesis in an integrative manner. We propose an innovative combination of experiments testing whether ecotypes in the new range are less affected by herbivores and have a larger competitive effect than their native progenitors. If so, they pose a threat when reintroduced into their native range, as done in recent crosscontinental studies. We address this question with experiments for two plant species of contrasting invasion pattern: Lythrum salicaria (native: Europe; invasive: US), and Impatiens glandulifera (native: India; invasive: Europe). Our study will help predicting invasibility and significantly further our understanding of fundamental processes structuring natural plant communities, and it adds an important innovation to theory and practice of conservation ecology.