Climate warming may affect biological invasions by altering competition between native and non-native species, but these effects may depend on biotic interactions. In field surveys at 33 sites in China along a latitudinal and temperature gradient from 21°N to 30.5°N and a 2-yr field experiment at 30.5°N, we tested the role of the biocontrol beetle Agasicles hygrophila in mediating warming effects on competition between the invasive plant Alternanthera philoxeroides and the native plant Alternanthera sessilis. In surveys, native populations were perennial below 25.8°N but only annual populations were found above 26.5°N where the invader dominated the community. Beetles were present throughout the gradient. Experimental warming (+ 1.8°C) increased native plant performance directly by shifting its lifecycle from annual to perennial, and indirectly by releasing the native from competition via disproportionate increases in herbivory on the invader. Consequently, warming shifted the plant community from invader-dominated to native-dominated but only in the presence of the beetle. Our results show that herbivores can play a critical role in determining warming effects on plant communities and species invasions. Understanding how biotic interactions shape responses of communities to climate change is crucial for predicting the risk of plant invasions.
Keywords: biological control; climate warming; competition; herbivore; latitudinal gradient; life history; plant invasion; plant-insect interaction.
© 2016 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2016 New Phytologist Trust.