The effect of acid rain and fertilization on the performance of invasive Chromolaena odorata and two native plants

Abstract

Acid rain is one important factor of climate change, which may facilitate the invasion of alien plant by creating new niches. In this study, we compared the performance of invasive Chromolaena odorata (L.) R. M. King and H. Robinson and two native plants (Eupatorium chinense L. and Desmodium sequax Wall., common and sympatric distribution with C. odorata) under different acid rain and fertilization (compound fertilizer) levels. The results indicated that acid rain has lower impact on P_n (net photosynthetic rate) and height of the invader than on two native plants, and there were no significant differences between the effects of strong acid rain (pH = 3.5) and weak acid rain (pH = 5.5). The fertilization can alleviate the negative effects of acid rain, which benefit more to the invader than to native plants. Therefore, in future, the invasion status of C. odorata maybe critical in acid rain with fertile environment.