title: A new strategy for controlling invasive weeds: selecting valuable native plants to defeat them.
abstract: To explore replacement control of the invasive weed Ipomoea cairica, we studied the competitive effects of two valuable natives, Pueraria lobata and Paederia scandens, on growth and photosynthetic characteristics of I. cairica, in pot and field experiments. When I. cairica was planted in pots with P. lobata or P. scandens, its total biomass decreased by 68.7% and 45.8%, and its stem length by 33.3% and 34.1%, respectively. The two natives depressed growth of the weed by their strong effects on its photosynthetic characteristics, including suppression of leaf biomass and the abundance of the CO2-fixing enzyme RUBISCO. The field experiment demonstrated that sowing seeds of P. lobata or P. scandens in plots where the weed had been largely cleared produced 11.8-fold or 2.5-fold as much leaf biomass of the two natives, respectively, as the weed. Replacement control by valuable native species is potentially a feasible and sustainable means of suppressing I. cairica.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Science in Guangdong Higher Education, School of Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631 China.
authors.forename: Weihua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Vegetable Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640 China.
authors.forename: Jianning
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Plant Protection Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of High Technology for Plant Protection, Guangzhou 510640, China.
authors.forename: Xingshan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Division of Plant Science, Research School of Biology, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, The Australian National University, ACTON, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia.
authors.forename: Wah
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Soon Chow
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Science in Guangdong Higher Education, School of Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631 China.
authors.forename: Zhongyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Science in Guangdong Higher Education, School of Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631 China.
authors.forename: Taijie
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bio-control, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China.
authors.forename: Shaolin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Science in Guangdong Higher Education, School of Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631 China.
authors.forename: Changlian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000378:metabolism; D058865:Introduced Species; D027741:Ipomoea / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D057685:Plant Weeds / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D029908:Pueraria / Q000502:physiology*; D019666:Rubiaceae / Q000502:physiology*; D058728:Weed Control
chemical_list: D002734:Chlorophyll