DOI: 10.5061/dryad.c6k58
title: Data from: Periphyton density is similar on native and non-native plant species

description: Non-native plants increasingly dominate the vegetation in aquatic
 ecosystems and thrive in eutrophic conditions. In eutrophic conditions,
 submerged plants risk being overgrown by epiphytic algae; however, if
 non-native plants are less susceptible to periphyton than natives, this
 would contribute to their dominance. Non-native plants may differ from
 natives in their susceptibility to periphyton growth due to differences in
 nutrient release, allelopathy and architecture. Yet, there is mixed
 evidence for whether plants interact with periphyton growth through
 nutrient release and allelopathy, or whether plants are neutral so that
 only their architecture matters for periphyton growth. We hypothesised
 that (1) non-native submerged vascular plants support lower periphyton
 density than native species, (2) native and non-native species are not
 neutral substrate for periphyton and interact with periphyton and (3)
 periphyton density increases with the plant structural complexity of plant
 species. We conducted an experiment in a controlled climate chamber where
 we grew 11 aquatic plant species and an artificial plant analogue in
 monocultures in buckets. These buckets were inoculated with periphyton
 that was collected locally from plants and hard substrate. Of the 11
 living species, seven are native to Europe and four are non-native. The
 periphyton density on these plants was quantified after five weeks. We
 found that the periphyton density did not differ between non-native and
 native plants and was not related to plant complexity. Three living plant
 species supported lower periphyton densities than the artificial plant,
 one supported a higher periphyton density and the other plants supported
 similar densities. However, there was a strong negative correlation
 between plant growth and periphyton density. We conclude that the
 periphyton density varies greatly among plant species, even when these
 were grown under similar conditions, but there was no indication that the
 interaction with periphyton differs between native and non-native plant
 species. Hence, non-native plants do not seem to benefit from reduced
 periphyton colonisation compared to native species. Instead, certain
 native and non-native species tolerate eutrophic conditions well and as a
 consequence, they seem to host less periphyton than less tolerant species.
description: Plant complexity
 dataFile 1:
 plant-complexity-data.txt Type: comma separated values Description:
 Contains values on the measured fractal dimension of five fragments per
 plant species (given as abbreviation, see File 2 for full species names).
 These plant species were used in a laboratory experiment
 (climate-controlled room) Values for MYRVER are missing, values of MYRHET
 were used as stated in the manuscript. Columns: plantCode = six-letter
 codes giving abbreviated plant species names (see File 2 for full name)
 fractal-dimension = fractal dimension of plant fragmentplant-complexity-data.txtPlant biomass, periphyton and water qualityData of plant biomass, periphyton growth on the plant and on glass slides submerged in water, and water quality parameters of all the 120 replicates. See readme for full description of column contents.plant-periphyton-data.txt