Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42174386›Full record

ArticleThe New phytologist2026

Invasive plants have stronger root recognition capabilities than native plants.

Jun-Nan Liu, Mark van Kleunen, James D Bever, Michael Opoku Adomako, Fang-Ru Wu, Wei Xue, Fei-Hai Yu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The New phytologist, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Jun-Nan LiuSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, 312000, Zhejiang, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6735-8880
Mark van KleunenEcology Group, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Constance, 78464, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2861-3701
James D BeverDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4068-3582
Michael Opoku AdomakoSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, 312000, Zhejiang, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9734-5408
Fang-Ru WuSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, 312000, Zhejiang, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8768-0759
Wei XueSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, 312000, Zhejiang, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2230-8570
Fei-Hai YuSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, 312000, Zhejiang, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5007-1745

Funding

National Key Research and Development Program of China 2023YFE0124900National Natural Science Foundation of China W2433081
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Root-mediated conspecific recognition and avoidance could alleviate intraspecific competition and promote interspecific competitive abilities. This could result in communities dominated by few species. However, it remains unclear whether invasive plants, which frequently become dominant, possess higher capabilities of root recognition and segregation than natives. We compared root-recognition and segregation capabilities between five congeneric pairs of invasive and native plants using a split-root assay and an intraspecific root-distribution experiment. We also assessed the roles of soil microbial legacies in root-segregation capabilities. The split-root assay showed that invasive plants exhibited stronger root-recognition capacities than natives by reducing root allocation toward conspecifics. The intraspecific root-distribution experiment showed that both invasives and natives exhibited root segregation when grown on unconditioned soils. However, when grown on soils conditioned by either invasive or native plants, root segregation of natives disappeared, whereas invasives remained unaffected. Changes in root segregation of natives were associated with changes in the composition of soil fungal and bacterial communities. Invasive plants possess mechanisms of avoiding intensive intraspecific competition irrespective of soil microbial legacies, whereas for native plants, these mechanisms can be disrupted by soil microbial legacies. This could contribute to the competitive superiority of invasive plants.

Indexed as

Introduced SpeciesPlant RootsSoilSoil MicrobiologySpecies SpecificitySoilbelowground interactionsconspecific discriminationroot segregationsoil‐legacy effectspatial distribution

Identifiers

PMID42174386
PMCPMC13373811

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.