An empirical test of the mutualism disruption hypothesis: Impacts of an allelopathic invader on the ecophysiology of a native forest herb

TL;DRAbstract

Understanding how biotic and abiotic contexts modify the strength of species interactions is a key goal in ecology. Mutualism effectiveness is particularly sensitive to environmental conditions, and the invasion of non-native species is hypothesized to be one biotic factor that can drive mutualism disruption between native species and their partners. Using an ecophysiological approach, I tested this mutualism disruption hypothesis using the allelopathic invasive plant, Alliaria petiolata, and examined its impacts on the mutualism between symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and Maianthemum racemosum, a common native herb in North America. To establish the potential for mutualism disruption in this system, I measured field concentrations of A. petiolata’s allelochemicals and tested the toxicity of these levels on AMF spore germination in a bioassay. I found that field-detected levels of allyl isothiocyanate, a key component of A. petiolata’s allelochemical profile, reduced spore

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