Abstract: | Although preference for NH4+, NO3? or a combination of the two often differs among species, we know little about the responses of invasive plants to different inorganic N forms. Furthermore, many studies have suggested that an increase in N availability may facilitate further invasions. However, most of these studies predicted the positive feedback without considering the preference for N forms of invasive plants. Therefore, we cultivated four common invasive species (Mikania micrantha, Ipomoea cairica, Wedelia trilobata and Bidens pilosa) in South China with hydroponic media containing different forms of N (i.e. NO3?, NH4NO3 and NH4+) at equimolar concentrations. Our results showed that the N forms significantly affected the growth, biomass allocation and physiological traits of the plants. All four invasive plants supplied with NO3? alone had better performance and greater allocation to root biomass than did plants that were supplied with NH4+ alone. Moreover, the photosynthetic rate, pigment content and photosystem II activity of plants supplied with NO3? or NH4NO3 were significantly higher than those of plants supplied with NH4+alone. The results suggested that all four invasive plants preferred NO3? rather than NH4+, and changes in NO3? played an important role in furthering the invasions of these plants than did changes in NH4+. Our results implied that decreasing NO3? may be a useful tool for controlling and managing invasive plants preferring NO3?. In addition, this study highlighted the importance of considering plant N form preference to better understand plant invasions. |