Symbiosis limits establishment of legumes outside their native range at a global scale

Anna K. Simonsen (), Russell Dinnage, Luke G. Barrett, Suzanne M. Prober and Peter H. Thrall
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Anna K. Simonsen: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Land & Water
Russell Dinnage: Research School of Biology, The Australian National University
Luke G. Barrett: CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Canberra
Suzanne M. Prober: CSIRO Land & Water
Peter H. Thrall: CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Canberra

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Microbial symbiosis is integral to plant growth and reproduction, but its contribution to global patterns of plant distribution is unknown. Legumes (Fabaceae) are a diverse and widely distributed plant family largely dependent on symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, which are acquired from soil after germination. This dependency is predicted to limit establishment in new geographic areas, owing to a disruption of compatible host-symbiont associations. Here we compare non-native establishment patterns of symbiotic and non-symbiotic legumes across over 3,500 species, covering multiple independent gains and losses of rhizobial symbiosis. We find that symbiotic legume species have spread to fewer non-native regions compared to non-symbiotic legumes, providing strong support for the hypothesis that lack of suitable symbionts or environmental conditions required for effective nitrogen-fixation are driving these global introduction patterns. These results highlight the importance of mutualisms in predicting non-native species establishment and the potential impacts of microbial biogeography on global plant distributions.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14790

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