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Direct and indirect community effects of the invasive plant pathogen Austropuccinia psidii (myrtle rust) in eastern Australian rainforests

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Abstract

In 2010, the invasive pathogen Austropuccinia psidii was detected in Australia, posing a threat to vegetation communities containing susceptible Myrtaceae species. A large-scale field experiment tested the direct and indirect effects resulting from the infection of two highly susceptible rainforest species, Rhodamnia rubescens and Rhodomyrtus psidioides. Community-level impacts were assessed at three sites per study species in New South Wales, Australia. For R. rubescens, 20 plots containing an adult tree each were established per site. Each plot was designated one of four treatments: fungicide spray of the understorey only, canopy only, both or none (control). For R. psidioides, 10 plots containing only seedlings were established per site, with each plot designated to one of two treatments: fungicide spray or no spray (control). Richness and abundance of co-occurring understorey species were assessed every 4 months for a 24-month period, and changes in canopy transparency were assessed for R. rubescens. The R. rubescens control canopy plots were found to have greater canopy transparency (direct effect) which caused a reduction in the understorey richness and total abundance (indirect effects). For treated canopy plots, richness was similar but total abundance increased in fungicide treated understorey plots, suggesting a direct effect of the pathogen on understorey species. Understorey plots treated with fungicide had significantly greater abundance of R. rubescens and R. psidioides seedlings compared to control plots. This study shows that in a short time period, infection by an invasive fungal pathogen has resulted in changes in species richness and abundance in Australian rainforest communities.

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Data availability

We intend to archive our data in the Dryad platform http://datadryad.org/, and to make it publicly available at time of publication.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank to all the park rangers that gave us permission to do research in their jurisdiction, especially Deb Holloman. Also to all the volunteers that helped us in the field, and to Dr Rachael Gallagher and the Downing Herbarium Curator, Karen Marais for help in plant species identification. The authors acknowledge Saskia Gootemaat for producing Fig. 1. This study was supported by the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Program through the CRC for Plant Biosecurity, NSW Environmental Trust and Macquarie University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Laura Fernandez-Winzer, Anthony Manea & Michelle R. Leishman

  2. School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia

    Katherine A. Berthon

  3. North East Agriculture Services, Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia

    Peter Entwistle

  4. Universidad Nacional del Sur, 8000, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Nélida Winzer

  5. Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dutton Park, QLD, 4102, Australia

    Geoff S. Pegg

  6. Forest Science, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries – Forestry, Parramatta, NSW, 2150, Australia

    Angus J. Carnegie

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  1. Laura Fernandez-Winzer
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Contributions

LFW, AJC, GSP and ML conceived the ideas. LFW and ML designed the methodology. LFW, KB and AM collected the data. LFW and NW analysed the data. LFW, AM and ML led the writing of the manuscript. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.

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Correspondence to Laura Fernandez-Winzer.

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Fernandez-Winzer, L., Berthon, K.A., Entwistle, P. et al. Direct and indirect community effects of the invasive plant pathogen Austropuccinia psidii (myrtle rust) in eastern Australian rainforests. Biol Invasions 22, 2357–2369 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-020-02260-2

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