Dataset for: Differential responses to fertilization and competition among invasive, non-invasive alien and native Bidens species

Comparative studies of invasive, non-invasive alien, and native congenic
plant species can identify plant traits that drive invasiveness. In
particular, functional traits associated with rapid growth rate and high
fecundity likely facilitate invasive success. As such traits often exhibit
high phenotypic plasticity, characterizing plastic responses to
anthropogenic environmental changes such as eutrophication and disturbance
is important for predicting the invasive success of alien plant species in
the future. Here, we compared trait expression and phenotypic plasticity
at the species level among invasive, non-invasive alien, and native Bidens
species. Plants were grown under nutrient addition and competition
treatments, and their functional, morphological, and seed traits were
examined. Invasive B. frondosa exhibited higher phenotypic plasticity in
most measured traits than did the alien non-invasive B. pilosa or native
B. bipinnata. However, differential plastic responses to environmental
treatments rarely altered the rank of trait values among the three Bidens
species, except for the number of inflorescences. The achene size of B.
frondosa was larger, but its pappus length was shorter than that of B.
pilosa. Two species demonstrated opposite plastic responses of pappus
length to fertilization. These results suggest that the plasticity of
functional traits does not significantly contribute to the invasive
success of B. frondosa. The dispersal efficiency of B. frondosa is
expected to be lower than that of B. pilosa, suggesting that long-distance
dispersal is likely not a critical factor in determining invasive success.