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The Influence of Abiotic Factors on the Impact of a Native Stem Hemiparasite on Introduced Versus Native Hosts

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The Influence of Abiotic Factors on the Impact of a Native Stem Hemiparasite on Introduced Versus Native Hosts The influence of abiotic factors on the impact of a native stem hemiparasite on introduced versus native hosts. Robert Cirocco Thesis submitted for the degree of a Doctor of Philosophy School of Biological Sciences The University of Adelaide, South Australia April 2016 1 Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 5 Declaration ............................................................................................................................. 8 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ 9 Chapter 1 .............................................................................................................................. 11 The direct impacts of parasitic plants on host performance under various environmental conditions. ........................................................................................................................ 11 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 11 Factors influencing impacts of parasitic plants on their hosts ..................................... 13 The effect of abiotic factors on host/parasite associations .......................................... 14 Light availability .......................................................................................................... 14 Nitrogen ....................................................................................................................... 15 Water ............................................................................................................................ 17 General knowledge gap for stem hemiparasites .......................................................... 19 Overarching aim and objective .................................................................................... 20 Overarching hypothesis ............................................................................................... 20 Significance ................................................................................................................. 20 References .................................................................................................................... 21 Prologue ............................................................................................................................... 32 Chapter 2: Light ................................................................................................................... 33 Does light influence the relationship between a native stem hemiparasite and a native or introduced host? ............................................................................................................... 35 • Background and Aims ............................................................................................... 35 • Methods ..................................................................................................................... 35 • Key Results ................................................................................................................ 35 • Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 36 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 36 MATERIALS AND METHODS ................................................................................. 38 RESULTS .................................................................................................................... 42 DISCUSSION .............................................................................................................. 45 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... 48 2 LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................ 49 Supplementary Data ..................................................................................................... 67 Chapter 3: Pigments ............................................................................................................. 71 Native hemiparasite and light effects on photoprotection and photodamage in a native host ................................................................................................................................... 73 Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 73 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 74 Materials and methods ................................................................................................. 76 Results .......................................................................................................................... 79 Discussion .................................................................................................................... 81 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 86 References .................................................................................................................... 86 Chapter 4: Nitrogen ........................................................................................................... 102 Does nitrogen affect the interaction between a native hemiparasite and its native or introduced leguminous hosts? ........................................................................................ 104 Summary .................................................................................................................... 104 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 105 Materials and Methods ............................................................................................... 106 Results ........................................................................................................................ 110 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 111 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... 114 References .................................................................................................................. 114 New Phytologist Supporting Information .................................................................. 131 Chapter 5: Water ................................................................................................................ 138 High water availability increases the negative impact of a native hemiparasite on its non- native host ...................................................................................................................... 140 Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 140 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 141 Materials and methods ............................................................................................... 142 Results ........................................................................................................................ 145 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 147 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... 150 3 References .................................................................................................................. 150 Supplementary data, Journal of Experimental Botany .............................................. 164 Chapter 6 ............................................................................................................................ 166 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 166 Summary of Main Findings ....................................................................................... 166 Light experiment (Ch. 2) ........................................................................................... 166 Pigments (Ch. 3) ........................................................................................................ 167 Nitrogen experiment (Ch. 4) ...................................................................................... 167 Water experiment (Ch. 5) .......................................................................................... 168 Broader Significance of My Findings ........................................................................ 169 Impact of abiotic factors on the association ............................................................... 169 Impact of C. pubescens on host performance ............................................................ 173 Biomass ...................................................................................................................... 173 Photosynthetic performance .....................................................................................
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