Technical highlights - Department of Primary Industries ...

Ordination indicated that axes I–III
(with 25%, 22% and 16% explanatory
power, respectively) are needed to
explain differences in leaf chemistry of
the investigated species (Figure 23.2).
However, the major difference between
cat’s claw creeper and other vines lies
in the combination of axes II and III.
Phosphorus and molybdenum (on axis
II) and nitrogen, potassium, aluminium,
copper, iron and cobalt ions (on axis
III) were the major driver variables.
Interestingly, leaf chemistry of the
native P. straminea is the closest to cat’s
claw creeper of all non-invasive species
tested, confirming the often-observed
overabundance of this native vine in
remnant vegetation and the notion that the
species has to be managed in its own right.
Funding in 2010–11
Queensland Government
Collaborators
• Dr Tanya Scharaschkin (Queensland
University of Technology, Science and
Engineering Faculty)
• Dr Alan Andersen (CSIRO Ecosystem
Sciences, Darwin)
Axis III [16%] ( N, K, Al, Cu, Fe, Co)
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More information
Key publications
Axis I [25%] (Ca, Mg, Na, S, Zn)
Osunkoya, OO, Polo, C & Andersen, AN
2011, ‘Invasion impacts on biodiversity:
responses of ant communities to
infestation by cat’s claw creeper,
Macfadyena unguis-cati (Bignoniaceae)
in subtropical Australia’, Biological
Invasions 13(10): 2289–302.
Osunkoya, OO & Perrett, C 2011,
‘Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae)
invasion effects on soil physicochemical
properties’, Biology and Fertility of Soils
47(3): 349–55.
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Axis II [22%] (P, Mo)
Species
cat’s claw creeper
P. suberosa
P. straminea
S. australis
Osunkoya, OO, Pyle, K, Scharaschkin, T
& Dhileepan, K 2009, ‘What lies
beneath? The pattern and abundance
of the subterranean tuber bank of
the invasive liana cat’s claw creeper,
Macfadyena unguis-cati (Bignoniaceae)’,
Australian Journal of Botany 57(2):
132–8.
For further information on this research
project and access to key publications,
visit the invasive plant and animal science
pages on the Biosecurity Queensland
website at www.biosecurity.qld.gov.au
54 Technical highlights: research projects 2010–11
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Figure 23.2 Ordination on three principal axes of leaf chemistry in cat’s claw creeper and
co-occurring introduced non-invasive (P. suberosa) and native (P. straminea and S. australis)
species: each data point represents a single plant; arrows indicate direction and magnitude of
leaf traits driving each axis; percentages refer to data variation captured by each axis
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