Population genetic structure of the predatory, social wasp Vespula pensylvanica in its native and invasive range

Ecology and Evolution

Linh M. Chau³  Cause Hanna²  Laurel T. Jenkins³  Rachel E. Kutner³  Elizabeth A. Burns³  Claire Kremen¹ 

[1] Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California;Environmental Science and Resource Management, California State University, Camarillo, California;School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia

关键词: Archipelago;    biological invasion;    bottleneck;    genetic diversity;    microsatellites;    Vespula;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.1757

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Invasive species cause extensive damage to their introduced ranges. Ocean archipelagos are particularly vulnerable to invasive taxa. In this study, we used polymorphic microsatellite markers to investigate the genetic structure of the social wasp Vespula pensylvanica in its native range of North America and its introduced range in the archipelago of Hawaii. Our goal was to gain a better understanding of the invasion dynamics of social species and the processes affecting biological invasions. We found that V. pensylvanica showed no significant genetic isolation by distance and little genetic structure over a span of 2000 km in its native range. This result suggests that V. pensylvanica can successfully disperse across large distances either through natural- or human-mediated mechanisms. In contrast to the genetic patterns observed in the native range, we found substantial genetic structure in the invasive V. pensylvanica range in Hawaii. The strong patterns of genetic differentiation within and between the Hawaiian Islands may reflect the effects of geographic barriers and invasion history on gene flow. We also found some evidence for gene flow between the different islands of Hawaii which was likely mediated through human activity. Overall, this study provides insight on how geographic barriers, invasion history, and human activity can shape population genetic structure of invasive species.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.