High genetic diversity is not essential for successful introduction

Ecology and Evolution

Lee A. Rollins²  Angela T. Moles³  Serena Lam³  Robert Buitenwerf³  Joanna M. Buswell³  Claire R. Brandenburger³  Habacuc Flores-Moreno³  Knud B. Nielsen³  Ellen Couchman³  Gordon S. Brown³  Fiona J. Thomson³  Frank Hemmings³  Richard Frankham¹ 

[1] Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia;School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic., Australia;School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

关键词: Asteraceae;    biological invasions;    caryophyllaceae;    genetic diversity;    microsatellite;    rapid evolution;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.824

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Some introduced populations thrive and evolve despite the presumed loss of diversity at introduction. We aimed to quantify the amount of genetic diversity retained at introduction in species that have shown evidence of adaptation to their introduced environments. Samples were taken from native and introduced ranges of Arctotheca populifolia and Petrorhagia nanteuilii. Using microsatellite data, we identified the source for each introduction, estimated genetic diversity in native and introduced populations, and calculated the amount of diversity retained in introduced populations. These values were compared to those from a literature review of diversity in native, confamilial populations and to estimates of genetic diversity retained at introduction. Gene diversity in the native range of both species was significantly lower than for confamilials. We found that, on average, introduced populations showing evidence of adaptation to their new environments retained 81% of the genetic diversity from the native range. Introduced populations of P. nanteuilii had higher genetic diversity than found in the native source populations, whereas introduced populations of A. populifolia retained only 14% of its native diversity in one introduction and 1% in another. Our literature review has shown that most introductions demonstrating adaptive ability have lost diversity upon introduction. The two species studied here had exceptionally low native range genetic diversity. Further, the two introductions of A. populifolia represent the largest percentage loss of genetic diversity in a species showing evidence of substantial morphological change in the introduced range. While high genetic diversity may increase the likelihood of invasion success, the species examined here adapted to their new environments with very little neutral genetic diversity. This finding suggests that even introductions founded by small numbers of individuals have the potential to become invasive.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 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.