A test of Darwin's naturalization hypothesis in the thistle tribe shows that close relatives make bad neighbors.

ABSTRACT: Invasive species have great ecological and economic impacts and are difficult to control once established, making the ability to understand and predict invasive behavior highly desirable. Preemptive measures to prevent potential invasive species from reaching new habitats are the most economically and environmentally efficient form of management. Darwin's naturalization hypothesis predicts that invaders less related to native flora are more likely to be successful than those that are closely related to natives. Here we test this hypothesis, using the weed-rich thistle tribe, Cardueae, in the California Floristic Province, a biodiversity hotspot, as our study system. An exhaustive molecular phylogenetic approach was used, generating and examining more than 100,000 likely phylogenies of the

SUBMITTER: Park DS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3816436 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature