Rapid increase in growth and productivity can aid invasions by a non-native tree.

ABSTRACT: Research on biological invasions has produced detailed theories describing range expansions of introduced populations. However, current knowledge of evolutionary factors associated with invasive range expansions, especially those related to rapid evolution of long-lived organisms, is still rudimentary. Here, we used a system of six 40-year-old invasive pine populations that originated from replicated introduction events to study evolution in productivity, growth, and chemical defence traits. We tested the hypotheses that invasive populations were undergoing rapid phenotypic change as populations spread, that populations exhibit trade-offs between evolution in growth and chemical defences, and that rates of rapid evolution in plant growth and productivity effect rates of invasion. Although

SUBMITTER: Dudeque Zenni R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4972472 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature