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Biological invasions in soil: DNA barcoding as a monitoring tool in a multiple taxa survey targeting European earthworms and springtails in North America

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Abstract

Biological invasions are increasingly recognized as a potent force altering native ecosystems worldwide. Many of the best documented cases involve the massive invasions of North America by plant and animal taxa native to Europe. In this study, we use DNA barcoding to survey the occurrence and genetic structure of two major groups of soil invertebrates in both their native and introduced ranges: Collembola and earthworms. Populations of ten species of earthworms and five species of Collembola were barcoded from both continents. Most of these species exhibited a similar genetic structure of large and stable populations in North America and Europe, a result supporting a scenario of multiple invasions. This was expected for earthworm species involved in human economic activities, but not foreseen for Collembola species de facto unintentionally introduced. This study also establishes that invasive species surveys employing DNA barcoding gain additional resolution over those based on morphology as they allow evaluation of cryptic lineages exhibiting different invasion histories.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants to PDNH from NSERC and from the government of Canada through Genome Canada and the Ontario Genomics Institute, (SCALE) research federation through the “Functions and Determinants of Biodiversity” (BIODIV) program. D. Porco was supported by post-doctoral fellowships grant from the Conseil Régional de Haute Normandie and from NSERC. C. Erséus was supported by the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative (ArtDatabanken), and the Adlerbert Research Foundation. S. James was supported by a Marie Curie France Regions fellowship award to the Laboratoire EA 1293 ECODIV at the University of Rouen.

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  1. Samuel W. James

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Ecologie, EA 1293 ECODIV, FED SCALE, Bâtiment IRESE A, UFR Sciences et Techniques, Université de Rouen, Place Emile Blondel, 76821, Mont Saint Aignan, Cedex, France

    David Porco, Thibaud Decaëns, Samuel W. James & Benoit Richard

  2. Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    David Porco & Paul D. N. Hebert

  3. Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, UMR7205 «Origine, Structure et Evolution de la Biodiversité», 45 rue Buffon, CP50, 75005, Paris, France

    Louis Deharveng

  4. Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Wrocław University, Przybyszewskiego 63/77, 51-148, Wrocław, Poland

    Dariusz Skarżyński

  5. Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, 405 30, Göteborg, Sweden

    Christer Erséus

  6. School of Built and Natural Environment, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2HE, UK

    Kevin R. Butt

  7. Laboratoire BioSol, Esitpa-Ecole d’Ingénieurs en Agriculture, 3 rue du Tronquet, 76134, Mont-Saint-Aignan, Cedex, France

    Benoit Richard

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  1. David Porco
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Correspondence to David Porco.

Electronic supplementary material

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10530_2012_338_MOESM1_ESM.eps

Supplementary Material Fig. 1 Frequency distribution of pairwise comparisons for intraspecific, interspecific and interlineage in Collembola (EPS 3042 kb)

10530_2012_338_MOESM2_ESM.eps

Supplementary Material Fig. 2 Frequency distribution of pairwise comparisons for intraspecific, interspecific and interlineage in Lumbricidae (EPS 2787 kb)

10530_2012_338_MOESM3_ESM.eps

Supplementary Material Fig. 3 Mismatch distributions for 5 Collembola species in North America (a–e) and Europe (f–j) (EPS 1881 kb)

10530_2012_338_MOESM4_ESM.eps

Supplementary Material Fig. 4 Mismatch distributions for 5 earthworm species in North America (a–e) and Europe (f–j) (EPS 1866 kb)

Supplementary material 5 (DOCX 52 kb)

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Porco, D., Decaëns, T., Deharveng, L. et al. Biological invasions in soil: DNA barcoding as a monitoring tool in a multiple taxa survey targeting European earthworms and springtails in North America. Biol Invasions 15, 899–910 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-012-0338-2

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