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Trait differences between and within ranges of an invasive legume species

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Abstract

Novel ecological interactions can drive natural selection in non-native species and trait evolution may increase the likelihood of invasion. We can gain insight into the potential role of evolution in invasion success by comparing traits of successful individuals in the invasive range with the traits of individuals from the native range in order to determine which traits are most likely to allow species to overcome barriers to invasion. Here we used Medicago polymorpha, a non-native legume species from the Mediterranean that has invaded six continents around the world, to quantify differences in life history traits among genotypes collected from the native and invasive range and grown in a common greenhouse environment. We found significant differences in fruit and seed production and biomass allocation between invasive and native range genotypes. Invasive genotypes had greater fecundity, but invested more energy into belowground growth relative to native genotypes. Beyond the variation between ranges, we found additional variation among genotypes within each range in flowering phenology, total biomass, biomass allocation, and fecundity. We found non-linear relationships between some traits and fitness that were much stronger for plants from the invasive range. These trait differences between ranges suggest that stabilizing selection on biomass, resource allocation, and flowering phenology imposed during or after introduction of this species may increase invasion success.

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Data Availability Statement

All data is available on request: carmen.hoffbeck.50@my.csun.edu.

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Funding

We thank E. Sharma for help in the greenhouse during this experiment and R. Mackelprang, N. Silbiger, and J. Yoder for valuable input on previous versions of this manuscript. This work was supported by grants from California State University, Northridge to Carmen Hoffbeck and from the National Science Foundation to Casey terHorst (OCE-1559105 and DEB-1754449).

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  1. Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, CA, USA

    Carmen Hoffbeck & Casey P. terHorst

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  1. Carmen Hoffbeck
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All authors contributed to the experimental concept and design. Preparation, data collection, and data analysis were performed by Carmen Hoffbeck. The first manuscript draft was written by Carmen Hoffbeck. All authors edited, read, and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Carmen Hoffbeck.

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Hoffbeck, C., terHorst, C.P. Trait differences between and within ranges of an invasive legume species. Biol Invasions 24, 2873–2883 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-022-02817-3

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