A few north Appalachian populations are the source of European black locust

Abstract

The role of evolution in biological invasion studies is often overlooked. In order to evaluate the evolutionary mechanisms behind invasiveness, it is crucial to identify the source populations of the introduction. Studies in population genetics were carried out on Robinia pseudoacacia L., a North American tree which is now one of the worst invasive tree species in Europe. We realized large‐scale sampling in both the invasive and native ranges: 63 populations were sampled and 818 individuals were genotyped using 113 SNPs. We identified clonal genotypes in each population and analyzed between and within range population structure, and then, we compared genetic diversity between ranges, enlarging the number of SNPs to mitigate the ascertainment bias. First, we demonstrated that European black locust was introduced from just a limited number of populations located in the Appalachian Mountains, which is in agreement with the historical documents briefly reviewed in this study. Within America, population structure reflected the effects of long‐term processes, whereas in Europe it was largely impacted by human activities. Second, we showed that there is a genetic bottleneck between the ranges with a decrease in allelic richness and total number of alleles in Europe. Lastly, we found more clonality within European populations. Black locust became invasive in Europe despite being introduced from a reduced part of its native distribution. Our results suggest that human activity, such as breeding programs in Europe and the seed trade throughout the introduced range, had a major role in promoting invasion; therefore, the introduction of the missing American genetic cluster to Europe should be avoided.

Black locust (Robinia pseudoacaciaL.) range contraction and expansion in Europe under changing climate

“…The argument in favor of narrowing the study area was that the species occupies a different climatic niche from the North American continent (Klisz et al, in preparation). The specimens brought to Europe cover a small part of the species genetic variability (Bouteiller et al, 2019), so the established populations likely have a different range of tolerance to climatic factors. Hence, we assumed that by limiting the study area to Europe, we would also reduce the risk of overestimation of models of potential distribution, ignoring the extent of species variability not present in the introduction sites.…”

Growing Non-native Trees in European Forests Brings Benefits and Opportunities but Also Has Its Risks and Limits

“…Particularly old NNT plantations in Europe lack documentation of seed source. In recent years, genetic fingerprinting has been increasingly used to trace back their native origin [23][24][25][26][27]. The accuracy of such assignments may be limited, though.…”

Implementation of the Tree Counting Process in the Process of Urban Reclamation with the use of Fuzzy Neural Network for Agro forestry

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