Population genetics of an invasive riparian species, Impatiens glandulifera

Abstract

We assess the population genetic structure of the invasive riparian weed Impatiens glandulifera, and where possible, determine whether natural or anthropogenic dispersal best explains the observed patterns. Results are compared with a similar contemporary analysis for Heracleum mantegazzianum undertaken in the same catchments, and we suggest that some of the observed differences in genetic structure could be because of life history differences between these species. Our results confirm the importance of at least occasional dispersal events mediated by human activity in the colonisation and subsequent spread of invasive plants in river catchments. However, processes related to river structure, dispersal range and genetic drift also appear to be structuring these populations over short temporal scales. The implication is that local populations can be established as small founders, and therefore eradication programs need to be thorough and undertaken at the catchment scale. Effective management needs to consider the natural spread of riparian species along rivers, but also prevent longdistance dispersal from sources outside the catchment.

Population genetics of Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera): comparison of native and introduced populations

“…We discovered that deviations from HWE were frequent and inbreeding coefficients (F IS ) were high in individual populations and groups and among all samples from native or introduced regions (but slightly higher among the native plants), as expected in a plant with frequent self-pollination. Provan et al (2007) also found frequent significant deviations from HWE, while significant deviations were less frequent in the study by Walker et al (2009).…”

“…In a previous microsatellitebased study on I. glandulifera, Provan et al (2007) found in two introduced UK populations a total of 3.2 alleles per locus, while in the present study slightly higher numbers (mean 3.9) were detected in the UK. Conversely, Walker et al (2009) discovered very high allele numbers, 12.0 per microsatellite locus in a study that was based on three loci and included 13 UK populations. The mean expected heterozygosity detected by Provan et al (2007) was lower (0.384) than that reported in Walker et al (2009) (0.583) or in the UK material of the present study (0.543).…”

“…Plant DNA Mini Kit Spin Protocol (Omega BioTek). DNA was then used for microsatellite genotyping, including eight microsatellite markers (IGNSSR101, IGNSSR103, IGNSSR104, IGNSSR106, IGNSSR203, IGNSSR210, IGNSSR213and IGNSSR240) previously developed for I. glandulifera by Provan et al (2007) and additional three markers (A2, A3 and A21) developed by Walker et al (2009). However, marker A2 was excluded from further analyses, as the locus did not amplify satisfactorily.…”

“…Inclusion of wider sampling in the future will provide more detailed knowledge of the patterns of introduction. Previous published genetic studies have utilised I. glandulifera samples from only non-native regions (Provan et al 2007;Walker et al 2009;Zybartaite et al 2011).…”

Molecular diversity of small balsam populations in relation to site characteristics

“…Reviewed by Cross et al [17] and Dormontt et al [18], populations of various alien species might be distinguished by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) [19][20][21], by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) [22][23][24], by microsatellite/simple sequence repeat (SSR) [25][26][27][28][29] and by inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) [24,30] loci. Among Balsaminaceae, the biggest variety of molecular markers, including nuclear microsatellites [25,31], chloroplast microsatellites [25] and RAPD [32] were applied to Impatiens glandulifera. Genetic variation among populations of native European Impatiens nolitangere was estimated by AFLP and ISSR markers [30].…”