TY  - JOUR
A1  - Leiblein-Wild, Marion Carmen
A1  - Tackenberg, Oliver
T1  - Phenotypic variation of 38 European Ambrosia artemisiifolia populations measured in a common garden experiment
T2  - Biological invasions
N2  - The knowledge of phenotypic variation in the European range of the highly allergenic Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. (common ragweed) is not entirely complete, even though it is an invasive species of utmost concern. We hypothesized the prevalence of phenotypic differentiations between common ragweed populations in the introduced range, and we assumed that those differentiations were related to environmental conditions at the points of origin. Using a common garden experiment, we investigated biomass allocation, growth rates, and flowering phenology of 38 European common ragweed populations originating from a major geographical gradient. We observed considerable phenotypic variation in growth parameters and flowering phenology, e.g. mean aboveground biomass varied from 23.3 to 47.3 g between the populations. We were able to relate most measured traits with environmental parameters prevailing at the points of origin. For example, early growth of ruderal populations was highly correlated with temperature and precipitation at the point of origin. Late growth and flowering phenology were highly correlated with latitude, i.e. individuals from northern populations grew smaller and flowered and dispersed their pollen and seeds up to 5 weeks earlier than individuals from southern populations. We also found a longitudinal gradient in flowering phenology which has not yet been described. The existence of such a high variability in the introduced range may facilitate further range expansion. We suggest that the correlation with environmental variables rests upon genetic variation possibly due to adaptations to the respective environment. To clarify if such adaptation results from multiple events of introduction or as evolutionary response after introduction, genetic investigations are needed.
KW  - Adaptation
KW  - Common ragweed
KW  - Europe
KW  - Flowering phenology
KW  - Growth rate
KW  - Invasive species
KW  - Neobiota
Y1  - 2014
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/36630
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-366302
SN  - 1573-1464
SN  - 1387-3547
N1  - Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.
VL  - 16
IS  - 9
SP  - 2003
EP  - 2015
PB  - Springer Science + Business Media B. V.
CY  - Dordrecht
ER  -