Photo: Kochia, southwest Montana. © 2020 Delena Norris-Tull
Rapid evolution: Its role in biological invasions
Summaries of the research and commentary by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, Professor Emerita of Science Education, University of Montana Western, July 2020.
“Introduced [tree] populations can evolve rapidly in response to selection pressures in the new environment... Rapid evolution in growth and reproductivity traits in long-lived trees can occur in <50 years after introduction.” Despite several cases wherein rapid evolution of genetic traits post-introduction has resulted in invasive success, “there are very few case studies of rapid evolution for long-lived trees.” There has been significantly more research on this effect in herbaceous species (Zenni, et al., 2017).
Reference:
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Rapid evolution: Its role in biological invasions
Summaries of the research and commentary by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, Professor Emerita of Science Education, University of Montana Western, July 2020.
“Introduced [tree] populations can evolve rapidly in response to selection pressures in the new environment... Rapid evolution in growth and reproductivity traits in long-lived trees can occur in <50 years after introduction.” Despite several cases wherein rapid evolution of genetic traits post-introduction has resulted in invasive success, “there are very few case studies of rapid evolution for long-lived trees.” There has been significantly more research on this effect in herbaceous species (Zenni, et al., 2017).
Reference:
- Zenni, R.D., Dickie, I.A., Wingfield, M.J., Hirsch, H., Crous, C.J., Meyerson, L.A., Burgess, T.I., Zimmermann, T.G., Klock, M.M., Siemann, E., Erfmeier, A., Aragon, R., Montti, L, & LeRoux, J.J. (Jan., 2017). Evolutionary dynamics of tree invasions: Complementing the unified framework for biological invasions. AoB Plants, 9 (1), 1-14 [plw085; 10.1093/aobpla/plw085].
Next sections on research on evolutionary dynamics:
Next Sections on research on success of invasive species: