TAXONOMY AND DISTRIBUTION OF CARPOBROTUS SPP. ACROSS ITS NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE RANGES

NOVOA, A.; JORGE LUIS CEFERINO GUTIERREZ; OTROS 11 AUTORES

Pamplona

Congreso; VI Congreso Nacional sobre Especies Exóticas Invasoras, Pamplona, España.; 2022

The genus Carpobrotus N.E.Br. comprises 12 to 20 accepted species, most of which are native to SouthAfrica. Three Carpobrotus species (C. acinaciformis, C. chilensis and C. edulis) are currently consideredamong the most dangerous invasive species worldwide.In the introduced areas, these species represent a serious threat for native species, and are major driversof shifts in soil conditions and disruptions of soil geochemical processes.Despite being intensively studied, the taxonomy of Carpobrotus remains problematic, and the genus isconsidered as a complex of species that easily hybridize and are difficult to distinguish. This is furthercomplicated by the fact that clonal growth stabilizes hybrid combinations.Aiming to explore the population genetic structure of Carpobrotus taxa through their native and non-nativeranges, we sampled populations of Carpobrotus in Argentina, Australia, Azores (Portugal), Italy, NewZealand, South Africa, Spain, and California (USA).Then, we developed taxon-specific microsatellite markers using Next Generation Sequencing approachesand used them to analyze the incidence of hybridization in native and non-native regions.