The evolution of dispersal traits based on diaspore features in South American populations of Senecio madagascariensis (Asteraceae)

DEMATTEIS BRUNO; MARIA SILVIA FERRUCCI; JUAN PABLO COULLERI

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY

CSIRO PUBLISHING

Lugar: Collingwood; Año: 2019 vol. 67 p. 358 - 366

0067-1924

Plant invasion success is influenced by several driving factors such as the dispersal, environmental conditionsand the species characteristics. In wind dispersed plants, the dispersal traits and the altitude are key for predicting dispersalability. In this work, we estimated this feature in Senecio madagascariensis invasive populations from Argentina and Brazilusing diaspore traits to understand its dynamics. Our results show that dispersal is strongly affected by the geographicconditions. We observed that in Argentinian populations growing at higher altitudes, selection favours larger seeds, whichmight favour seedling establishment over of longer dispersal distance. Conversely, populations grouped in lower altitudesshow higher dispersal ability, probably due to the adaptation to environment and assortment of the better dispersalgenotypes. In contrast, the Brazilian populations display rapid dispersal ability due to recent colonisation and multipleintroductions. The variability in the gene pool could facilitate the occurrence of genotypes with greater dispersal, whichcould explain why these populations display greater dispersal ability than the Argentine ones. In conclusion, the phenotypicresponse to geographic conditions and the population density play an important role in the dispersion strategies inS. madagascariensis.