Open AccessA phylogenetic approach towards understanding the drivers of plant invasiveness on R obben I sland, S outh A frica
Author(s) -
Bezeng Bezeng S.,
Savolainen Vincent,
Yessoufou Kowiyou,
Papadopulos Alexander S. T.,
Maurin Olivier,
Bank Michelle
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
botanical journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.872
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1095-8339
pISSN - 0024-4074
DOI - 10.1111/boj.12030
Subject(s) - biology , invasive species , phylogenetic tree , phylogenetic diversity , ecology , introduced species , phylogenetics , darwin (adl) , flora (microbiology) , naturalization , evolutionary biology , alien , demography , population , sociology , census , genetics , gene , biochemistry , systems engineering , bacteria , engineering
Invasive plant species are a considerable threat to ecosystems globally and on islands in particular where species diversity can be relatively low. In this study, we examined the phylogenetic basis of invasion success on R obben I sland in S outh A frica. The flora of the island was sampled extensively and the phylogeny of the local community was reconstructed using the two core DNA barcode regions, rbcLa and matK . By analysing the phylogenetic patterns of native and invasive floras at two different scales, we found that invasive alien species are more distantly related to native species, a confirmation of D arwin's naturalization hypothesis. However, this pattern also holds even for randomly generated communities, therefore discounting the explanatory power of D arwin's naturalization hypothesis as the unique driver of invasion success on the island. These findings suggest that the drivers of invasion success on the island may be linked to species traits rather than their evolutionary history alone, or to the combination thereof. This result also has implications for the invasion management programmes currently being implemented to rehabilitate the native diversity on R obben I sland. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2013, 172 , 142–152.