Genotypic and Genetic Diversity of the Common WeedCirsium arvense(Asteraceae)

Abstract

In many clonal species, seedling establishment is restricted to early successional stages when recruitment is still possible. Then, one expects that adapted genotypes become dominant and genotypic and genetic diversity should decrease with time. We investigated genotypic and genetic diversity within recently founded and established populations of the common weed Cirsium arvense. We used highly polymorphic amplified fragments length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. All populations were multiclonal and highly diverse (the proportion of distinguishable genotypes was $$0.73\pm 0.25$$ [$$\mathrm{mean}\,\pm \mathrm{SD}\,$$]). Clonal evenness was variable and ranged from 0.2 to 1. Independent of successional stage, we found on the small geographic scale of our study (<5 km) a considerable differentiation between populations ($$\Phi _{SC}=0.63$$). This amount of differentiation was similar between founder and established populations and could result from selection in the early stage of succession as well as founder effects. Contrary to the general expectation, genotypic and genetic diversity were maintained through time, and molecular variance did not differ between successional stages ($$1.9\pm 0.89$$ vs. $$2.5\pm 1.41$$). We suggest that this pattern is a consequence of the particular reproductive system of C. arvense that combines clonality with dioecy. The combination of clonal reproduction with the recruitment of sexually outcrossed seedlings in the first years allows the species to perform efficient colonizations even with founder effects, to undergo selection without loss of diversity, and to persist locally. This strategy appears to be very efficient in C. arvense and may have contributed to the worldwide success of this species.