Title: Genetic variation in flowering phenology and avoidance of seed predation in native populations of Ulex europaeus
Abstract: The genetic variation in flowering phenology
may be an important component of a species' capacity to colonize new
environments. In native populations of the invasive species Ulex
europaeus, flowering phenology has been shown to be bimodal and related to
seed predation. The aim of the present study was to determine if this bimodality
has a genetic basis, and to investigate whether the polymorphism in flowering
phenology is genetically linked to seed predation, pod production and growth
patterns. We set up an experiment raising maternal families in a common garden.
Based on mixed analyses of variance and correlations among maternal family
means, we found genetic differences between the two main flowering types and
confirmed that they reduced seed predation in two different ways: escape in time
or predator satiation. We suggest that this polymorphism in strategy may
facilitate maintain high genetic diversity for flowering phenology and related
life-history traits in native populations of this species, hence providing high
evolutionary potential for these traits in invaded areas. [ATLAN,
A.; BARAT, M.; LEGIONNET, A. S.; PARIZE, L. & TARAYRE,
M. (2010). Genetic variation in flowering phenology and avoidance of seed
predation in native populations of Ulex europaeus. Journal of Evolutionary
Biology, 23(2), 362-371. DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01908.x]