[en] Population differentiation of alien invasive plants within their non-native range has received increasingly more attention. Common gardens are typically used to assess the levels of genotypic differentiation among populations. However, in such experiments, environmental maternal effects can influence phenotypic variation among individuals if seed sources are collected from field populations under variable environmental regimes. In the present study, we investigated the causes of an altitudinal cline in an invasive plant. Seeds were collected from Senecio inaequidens (Asteraceae) populations along an altitudinal gradient in southern France. In addition, seeds from the same populations were generated by intra-population crossings in a climatic chamber. The two seed lots were grown in a common garden in Central Belgium to identify any evidence of environmentally induced maternal effects and/or an altitudinal cline in a suite of life-history traits. Results failed to detect any environmental maternal effects. However, an altitudinal cline in plant height and above-ground biomass was found to be independent of the maternal environment.
Aarssen, L.W. Burton, S.M. 1990. Maternal effects at 4 levels in Senecio vulgaris (Asteraceae) grown on a soil nutrient gradient. Am. J. Bot. 77 : 1231 1240.
Alexander, H.M. Wulff, R.D. 1985. Experimental ecological genetics in Plantago: X. The effects of maternal temperature on seed and seedling characters in P.lanceolata. J. Ecol. 73 : 271 282.
Annapurna, C. Singh, J.S. 2003. Phenotypic plasticity and plant invasiveness: case study of congress grass. Curr. Sci. 85 : 197 201.
Blanckenhorn, W.U. 1997. Altitudinal life history variation in the dung flies Scathophaga stercoraria and Sepsis cynipsea. Oecologia 109 : 342 352.
Blödner, C., Goebel, C., Feussner, I., Gatz, C. Polle, A. 2007. Warm and cold parental reproductive environments affect seed properties, fitness, and cold responsiveness in Arabidopsis thaliana progenies. Plant Cell Environ. 30 : 165 175.
Byers, D.L., Platenkamp, G.A.J. Shaw, R.G. 1997. Variation in seed characters in Nemophila menziezii: evidence of a genetic basis for maternal effect. Evolution 51 : 1445 1456.
Callaway, R.M. Maron, J.L. 2006. What have exotic plant invasions taught us over the past 20 years? Trends Ecol. Evol. 21 : 369 374.
Clausen, J., Hiesey, W.M. Keck, D.D. 1940. Experimental Studies on the Nature of Species. I. Effect of Varied Environments on Western North American plants. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication, Washington, DC.
Clevering, O.A., Brix, H. Lukavská, J. 2001. Geographic variation in growth responses in Phragmites australis. Aquat. Bot. 69 : 89 108.
Cox, G.W. 2004. Alien Species and Evolution. Island Press, Washington, DC.
Dagnelie, P. 2003. Principes d'expérimentation. Les Presses Agronomiques de Gembloux, Gembloux.
Del Pozo, A., Ovalle, C., Aronson, J. Avendaño, J. 2002. Ecotypic differentiation in Medicago polymorpha L. along an environmental gradient in central Chile. I. Phenology, biomass production and reproductive patterns. Plant Ecol. 159 : 119 130.
Dolan, R.W. 1984. The effect of seed size and maternal source on individual size in a population of Ludwigia leptocarpa (Onagraceae). Am. J. Bot. 71 : 1302 1307.
Donohue, K. 1999. Seed dispersal as a maternally influenced character: Mechanistic basis of maternal effects and selection on maternal characters in an annual plant. Am. Nat. 154 : 674 689.
Ernst, W.H.O. 1998. Invasion, dispersal and ecology of the South African neophyte Senecio inaequidens in the Netherlands: from wool alien to railway and road alien. Acta Bot. Neerl. 47 : 131 151.
Galen, C., Shore, J.S. Deyoe, H. 1991. Ecotypic divergence in alpine Polemonium viscosum: genetic structure, quantitative variation, and local adaptation. Evolution 45 : 1218 1228.
Galloway, L.F. 1995. Response to natural environmental heterogeneity: Maternal effects and selection on life-history characters and plasticities in Mimulus guttatus. Evolution 49 : 1095 1107.
Galloway, L.F. 2001. Parental environmental effects on life history in the herbaceous plant Campanula americana. Ecology 82 : 2781 2789.
Guillerm, J.L., Floc'h, E.l., Maillet, J. Boulet, C. 1990. The invading weeds within the Mediterranean Basin. In : Biological Invasions in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin (F. di Castri, A.J. Hansen M. Debussche, eds pp. 61 84. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
Hendrix, S.D. 1984. Variation in seed weight and its effects on germination in Pastinaca sativa L. (Umbelliferae). Am. J. Bot. 71 : 795 802.
Hereford, J. Moriuchi, K.S. 2005. Variation among populations of Dioda teres (Rubiaceae) in environmental maternal effects. J. Evol. Biol. 18 : 124 131.
Jonas, C.S. Geber, M.A. 1999. Variation among populations of Clarkia Unguiculata (Onagraceae) along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients. Am. J. Bot. 86 : 333 343.
Kirkpatrick, M. Lande, R. 1989. The evolution of maternal characters. Evolution 43 : 485 503.
Kollmann, J. Banuelos, M.J. 2004. Latitudinal trends in growth and phenology of the invasive alien plant Impatiens glandulifera (Balsaminaceae). Divers. Distrib. 10 : 377 385.
Körner, C. 2003. Alpine Plant Life. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.
Lacey, E.P. 1988. Latitudinal variation in reproductive timing of a short-lived monocarp, Daucus carota (Apiaceae). Ecology 69 : 220 232.
Lafuma, L., Balkwill, K., Imbert, E., Verlaque, R. Maurice, S. 2003. Ploidy level and origin of the European invasive weed Senecio inaequidens (Asteraceae). Plant. Syst. Evol. 243 : 59 72.
Leger, E.A. Rice, K.J. 2007. Assessing the speed and predictability of local adaptation in invasive California poppies (Eschscholzia californica). J. Evol. Biol. 20 : 1090 1103.
Li, B., Suzuki, J.I. Hara, T. 1998. Latitudinal variation in plant size and relative growth rate in Arabidopsis thaliana. Oecologia 115 : 239 301.
Lopez-Garcia, M.C. Maillet, J. 2005. Biological characteristics of an invasive African species. Biol. Invasions 7 : 181 194.
Luzuriaga, A.L., Escudero, A. Pérez-Garcia, F. 2005. Environmental maternal effects on seed morphology and germination in Sinapis arvensis (Cruciferae). Weed Res. 46 : 163 174.
Maron, J.L., Vilà, M., Bommarco, R., Elmendorf, S. Beardsley, P. 2004. Rapid evolution of an invasive plant. Ecol. Monogr. 74 : 261 280.
Miao, S.L., Bazzaz, F.A. Primack, R.B. 1991. Persistence of maternal nutrient effects in Plantago major: the third generation. Ecology 72 : 207 212.
Michez, J.M. 1995. Le séneçon du Cap, de la laine à la vigne. Phytoma 468 : 39 41.
Montague, J.L., Barrett, S.C.H. Eckert, C.G. 2008. Re-establishment of clinal variation in flowering time among introduced populations of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria, Lythraceae). J. Evol. Biol. 21 : 234 245.
Monty, A. Mahy, G. 2009. Clinal differentiation during invasion: Senecio inaequidens along altitudinal gradients in Europe. Oecologia 159 : 305 315.
Monty, A., Stainier, C., Lebeau, F., Pieret, N. Mahy, G. 2008. Seed rain pattern of the invasive weed Senecio inaequidens (Astreraceae). Belg. J. Bot. 141 : 51 63.
Munir, J., Dorn, L.A., Donohue, K. Schmitt, J. 2001. The effect of maternal photoperiod on seasonal dormancy in Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae). Am. J. Bot. 88 : 1240 1249.
Olsson, K. Agren, J. 2002. Latitudinal population differentiation in phenology, life history and flower morphology in the perennial herb Lythrum salicaria. J. Evol. Biol. 15 : 983 996.
Parker, I.M., Rodriguez, J. Loik, M.E. 2003. An evolutionary approach to understanding the biology of invasions: local adaptation and general-purpose genotypes in the weed Verbascum thapsus. Conserv. Biol. 17 : 59 72.
Philippi, T. 1993. Bet-hedging germination of desert annuals - variation among populations and maternal effects in Lepidium Lasiocarpum. Am. Nat. 142 : 488 507.
Platenkamp, G.A.J. Shaw, R.G. 1993. Environmental and genetic maternal effects on seed characters in Nemophila Menziesii. Evolution 47 : 540 555.
Rice, K.J. Mack, R.N. 1991. Ecological genetics of Bromus Tectorum.3. The demography of reciprocally sown populations. Oecologia 88 : 91 101.
Schmid, B. Dolt, C. 1994. Effects of maternal and paternal environment and genotype on offspring phenotype in Solidago Altissima L. Evolution 48 : 1525 1549.
Schmitt, J. Antonovics, J. 1986. Experimental studies of the evolutionary significance of sexual reproduction. III. maternal and paternal effects during seedling establishment. Evolution 40 : 817 829.
Sexton, J.P., McKay, J.K. Sala, A. 2002. Plasticity and genetic diversity may allow saltcedar to invade cold climates in North America. Ecol. Appl. 12 : 1652 1660.
Stratton, D.A. 1989. Competition prolongs expression of maternal effects in seedlings of Erigeron Annuus (Asteraceae). Am. J. Bot. 76 : 1646 1653.
Van Dijk, H., Boudry, P., McCombie, H. Vernet, P. 1997. Flowering time in wild beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima) along a latitudinal gradient. Acta Oecol. 18 : 47 60.
Verloove, F. 2006. Catalogue of Neophytes in Belgium. National Botanic Garden of Belgium, Meise.
Weber, E. Schmid, B. 1998. Latitudinal population differentiation in two species of Solidago (Asteraceae) introduced into Europe. Am. J. Bot. 85 : 1110 1121.
Weiner, J., Martinez, S., Müller-Schärer, H., Stoll, P. Schmid, B. 1997. How important are environmental maternal effects in plants? A study with Centaurea maculausa. J. Ecol. 85 : 133 142.
Weis, I.M. 1982. The effects of propagule size on germination and seedling growth in Mirabilis hirsuta. Can. J. Bot. 60 : 1868 1874.
Winn, A.A. Gross, K.L. 1993. Latitudinal variation in seed weight and flower number in Prunella vulgaris. Oecologia 93 : 55 62.
Wulff, R.D. Bazzaz, F.A. 1992. Effect of the parental nutrient regime on the growth of the progeny in Abutilon theophrasti (Malvaceae). Am. J. Bot. 79 : 1102 1107.