Université de Fribourg

Evidence for a combination of pre-adapted traits and rapid adaptive change in the invasive plant Centaurea stoebe

Henery, Martin L. ; Bowman, Gillianne ; Mráz, Patrik ; Treier, Urs A. ; Gex-Fabry, Emilie ; Schaffner, Urs ; Müller-Schärer, Heinz

In: Joural of Ecology, 2010, vol. 98, no. 4, p. 800–813

1. Introduced plants have the potential to rapidly evolve traits of ecological importance that may add to their innate potential to become invasive. During invasions, selection may favour genotypes that are already pre-adapted to conditions in the new habitat and, over time, alter the characteristics of subsequent generations. 2. Spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe) occurs in two predominantly...

Université de Fribourg

Plant origin and ploidy influence gene expression and life cycle characteristics in an invasive weed

Broz, Amanda K ; Manter, Daniel K ; Bowman, Gillianne ; Müller-Schärer, Heinz ; Vivanco, Jorge M

In: BMC Plant Biology, 2009, vol. 9, p. 33

Background: Ecological, evolutionary and physiological studies have thus far provided an incomplete picture of why some plants become invasive; therefore we used genomic resources to complement and advance this field. In order to gain insight into the invasive mechanism of Centaurea stoebe we compared plants of three geo-cytotypes, native Eurasian diploids, native Eurasian tetraploids and...

Université de Fribourg

How is the invasive gorse Ulex europaeus pollinated during winter? A lesson from its native range

Bowman, Gillianne ; Tarayre, Michèle ; Atlan, Anne

In: Plant Ecology, 2008, vol. 197, no. 2, p. 197-206

Many examples of plant-insect interactions have shown that selection from herbivores can act on flowering and fruiting phenology. In Ulex europaeus (Fabaceae), escaping seed predation resulted in extended, but variable flowering periods, with some plants flowering from autumn until spring and others flowering only in spring. The present study aims at understanding how gorses can have a high...