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(American Journal of Botany. 2009;96:771-785.) doi: 10.3732/ajb.0800321 © 2009 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

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Population genetic structure of native versus naturalized sympatric shrub willows (Salix; Salicaceae)¹

Department of Environmental and Forest Biology State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry 246 Illick Hall, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, New York 13210 USA

ABSTRACT

Vegetative propagation of an introduced species can contribute significantly to its ability to spread and become naturalized, potentially in competition with native species. This study focused on the naturalization of a willow shrub, Salix purpurea, which was introduced to the United States from Europe and is commonly sympatric with the native shrub willow, S. eriocephala. Both species are capable of vegetative and sexual reproduction, but little is known about their relative frequency, nor the impact of clonal propagation on population-level genetic diversity. We analyzed genotypes at several microsatellite loci in 993 individuals belonging to 30 subpopulations of S. eriocephala and 28 subpopulations of S. purpurea in areas of sympatry across three watersheds to compare their genetic diversity and genetic structure. Our results revealed six subpopulations of S. purpurea containing plants with identical multilocus genotypes, while clonal individuals were rare among S. eriocephala populations. These species are dioecious with relatively high levels of heterozygosity, but S. eriocephala had much higher allelic diversity and genotypic diversity than did S. purpurea. These results strongly suggest that vegetative propagation has contributed to the naturalization of S. purpurea and has resulted in higher levels of genetic differentiation among S. purpurea populations than among native S. eriocephala populations.

Key Words: clonal propagation • genetic structure • heterozygosity • microsatellites • Salicaceae • Salix eriocephala • Salix purpurea

Received for publication 23 September 2008. Accepted for publication 17 December 2008.

FOOTNOTES

¹ The authors thank D. Clune, T. Polanowicz, and W. Shaw for excellent technical assistance and are indebted to L. Gunter and G. Tuskan (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), T. Bradshaw (University of Washington), A. Karp, and S. Hanley (Rothamsted Research) for sharing genetic resources essential to this work. This work was supported by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture-Cooperative State Research, Extension, and Education Service McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program.

² Present address: Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, New York 10461 USA

³ Author for correspondence (e-mail: lbsmart{at}esf.edu)

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