title: Geographic structuring and transgenerational maternal effects shape germination in native, but not introduced, populations of a widespread plant invader.
abstract: Germination is critical in determining species distributions and invasion dynamics. However, is it unclear how often invasive populations evolve germination characteristics different from native populations, because few studies have isolated genetic variation by using seed from garden-grown plants. Additionally, while herbivore-induced transgenerational effects are common, it is unknown whether maternal herbivory differentially shapes germination in native and introduced offspring.
  
  
  
  We explored germination in native and introduced populations of the North American invader Verbascum thapsus using seed from garden-grown maternal plants, half of which were protected from herbivores. To elucidate (1) germination niche breadth and (2) whether germination conditions affected expression of genetic structuring among populations, we germinated seed under four ecologically relevant temperature regimes.
  
  
  
  Native populations had a wide germination niche breadth, germinating as well as or better than introduced populations. At cooler temperatures, native populations exhibited a genetically based environmental cline indicative of local adaptation, with populations from warmer locales germinating better than populations from cooler locales. However, this cline was obscured when maternal plants were attacked by herbivores, revealing that local stressors can override the expression of geographic structuring. Introduced populations did not exhibit clinal variation, suggesting its disruption during the introduction process.
  
  
  
  Native and introduced populations have evolved genetic differences in germination. The result of this difference manifests in a wider germination niche breadth in natives, suggesting that the invasive behavior of V. thapsus in North America is attributable to other factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Invasion Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, CZ-252 43 Zámek 1, Průhonice, Czech Republic christina.alba@ibot.cas.cz calba12@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alba
authors.affiliation: Department of Invasion Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, CZ-252 43 Zámek 1, Průhonice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Lenka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moravcová
authors.affiliation: Department of Invasion Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, CZ-252 43 Zámek 1, Průhonice, Czech Republic Department of Ecology, Charles University in Prague, CZ-128 44 Viničná 7, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pyšek
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D005843:Geography; D018525:Germination / Q000502:physiology*; D060434:Herbivory / Q000502:physiology; D058865:Introduced Species; D000072741:Maternal Inheritance / Q000235:genetics*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D028083:Scrophulariaceae / Q000502:physiology*; D013696:Temperature
keywords: Verbascum thapsus; herbivory; local adaptation; maternal lines; plasticity