Received: 13 November 2017 | Accepted: 3 February 2018 DOI: 10.1111/eva.12614 ORIGINAL ARTICLE A mosaic of phenotypic variation in giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida): Local- and continental- scale patterns in a range- expanding agricultural weed Stephen M. Hovick1 | Andrea McArdle1 | S. Kent Harrison2 | Emilie E. Regnier2 1Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State Abstract University, Columbus, OH, USA Spatial patterns of trait variation across a species’ range have implications for popula- 2 Department of Horticulture and Crop tion success and evolutionary change potential, particularly in range- expanding and Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA weedy species that encounter distinct selective pressures at large and small spatial scales simultaneously. We investigated intraspecific trait variation in a common gar- Correspondence Stephen M. Hovick, Department of den experiment with giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida), a highly variable agricultural Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, weed with an expanding geographic range and broad ecological amplitude. Our study The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA. included paired populations from agricultural and natural riparian habitats in each of Email:
[email protected] seven regions ranging east to west from the core of the species’ distribution in cen- Funding information tral Ohio to southeastern Minnesota, which is nearer the current invasion front. We Ohio Agricultural Research and observed trait variation across both large- and small- scale putative selective gradi- Development Center, Ohio State University, Grant/Award Number: 2011-078; Division ents. At large scales, giant ragweed populations from the westernmost locations of Environmental Biology, Grant/Award were nearly four times more fecund and had a nearly 50% increase in reproductive Number: DEB-1146203; Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, allocation compared to populations from the core.