Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 1-1-2010 Genetic patterns of dispersal and colonization during initial invasion and spread of an invasive grass, Brachypodium sylvaticum Alisa Paulsen Ramakrishnan Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Ramakrishnan, Alisa Paulsen, "Genetic patterns of dispersal and colonization during initial invasion and spread of an invasive grass, Brachypodium sylvaticum" (2010). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 355. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.355 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Genetic Patterns of Dispersal and Colonization During Initial Invasion and Spread of an Invasive Grass, Brachypodium sylvaticum by Alisa Paulsen Ramakrishnan A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology Dissertation Committee: Mitchell B. Cruzan, chair Sarah Eppley Keith Karoly Susan E. Masta Alan Yeakley Portland State University 2010 Abstract Evolution of genotypes during range expansion is driven in part by colonization dynamics. I investigated genetic patterns of colonization and dispersal during initial expansion of an invasive bunchgrass, Brachypodium sylvaticum, into Oregon. Using microsatellite markers, I sampled plants at two different scales: at regular intervals along three parallel roads spanning about 30km, and in populations identified throughout Oregon. I also collected field-generated progeny from a subset of populations and used molecular identification of outcrossing events to estimate selfing rates in both central and peripheral populations. Dispersal patterns were similar at both scales, with non-contiguous dispersal responsible for colonization of new populations. High levels of differentiation were observed at all scales, though newly-colonized populations were more differentiated than older populations. Corvallis populations were responsible for colonization of a majority of populations throughout Oregon, while individuals from Eugene were only occasionally found in new populations. Admixture occurs between Corvallis and Eugene populations, decreasing differentiation, and potentially creating novel phenotypes and increasing evolutionary potential of populations. Selfing rates were high, but two populations in the areas of original introduction had lower rates of selfing, suggesting that selfing rates may decrease as population density and diversity increases with age. The influences of founder effects and bottlenecks on phenotypic evolution during range expansion require further investigation, as inbreeding, lag times, and selection may influence evolutionary trajectories of populations. i Dedication Dedicated to my family ii Acknowledgements Many people helped me complete my dissertation, but I would especially like to thank my husband Vivek, who supported me in every stage of my research, and my daughter Maya, who helped during the latter half of my degree program. I have been very fortunate in my advisor, who has been crucial in assisting me to develop and complete my research goals. Without the help of Trieste Musial and David Rosenthal, these data would have been woefully incomplete. I also thank numerous reviewers and editors including J. M. Rhode, D. Rosenthal, T. Musial, M. Paulsen, P. Sochaki, S. E. Jørgensen, and several anonymous reviewers. Thanks also to G. B. Hinckley and T. S. Monson. A special thanks to people who helped support me financially, including F. and V. Thompson, V. and T. Paulsen and L. Ramakrishnan. This work was funded in part by USDA CSREES grant 2005-35320-15317 to M. B. Cruzan and A. P. Ramakrishnan, and by the Center for Invasive Plant Management grant GC261-04- Z1138. iii Table of Contents Abstract............................................................................................................................ i Dedication....................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... iii List of Tables .................................................................................................................. v List of Figures................................................................................................................ vi Chapter 1: Review of Dispersal and Migration .............................................................. 1 Synopsis...................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 2 Dispersal Patterns ....................................................................................................... 8 Modeling Dispersal .................................................................................................. 10 Measuring Dispersal ................................................................................................. 17 Chapter 2: Isolation and characterization of nine microsatellite markers for Brachypodium sylvaticum (Huds.) Beauv. ................................................................... 28 Abstract..................................................................................................................... 28 Microsatellite development and characterization ..................................................... 28 Chapter 3: Shifting dispersal modes at an expanding species‟ range margin .............. 34 Abstract..................................................................................................................... 34 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 35 Methods .................................................................................................................... 40 Results ...................................................................................................................... 46 Discussion................................................................................................................. 50 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 56 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. 57 Chapter 4: Founder effects and bottlenecks strongly influence colonization dynamics in a nascent invasive species ........................................................................................ 67 Abstract..................................................................................................................... 67 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 68 Materials and Methods ............................................................................................. 75 Results ...................................................................................................................... 83 Discussion................................................................................................................. 91 Chapter 5: Concluding remarks .................................................................................. 116 Literature Cited........................................................................................................... 119 iv List of Tables Table 2.1: Locus information for microsatellites characterized in Brachypodium sylvaticum ............................................................................................................. 32 Table 2.2: Locus characterization information in two populations .............................. 33 Table 3.1: Previously uncharacterized loci .................................................................. 59 Table 3.2: Analysis of molecular variance ................................................................... 59 Table 3.3: Assignment test results ................................................................................ 60 Table 3.4: Relationships of site diversity and interallelic disequilibrium to site history and assignment tests ............................................................................................. 60 Table 4.1: Population information.............................................................................. 102 Table 4.2: Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) .............................................. 104 Table 4.3: Population pairwise differentiation of source populations........................ 104 Table 4.4: Population pairwise differentiation of peripheral populations .................. 105 Table 4.5: Assignment test probabilities .................................................................... 106 Table 4.6: Population history ..................................................................................... 107 v List of Figures Fig. 1.1: Dispersal distributions...................................................................................