Long-term population genetic dynamics of the invasive ascidian Botryllus
schlosseri, lately introduced to Puget Sound (Washington, USA) marinas
Abstract
Invasive species are of increasing concern to the local biodiversity and
ecology as the magnitude of biological invasions is increasing globally.
The genetic structures of newly established invasive populations may
reveal insights towards the invasion processes, making population
genetics an important tool for understanding current invasions. Here we
study newly established populations (<10-20 years before first
sampling) of the cosmopolitan alien ascidian Botryllus schlosseri in
four Puget Sound (Washington, USA) marinas, using eight polymorphic
microsatellites. Up to seven sampling sessions over a period of 19 years
revealed populations with fluctuating allelic richness (AR=2.693-4.417)
and gene diversity (He=0.362-0.589). The populations were well
differentiated on spatial and temporal scales and subjected to moderate
genetic drift (Fs’=0.027-0.071). The obtained significant heterozygote
deficiencies, positive inbreeding coefficients (Fis) and population
structure measures (Fst) revealed that no population was under the
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Comparing these parameters with those from
two Californian sites (Moss Landing and Santa Cruz, 1200 km southerly;
invaded by Botryllus during 1940’s) revealed a connection between Moss
Landing and Puget Sound, while Santa Cruz remained isolated. On the US
west coast scale, this study revealed no major difference in invasive
population dynamics between recently and decade long established
populations, except for fewer alleles and lower He. When comparing ten
worldwide sites, only few microsatellite loci displayed strong regional
differences. With globally the lowest numbers of alleles and lowest
genetic indices, the Puget Sound Botryllus populations exhibit genetic
characteristics of recently established populations, further emerging as
one of the youngest B. schlosseri populations, worldwide.