Explaining the worldwide distributions of two highly mobile species: Cakile edentula and C. maritima

Aim: If we are able to determine the geographic origin of an invasion, as well as its known area of introduction, we can better appreciate the innate environmental tolerance of a species and the strength of selection for adaptation that colonising populations have undergone. It also enables us to maximise the success of searches for effective biological control agents. We determined the number of successful colonisation events that have occurred throughout the world for two Cakile species and compared the climates from which they originated, in which they established and then spread.

Location: Worldwide

Taxon: Sea-Rockets (Cakile spp.), Brassicaceae

Methods: We used a high throughput sequencing and a genome skimming approach combined with Bayesian Inference phylogenetics to examine variation in entire chloroplast genomes and regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA within native and introduced areas. Databases were used to compare climates between native ranges and introduced regions f...