Natural selection and outbreeding depression suggest adaptive differentiation in the invasive range of a clonal plant

Analyses of phenotypic selection and demography in field populations are powerful ways to establishing the potential role of natural selection in shaping evolution during biological invasions. Here we use experimental F2 crosses between native and introduced populations of Mimulus guttatus to estimate the pattern of natural selection in part of its introduced range, and to seek evidence of outbreeding depression of colonists. The F2s combined the genome of an introduced population with the genome of either native or introduced populations. We found that the introduced × introduced cross had the fastest population growth rate due to increased winter survival, clonality, and seed production. Our analysis also revealed that selection through sexual fitness favoured large floral displays, large vegetative and flower size, lateral spread, and early flowering. Our results indicate a source-of-origin effect, consistent with outbreeding depression exposed by mating between introduced and native...