Breakdown of a geographic cline explains high performance of introduced populations of a weedy invader

1. What drives the evolution of increased growth and fecundity in plants introduced to a novel range is not well understood.

2. We investigate between-range differences in performance for Verbascum thapsus, a weedy invader known to grow larger in its introduced than native range. Specifically, we question whether adaptation to herbivory or climate best explains increased performance of introduced populations.

3. We grew 14 native and 22 introduced populations of V. thapsus in two common garden locations: near Prague, Czech Republic (native range) and in Colorado, USA (introduced range). By removing herbivores from half of the plants within each garden we tested the prediction of the Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability (EICA) hypothesis: increased performance is driven by an evolutionary shift of resources away from defence against herbivory towards growth and reproduction. We then investigated whether genetically based clines in performance are expressed along climate gradi...