Non-native seeds of Solidago gigantea perform equally well or weaker than native seeds during germination and early seedling growth
Kožić K. Pal R.W. Rosche C. Callaway R.M. Cianfaglione K. Dossan A. Ensing D.J. Filep R. Gudžinskas Z. Hensen I. Inderjit Moffat C.E. Novikov A. Nagy D.U.
April 2026Elsevier GmbH
Flora: Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants
2026#337
Germination and early seedling establishment are critical bottlenecks in a plants life cycle and can strongly influence adult performance. While many studies showed that performance of adult plants can differ substantially between native and non-native populations, it remains unclear whether such differences are already evident during the earliest life stages. We compared germination success and early seedling growth of Solidago gigantea sourced from 28 native and 33 non-native populations. As adult plants from the non-native range typically grow much larger than their native counterparts, range-dependent eco-evolutionary dynamics likely contribute to the invasion success of this species. Seeds from native populations germinated equally well or better than those from non-native populations. Similar patterns were observed for seedling growth. Moreover, plants from plain habitats outperformed those from mountainous habitats, but this difference was only apparent within the non-native range. Other habitat variables showed no effect on germination or seedling performance. Although previous work indicates strong selection for increased growth rates in adult S. gigantea individuals from the non-native range, such selection seems not to act on germination or seedling establishment. Our findings imply that recruitment traits are probably not key targets of selection in the context of habitat differentiation or invasion dynamics.
Biological invasions , Cox-regression , Germination , Golden-rod , Post-introduction evolution , Seedling establishment traits
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Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin-Luther-University, Halle, Am Kirchtor 1, Saale, Halle, D-06108, Germany
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstraße 4, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
Department of Biological Sciences, Montana Technological University, 1300 Park Street, Butte, 59701, MT, United States
Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, 59812, MT, United States
ICL, Junia, Université Catholique de Lille, LITL, Lille, F-59000, France
Faculty of Biology, Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University, Almaty, Dostyk, 13, Kazakhstan
Summerland Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 4200 HWY 97S, PO Box 5000, Summerland, V0H 1Z0, BC, Canada
Institute of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
State Scientific Research Institute Nature Research Center, Laboratory of Flora and Geobotany, Vilnius, Lithuania
Department of Environmental Studies, Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India
State Museum of Natural History of the NAS of Ukraine, Lviv, Ukraine
Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, am Main, Frankfurt, Germany
Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Department of Biological Sciences
Division of Biological Sciences
ICL
Faculty of Biology
Summerland Research and Development Centre
Institute of Pharmacognosy
State Scientific Research Institute Nature Research Center
Department of Environmental Studies
State Museum of Natural History of the NAS of Ukraine
Institute for Ecology
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