Examining the Invasion of Bush Honeysuckle Through a Phylogenetic Analysis

The mechanisms underlying the continual spread of invasive plants within their respective non-native ranges is a major focal point to invasion research. Many theories have been proposed to understand these invasions, each with different implications for the predicted range for invasive plants. Lonicera maackii provides an exceptional opportunity to examine the effectiveness of these theories to explain the trends of invasive plants. Lonicera maackii is native to eastern Asia, but has invaded much of the eastern United States, presenting a severe threat to the health of forest and other natural areas. Recent analysis of the climatic envelopes uncovered a significant separation between the environmental conditions of the native east Asian L. maackii points and the invasive North American points. This separation was consistent with the predicted versus actual probable occurrence maps of North America and east Asia. Here I conduct a targeted phylogenetic analysis of L. maackii populations to investigate the natural and invasive history of the plant through DNA capture and analysis from herbarium samples. Leaf tissues from 95 individuals collected from major herbaria around the country were used to develop an intraspecific phylogeny to provide an evolutionary context for the success of L. maackii in its invasive range. Specifically, my work will be instrumental in pinpointing exactly the sequence of events that led to introduction and subsequent spread throughout the United States