Elodea nuttallii is an ornamental macrophyte native to North America that has been introduced to Europe and Asia, and having been established, has had detrimental effects on local aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we developed an optimized MaxEnt model to predict the global potential habitat suitability for E. nuttallii under the influence of climate change. The model incorporated 20 relevant impact factors and occurrence record data for E. nuttallii. The results reveal that under current and future climate scenarios, potentially suitable habitats for E. nuttallii can be found on six assessed continents, mainly in Western Europe, western and eastern North America, southeastern Asia, southeastern Oceania, and scattered coastal areas in South America and Africa. Moreover, temperature and precipitation were identified as factors having significant effects on the distribution of E. nuttallii. In the future, the area of habitats potentially suitable for E. nuttallii is predicted to expand, particularly towards higher latitudes.

Global trade facilitates multiple introductions of alien species, yet the role of genetic admixture between divergent lineages in driving invasion success remains debated. Here, we address this question by analyzing dynamic genetic changes across invasion stages in the dioecious weed Amaranthus palmeri, introduced to China from North and South America. Combining chloroplast phylogeography with nuclear genetic analyses, we systematically investigated genetic changes in populations at casual, naturalized, invasive, and dispersal stages. Initial casual populations originated from distinct North and South American lineages, but all established populations (naturalized, invasive, dispersal) retained only North American haplotypes. South American genetic introgression decreased progressively during invasion (from 34% in naturalized to 3% in dispersal populations), accompanied by declining inbreeding coefficients. Established populations exhibited high inter-population crosses within the North American lineage (54–60%), maintaining genetic diversity and overcoming bottlenecks. Our findings demonstrate that invasion success in A. palmeri may be driven by gene flow within the North American lineage, rather than admixture between divergent lineages. These findings enhance our understanding of the genetic mechanisms underpinning plant invasions, highlighting lineage-specific management as a critical strategy for controlling invasive populations.

The front cover image is based on the Research Article Reliable and rapid identification of glyphosate‐resistance in the invasive weed Amaranthus palmeri in China by Jingjing Cao et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.6843. image