Ecological Consequences of Global Environmental Change: Plant-Insect Interactions

研究人员建议研究二氧化碳和臭氧水平升高对中西部落叶林常见树木和昆虫物种的植物化学成分和昆虫性能的影响。实验的重点将是二氧化碳和臭氧之间的相互作用。对昆虫种群的影响将通过衡量几代人的表现来估计。这项拟议的研究将为二氧化碳升高将如何影响森林群落中的物种互动提供洞察力。它将提高人们对营养相互作用将如何改变以及这种变化对昆虫种群和树木生产力的影响的理解。作为自由空气碳交换(FACE)多学科研究的一部分，这项工作将促进陆地生态系统碳收支日益现实的模型的发展。了解大气中二氧化碳浓度增加的生态后果具有相当重要的国家和国际意义，特别是在国际社会陷入限制排放的争论之际。尽管大气二氧化碳浓度的增加预计将在未来50-100年对森林生态系统产生重大影响，但人们对这些变化将如何影响生态相互作用以及这些变化将如何反过来影响森林结构和功能知之甚少。这项工作在美国评估全球环境变化的环境和经济后果，并实施解决这些问题的政策时至关重要。此外，这项研究将加深我们对基本生态问题的理解，如资源可获得性如何改变植物的化学成分和碳分配，以及这些变化对植物-昆虫相互作用的影响。

The investigators propose to examine the effect of elevated levels of carbon dioxide and ozone on plant chemical composition and insect performance in common tree and insect species of the midwestern deciduous forest. Experiments will focus on the interaction between carbon dioxide and ozone. Estimates of the effects on insect populations will be made by measuring performance over several generations. The proposed research will provide insights into how elevated carbon dioxide will affect species interactions in forest communities. It will improve understanding of how trophic interactions will be altered and the consequences of such changes for insect populations and tree productivity. As part of a multidisciplinary Free Air Carbon Exchange (FACE) study this work will enhance the development of increasingly realistic models of carbon budgets in terrestrial ecosystems. Understanding the ecological consequences of enriched atmospheric carbon dioxide is of considerable national and international importance, especially as the international community becomes embroiled in debate over emission restrictions. Although increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide are anticipated to exert significant impacts on forest ecosystems over the next 50-100 years, little is known about how these changes will affect ecological interactions, and how these in turn will feed back to affect forest structure and function. This work is of critical importance as the United States evaluates the environmental and economic consequences of global environmental change, and implements policies to address such issues. Moreover, this research will enhance our understanding of basic ecological problems such as how resource availability alters chemical composition and carbon partitioning in plants, and the effects of such changes on plant-insect interactions.