International Research Fellow Awards Program: Differential Responses of Native and Exotic Understory Plants to Different Rate of Nitrate Deposition: A Mechanism of Invasion

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0003822WindhamThe International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twentyfour months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will provide Dr. Lisamarie Windham of Lehigh University with support for twenty-four months to work with Dr. Juan Jose Armesto, at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Chile. Support for this project is through the U.S.-Chile Program.The spread of exotic plant species has become an increasingly important facet of global change when the replacement of native plants with exotic invaders alters community structure and nutrient cycling. A method used by researchers to predict which exotic plants will invade which landscapes is through surveys and models. To this end, the PI has considered how many mature forests of North America have high nitrate deposition rates and large populations of exotic understory plants, whereas Chilean old-growth forests have neither. To determine if nitrate deposits influence exotic plant success, the PI will examine nitrate use by exotic and native understory plants at three field sites and in greenhouse experiments with controlled nitrate deposition. Specifically, she will survey the forests of Chiloe for the presence of exotic plant populations and measure rates of nitrate reductase activity in populations of plants in Chile as well as other sites in the U.S., such as New York. The results will be provided to institutions of conservation and natural resource management.Dr. Armesto is an authority on plant communities of Chilean oldgrowth forests. The Universidad de Chile has been actively involved in the establishment and study of the system of National Parks and Reserves. The proposed research overlaps with current efforts to understand patterns of biodiversity in Chilean forests.