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

国际研究员奖计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。该项目的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，并利用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件。该奖项将为利哈伊大学的利萨玛丽·温德姆博士提供24个月的支持，以便在智利圣地亚哥的智利大学与胡安·何塞·阿梅斯托博士合作。对这一项目的支持是通过美国-智利项目。当外来入侵者取代本土植物改变群落结构和养分循环时，外来植物物种的传播已成为全球变化的一个日益重要的方面。研究人员使用的一种方法是通过调查和模型预测哪些外来植物将入侵哪些景观。为此，PI考虑了北美有多少成熟森林具有高硝酸盐沉降率和大量外来林下植物，而智利的古老森林两者都没有。为了确定硝酸盐沉积是否影响外来植物的成功，PI将在三个田间地点和温室控制硝酸盐沉积的实验中检查外来和本地林下植物对硝酸盐的利用。具体地说，她将调查奇洛的森林中是否存在外来植物种群，并测量智利以及美国其他地方(如纽约)植物种群中硝酸还原酶活性的比率。结果将提供给自然资源保护和管理机构。Armesto是智利古老森林植物群落方面的权威。智利大学一直积极参与建立和研究国家公园和保护区制度。拟议的研究与目前了解智利森林生物多样性模式的努力有重叠之处。

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.