DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Post-introduction Evolution of Increased Invasiveness in Bromus Tectorum, an Invasive Grass, Bromus Tectorum

外来杂草物种对本地植物群落的入侵是人为环境变化的重要组成部分。这一过程可能会急剧而迅速地改变自然栖息地的生物多样性，但对决定这种入侵程度和速度的过程的研究却很少。当外来物种或杂草物种迁移到一个新的栖息地时，它可能会经历进化变化，以适应新的环境和与之相互作用的新的物种群落。如果这种进化变化导致新居住地区的生长、繁殖和生存得到改善，那么进化可能在入侵成功中发挥了重要作用。这种可能性很少被探索，这也是本研究项目的主题。pi已经确定了入侵植物Bromus tectorum的成对种群，其中一个种群代表引入（或“入侵”）种群，而成对种群是引入的来源。拟议的研究将专门测试引入（即入侵）种群是否比它们起源的源种群表现出更强的竞争能力。本研究将有助于我们进一步了解外来植物成功入侵的机制。这项研究不仅可以深入了解入侵机制，还可以深入了解微观进化过程，这是当今全球快速变化时代急需的信息。

Invasions of native plant communities by exotic, weedy species are an important component of human-induced environmental change. This process may drastically and rapidly change the biodiversity of natural habitats, but the processes determining the degree and rapidity of such invasions are poorly studied. When an exotic or weedy species moves into a new habitat, it may undergo evolutionary change as it adapts to the novel environment and to a new community of species with which it interacts. If this evolutionary change results in improved growth, reproduction, and survival in the newly inhabited region, then evolution may play a major role in invasion success. This possibility has been little explored, and is the subject of this research project. The PIs have identified pairs of populations of the invasive plant, Bromus tectorum, where one population represents an introduced (or "invading") population, and the paired population is the source of the introduction. The proposed research will specifically test whether the introduced (i.e., invading) populations exhibit stronger competitive ability than the source populations from which they originated. The proposed work will improve our understanding of the mechanisms associated with the successful invasions of exotic plants. This research can give insight not only into mechanisms of invasion, but also into processes of microevolution, information much needed in these times of rapid global change.