U.S.-Chile Dissertation Enhancement: Dispersal, Competition, and the Synergistic Interactions of Multiple Species Invasions

提案0456110 PI伍顿在这个美国-由国际科学与工程办公室美洲项目支持的智利论文增强项目，芝加哥大学的John Wootton和丽莎Nelis将采用实地实验和建模相结合的研究方案，以调查非土著食草动物（兔子）如何影响被非土著植物（trun）入侵的植物群落结构。 在智利罗宾逊克鲁索岛进行的研究将涉及（1）控制入侵速率和模式的机制，（2）动物传播在本地和非本地植物种子传播中的作用，以及（3）非本地生物之间协同、跨营养相互作用的潜力。 这项研究将与智利天主教大学的何塞·米格尔·法里纳里瓦斯和美国国家公园管理局的智利对应机构CONAF合作完成。人们对不同外来物种的相互影响知之甚少，这项工作将对管理岛屿生态系统产生重大影响。 该项目的重点是一个相当重要的主题，以保护当地的生物群，并将促进美国和智利生态学家之间的良好合作。 每年的研究，所有新的数据，结果和出版物的副本将存档与所有参与者，并与CONAF为他们的记录，并在申请资金保护和恢复的岛屿使用。

Proposal 0456110PI WoottonIn this U.S.-Chile dissertation-enhancement project supported by the Americas Program of the Office of International Science and Engineering, John Wootton and Lisa Nelis of the University of Chicago will pursue a program of research using a combination of field experiments and modeling to investigate how a non-indigenous herbivore (a rabbit) affects the structure of plant communities invaded by a non-indigenous plant (trun). Research conducted on Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile will address (1) mechanisms that control rates and patterns of invasion, (2) the role of epizoochory in dispersal of seeds of native and non-indigenous plants, and (3) the potential for synergistic, cross-trophic interactions among non-indigenous organisms. This research will be done in collaboration with Jose Miguel Farina Rivas from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and CONAF, the Chilean counterpart to the US National Park Service.Interactive effects of different exotic species are poorly understood, and this work will have significant implications for managing an island ecosystem. The project focuses on a topic of considerable importance to conservation of native biota and will facilitate an excellent collaboration between American and Chilean ecologists. Each year of the study, copies of all new data, results, and publications will be archived with all participants, and with CONAF for their records and for their use in applications for funding for conservation and restoration of the islands.