Dissertation Research: Mechanisms of facilitation among invasive plants and animals

当多个非本地植物和动物被引入同一个新环境时会发生什么？ 智利的罗宾逊克鲁索岛是胡安费尔南德斯群岛的一部分，也是联合国教科文组织的世界生物圈保护区，岛上引进了非本土植物和欧洲兔子。 由于这些非本地兔子和植物在同一时间出现在同一地点，它们可能会相互作用，使入侵对本地生态系统更具破坏性。 本实验使用大型围栏将兔子从草原山谷地区排除，以研究兔子可能对本地和非本地植物产生的多重影响。 到目前为止，似乎兔子挖掘和兔子对特定植物物种的放牧偏好是相互作用的最重要方面，这种相互作用正在改变草原的组成，从本地植物到非本地植物。研究入侵生物之间的相互作用至关重要，因为目前非本地物种的引进率很高，而且非本地物种对本地生态系统和经济造成了损害。 几乎没有研究考虑到世界各地都有大量的非本地物种。 这项研究的独特方法，检查非本地物种对其他非本地物种的具体影响，将提高我们对全球生物入侵的理解。

What happens when multiple non-native plants and animals are introduced into the same new environment? On Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, part of the Juan Fernandez Archipelago and a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, both non-native plants and European rabbits have been introduced. Because these non-native rabbits and plants are in the same place at the same time, they could be interacting, making the invasions more devastating to the native ecosystem. This experiment uses large fences to exclude rabbits from areas of a grassland valley to study the multiple effects rabbits may have on native and non-native plants. Thus far, it seems that rabbit digging and rabbit preference for grazing on specific plant species are the most important aspects of the interaction that is changing the composition of the grassland from native plants to non-native plants. The study of interactions among invasive organisms is critical because of the current high rate of non-native-species introductions and the damage that non-native species cause both to native ecosystems and to the economy. Few studies are being done that take into consideration the high number of non-native species present almost everywhere in the world. This study's unique approach of examining the specific effects of a non-native species on other non-native species will improve our understanding of biological invasions world wide.