Dissertation Research: Mechanisms of facilitation among invasive plants and animals

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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.