How are weeds adapting to life in Australia? Quantifying the rate and direction of evolution in introduced species.

引进植物是澳大利亚的一个大问题。引进物种被列为对澳大利亚生物多样性最严重的威胁之一，管理它们每年要花费澳大利亚大约40亿美元。我们在这个项目中收集的信息将告诉我们引入的植物在到达澳大利亚时经历了什么样的变化；植物适应新环境的速度有多快，什么样的物种最能适应新环境。我们还会问，引进的物种是否仍在适应澳大利亚的环境。如果是这样，那么我们可能会期待更多的自然物种在未来成为问题杂草。这类知识是我们开发适当控制程序的基础。

Introduced plants are a major problem throughout Australia. Introduced species are listed as one of the most severe threats to biodiversity in Australia, and managing them costs Australia around $4 billion per annum. The information we gather in this project will tell us what sort of changes introduced plants undergo when they arrive in Australia; how quickly plants can adapt to a new environment, and what sort of species are best able to adapt to new conditions. We will also ask whether introduced species are still adapting to Australian conditions. If so, then we might expect even more naturalised species to become problem weeds in the future. This sort of knowledge is fundamental to our ability to develop appropriate control programs.