Dissertation Research: Impacts of an invasive plant, amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii: Caprifoliaceae), on biodiversity through biotic interactions

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project addresses impacts of the invasive shrub, Amur honeysuckle (AH), on pollination in native species, seed predation by rodents, and seed dispersal by birds and rodents. This project will test: 1) if AH distracts pollinators (bees, butterflies, and moths) from visiting native plants; 2) if AH fruits and cover of leaves influence the abundance of white-footed mice, important seed predators; and 3) if AH distracts seed dispersers from attending native species. A combination of natural experiments (i.e., where abundance of AH differs naturally) and manipulative experiments (i.e., where AH is removed from large tracts) will be used to determine how this invasive shrub influences processes that maintain native plant and animal populations. Invasive species are very significant threat to biological diversity, costing over $137 billion/year for control in the U.S. Investigating the effects of invasives provides vital information for their eradication and reduction of their economic impacts. If the stated predictions are confirmed, invasive species should be considered more of a threat than previously thought, because they have less obvious indirect effects on native diversity through their impacts on pollination and seed dispersal processes. Because of the large scale of the project, many high school and undergraduate students will be trained in basic ecological and conservation theory and field methods.