Dissertation Research: The Effects of Exotic-dominated Forest Communities on Ecosystem Productivity and Carbon Storage in Lowland Hawai'i

在外来物种入侵普遍存在的地区，这些入侵者占据了主导地位，比如在夏威夷这样的海洋岛屿上，原始的本地生态系统正在系统地、不可逆转地转变为新的状态。一个关键的问题是，物种平衡的这种转变是否会损害生态系统的服务，或者改变生态系统的服务。拟议的研究将通过夏威夷严重入侵的森林生态系统来测量碳的生产和储存，这对维持全球碳循环至关重要。这项研究的目标是确定生产和碳储存可能被改变的程度，并更好地理解这些生态系统服务发生任何变化的机制。夏威夷提供了一个模型系统来研究历史悠久的人类影响的生态系统，包括外来物种的广泛入侵。这项研究将显著提高我们的管理能力，以适应外来入侵物种带来的快速变化的环境条件。这种情况在21世纪可能会非常普遍。该研究还将为威斯康星州和夏威夷大学的本科生提供培训和研究机会。此外，该项目的调查人员将直接与美国林务局合作，向森林管理者通报夏威夷入侵物种的状况以及这些森林生态系统变化的影响。

In areas where exotic species invasions are pervasive and these invaders become dominant, such as in oceanic islands like Hawaii, the original native ecosystems are being systematically and irrevocably transformed to new states. A key question is whether the ecosystem services will be impaired or otherwise altered by such transformations in the balance of species. The proposed research will measure the production and storage of carbon, services critical to the maintenance of the global carbon cycle, by heavily invaded forest ecosystems on Hawaii. The goal of the research is to determine the extent to which production and carbon storage may be altered and to better understand the mechanisms responsible for any changes in these ecosystem services. Hawaii provides a model system to examine ecosystems with a long history of human influence, including extensive invasion of exotic species. This research will significantly improve our ability to adapt management needs to the rapidly changing environmental conditions imposed by invasive exotic species. This is a situation that will likely be very prevalent in the 21st century. The research will also provide training and research opportunities for undergraduate students at universities in Wisconsin and Hawaii. Furthermore, investigators on this project will work directly with the US Forest Service, informing forest managers of the status of invasive species on Hawaii and implications of changes in these forest ecosystems.