NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2009

这一行动为2009财年国家科学基金会少数民族博士后研究奖学金提供资金，并根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)提供资金。该奖学金支持在东道主实验室为该研究员制定的研究和培训计划，该研究员还提出了扩大生物学参与度的计划。丽莎·C·内利斯的这项研究和培训计划的标题是《加州草原入侵的非本土植物和昆虫之间的相互作用》。这项研究的主办机构是由Deborah Gordon博士赞助的斯坦福大学。阿根廷蚂蚁入侵和草原植物入侵分别对当地物种造成负面影响，但像大多数其他生态系统一样，还没有关于这些空间重叠入侵如何相互作用的研究。如果这些入侵者之间的相互作用导致便利化，对本地物种的负面后果可能会很严重。该项目将实地和实验室研究与建模相结合，以确定阿根廷蚂蚁和加州外来草原植物之间发生了什么相互作用，确定这些相互作用如何影响植物群落和昆虫群落，并预测阿根廷蚂蚁和外来植物排斥对植物群落和昆虫群落的长期影响。加州和智利采集的相同植物物种的种群之间的入侵动态也进行了比较。培训目标包括扩大实验和建模经验，以及为合作和出版提供新的机会。此外，该项目正在寻求了解入侵的阿根廷蚂蚁和植物之间复杂和具有科学意义的相互作用，提供对保护有用的信息，并将教育和推广纳入研究中。研究结果将提供给中半岛地区开放空间区(实地工作地点)的管理人员，该研究员是美国生态学会种子推广计划和一个将少数族裔高中生纳入基础研究的推广计划的导师。

This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2009 and is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Lisa C. Nelis is "Interactions among invasive non-native plants and insects in California grasslands." The host institution for this research is the Stanford University under the sponsorship of Dr. Deborah Gordon.Argentine ant invasions and grassland plant invasions are known individually to impact native species negatively, yet like most other ecological systems, there has been no research on how these spatially overlapping invasions interact. If interactions between these invaders result in facilitation, the negative consequences to the native species may be strong. This project is combining field and laboratory research with modeling to determine what interactions are taking place between Argentine ants and exotic grassland plants in California, determine how those interactions affect the community of plants and insects, and predict the long-term effect of Argentine ant and exotic plant exclusion on plant and insect communities. The invasion dynamics are also being compared between populations of the same plant species in California to those collected in Chile.Training objectives include expanding experimental and modeling experience and new opportunities for collaborations and publications. Additionally, the project is seeking to understand the complex and scientifically interesting interactions among invasive Argentine ants and plants, provide information useful in conservation, and integrate education and outreach for underrepresented groups in research. The results are being provided to managers of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (fieldwork site), and the Fellow is a mentor in the Ecological Society of America SEEDS outreach program and an outreach program to include minority high school students in basic research.