EAGER: Building Arid-land International Collaborations between US and China: Ecology of Invasive Plants

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This EAGER award provides funding to develop an international network of researchers to explore the comparative ecologies of temperate arid regions of Central Asia and the Great Basin of the western US. These regions are similar in climate and vegetation and are quite vulnerable to environmental degradation. This comparative exploratory study will examine the nature of the native and invasive plant species in each region. The objective is to develop hypotheses regarding the resilience and sensitivity to environmental change in such regions. In addition to the development of research hypotheses, the other objective of an EAGER award is to establish effective collaborations with Chinese researchers from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography for on-going studies. In addition to field studies in both countries, the project will include two joint workshops. One in Xinjiang in 2010 will address issues of invasive species and develop preliminary research hypotheses. The second workshop, to be held in Nevada in 2011, will review the results of the field studies and develop plans for future collaborations. The proposed studies will provide an interesting basis for in-depth studies of two large and important regions of the world. The studies will be symmetrical in the sense that species native to the Great Basin appear as invasive species in Central Asia and vice versa. The regional comparisons will add considerably to our understanding of the processes that drive ecosystem structure and function in temperate arid regions and enhance our biological and ecological knowledge of such regions. The improved ecological understanding of arid lands can contribute to more effective management of these vulnerable regions. Also, the project engages a number of undergraduates in the field work, some of whom will be able to travel to Asia and participate in the workshops. Their interactions, among themselves and with the more senior researchers and foreign colleagues, are expected to enhance human resources in a critical area of science.