COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Latitudinal variation in invasive plant-herbivore interactions and implications for invasion success

最近对入侵物种的研究表明，进化在成功入侵新的栖息地方面发挥着重要作用。对于涉及大陆范围入侵的植物物种，人们的预期是，众所周知的食草动物物种数量从北到南的增加应该有利于较低纬度地区对草食动物抵抗力增强的快速进化。这一预测将用常见的芦苇进行验证。普通芦苇广泛分布在欧洲和北美的沼泽中；在过去的100年里，这种物种的一个欧洲变种已经入侵并迅速传播到整个北美。第一个目标是测试普通芦苇是否经历了快速进化，在与反食草动物防御相关的特征上形成了南北梯度。第二个目标是量化共同出现在相同沼泽和不同大陆上的本地和入侵芦苇品种之间的植物防御差异，并评估这些差异可能如何影响入侵者的成功。这将是第一次在整个大陆的规模上测试食草动物是否影响入侵物种的进化和入侵成功的研究。这项研究将提供宝贵的数据，说明入侵的普通芦苇品种对北美原产的不太常见的品种的潜在负面影响。PIS将为两名研究生和最多四名本科生提供研究经验、指导和培训。PIs还将参与各种项目，以促进本科生的研究和公众对入侵物种有害影响的认识。

Recent studies with invasive species have revealed that evolution plays an important role in the successful invasion of new habitats. For plant species involved in continent-wide invasions, the expectation is that the well known north-south increase in the number of herbivore species should favor the rapid evolution of increased resistance to herbivores at lower latitudes. This prediction will be tested using the common reed, Phragmites australis. The common reed is widely distributed across European and North American marshes; in the past 100 years a European variety of this species has invaded and rapidly spread throughout North America. The first objective is to test whether the common reed has undergone rapid evolution to form a north-south gradient in traits associated with anti-herbivore defense. The second objective is to quantify differences in plant defenses between native and invasive varieties of the common reed that occur together in the same marshes and on separate continents, and to evaluate how these differences may affect invader success. This will be the first study to test whether herbivores influence the evolution and the invasion success of invasive species at the scale of whole continents. This research will provide invaluable data regarding the potential negative effects that the invasive common reed variety is having on the less common varieties that are native to North America. The PIs will provide research experience, mentorship and training for two graduate and up to four undergraduate students. The PIs will also participate in a variety of programs that promote undergraduate research and public awareness of the detrimental effects of invasive species.