DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Biotic controls of the ecology and evolution of plant growth and defense

外来物种本地范围和引进范围之间的物种相互作用的变化是入侵成功的重要决定因素。尽管如此，关于捕食和竞争如何相互作用来影响增加入侵物种影响的特征的进化，人们知之甚少。关于植物入侵的潜在预测是这样一种假设，即个体对用于生长和防御的能量进行了权衡，这种权衡的影响取决于生物环境。这项研究的目的是了解重要物种相互作用的变异如何有助于入侵物种的成功，并预测可能影响入侵的某些特征可能进化的时间。该项目依赖于一种快速生长的模式植物的多个品系，这些品系的一生竞争和捕食强度不同，将表征这些品系之间的生活史策略的差异，并将使用田间入侵实验来检测历史和当前生物相互作用对植物成功的影响。外来物种通过破坏当地生态系统及其提供的服务来威胁全球生物多样性。这个项目将增加对外来物种进化的理解，并弥合植物生态和进化之间的鸿沟。该项目包括与中国科学家的合作。其中一名调查人员在指导本科生，特别是来自代表性不足群体的本科生方面有丰富的经验，并计划在拟议的项目期间继续这些培训活动。

Changes in species interactions between native and introduced ranges of exotic species are important determinants of invasion success. Despite this, little is known about how predation and competition interact to affect the evolution of traits that increase the impacts of invasive species. Underlying predictions of plant invasiveness is the assumption that individuals tradeoff energy devoted to growth and defense, and that the effects of this tradeoff depend on the biotic environment. The goal of this research is to understand how variation in important species interactions contributes to invasive species success and to predict when certain traits that may influence invasiveness are likely to evolve. The project relies on multiple lines of a rapidly growing model plant that differ in lifetime intensity of competition and predation, will characterize differences in life history strategies among these lines, and will use a field invasion experiment to detect the effects of both historic and current biotic interactions on plant success. Exotic species threaten global biodiversity by damaging native ecosystems and the services they provide. This project will increase understanding of the evolution in exotic species and bridges the gap between plant ecology and evolution. The project includes a collaboration with Chinese scientists. One of the investigators has considerable experience mentoring undergraduate students, and particularly those from under-represented groups, and plans to continue these training activities during the proposed project.