COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Testing a conceptually-driven framework to predict variability in the ecosystem consequences of plant invasion across heterogeneous landscapes

合作研究：测试概念驱动的框架来预测异质景观中植物入侵的生态系统后果的变异性

• 批准号: 1353211
• 负责人: Stephen Flory
• 金额: $ 17.02万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-04-15 至 2018-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1353211&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Testing; conceptually; driven

Invasive species have highly variable impacts on natural services, such as carbon storage and nutrient retention, that make them very difficult problems for land managers to address. This project examines the impacts of one of the most widespread invasive plant species in the eastern United States, Japanese stiltgrass, on how forests use carbon and nitrogen, and will develop a more general framework with which to explain how and why impacts of invasives differ so much among different forests. The research will be conducted at three locations in Indiana, North Carolina and Georgia so that soil and climate effects can be separated, and a combination of observational measurements, controlled experiments in labs and greenhouses, and experiments in the field will be used. This research addresses important questions about how individual plants, especially invasive species, affect how forests use and cycle carbon and nitrogen. The investigators will also develop a general framework for predicting the impacts of invasives more broadly that will enable predictions of when and where biological invasions will have the greatest effects. As part of this project, the scientists will work with high schools to conduct training programs for teachers in Indiana and Florida that will include the development of new curricula and activities. The project will also train several undergraduate students each summer of the project, will provide an opportunity for a new PhD and Masters students, and will train a post-doctoral associate as well. The results of the project will be made available to land managers, other scientists, and to the general public through a web site, public presentations, and publications. Stiltgrass is one of the most common invasive plants in the forests of eastern North America, so that helping land managers to more efficiently target its removal and restoration efforts will have lasting benefits for conservation and forest restoration projects in the future.

入侵物种对碳储存和养分保持等自然服务的影响差异很大，使土地管理者很难解决这些问题。该项目研究了美国东部最广泛的入侵植物物种之一日本高跷草对森林如何利用碳和氮的影响，并将制定一个更一般的框架，解释入侵植物的影响如何以及为什么在不同的森林中差异如此之大。这项研究将在印第安纳州、北卡罗来纳州和格鲁吉亚的三个地点进行，以便将土壤和气候影响分开，并将使用观测测量、实验室和温室控制实验以及田间实验的组合。 这项研究解决了关于个别植物，特别是入侵物种如何影响森林如何使用和循环碳和氮的重要问题。研究人员还将开发一个更广泛地预测入侵影响的一般框架，以便预测生物入侵何时何地产生最大影响。作为该项目的一部分，科学家们将与高中合作，为印第安纳州和佛罗里达的教师开展培训计划，其中包括开发新的课程和活动。该项目每年夏天还将培训几名本科生，为新的博士生和硕士生提供机会，并将培训博士后助理。 该项目的结果将通过一个网站、公开介绍和出版物向土地管理人员、其他科学家和一般公众提供。高跷草是北美东部森林中最常见的入侵植物之一，因此帮助土地管理者更有效地针对其清除和恢复工作将对未来的保护和森林恢复项目产生持久的好处。