Understanding and predicting the success of invasive plants: a leaf carbon strategy approach

外来植物入侵植物群落是对全球生物多样性和生态系统进程的重大威胁。这项建议试图利用叶碳战略的框架，了解入侵植物在新环境中的战略，无论是现在还是在预测的未来条件下。将采用比较和实验的方法来了解入侵物种与本地物种之间的叶片性状关系。这将大大有助于我们对全球植物功能关系的理解，从而能够更好地预测潜在的入侵者。由此产生的数据还将为结合入侵动态的植物、生态系统和生物圈对全球变化的反应模型提供关键输入。

Invasion of plant communities by exotic plants is a significant threat to biodiversity and ecosystem processes globally. This proposal seeks to understand strategies of invasive plants in novel environments both now and under predicted future conditions, using the framework of leaf carbon strategies. Comparative and experimental approaches will be used to understand leaf trait relationships of invasive compared with native species. This will contribute substantially to our understanding of global plant functional relationships, thereby enabling better prediction of potential invaders. The resulting data will also provide critical input for models of plant, ecosystem and biosphere responses to global change incorporating invasion dynamics.