Restoration ecology of Garry oak ecosystems impacted by invasive species and grazing

受入侵物种和放牧影响的加里橡树生态系统的恢复生态

• 批准号: 371457-2009
• 负责人: Clements, David
• 金额: $ 1.24万
• 依托单位: Trinity Western University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2009-01-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=434826
• 关键词: Restoration; ecology; Garry; oak; ecosystems

Throughout Canada alarm is being raised over the potentially rapid loss of native species and habitats to the threat of invasive species. In response, many efforts are underway to control invasive species, but a scientific understanding of invasive species ecology is clearly lacking. Two key issues are: 1) failure to comprehend the roles of invasive species within the larger context of restoration ecology and 2) limiting the study of ecological restoration to a small-plot level. Longer-term research at larger spatial scales is needed to understand invasion ecology in its full complexity, including impacts of grazing and other disturbance types, diverse plant functional types, reproductive ecology, dispersal and seedbanks. The proposed program to study Garry oak meadows (GOM) on Salt Spring Island is centered on Trinity Western University's Crow's Nest Ecological Research Area (CNERA) which, like most remnant GOM, is dominated by invasive non-native grasses, and thus provides a representative restoration laboratory. The program builds on 7 years of prior research, and takes the investigation to the next level by fencing off large portions of the GOM at CNERA. Short-term objectives include: 1) Testing if large exclosures and/or mowing treatments cause greater shifts in plant community composition than observed in smaller scale experiments, 2) Evaluating if planting of Garry oak meadow forbs significantly enhances restoration potential, 3) Testing whether Douglas-fir removal promotes Garry oak native community structure, and 4) Evaluating whether Propertius duskywing butterfly populations increase with habitat restoration.

在整个加拿大，人们对本地物种和栖息地可能因入侵物种的威胁而迅速丧失感到震惊。 作为回应，许多努力正在进行中，以控制入侵物种，但入侵物种生态学的科学认识显然是缺乏的。 两个关键问题是：1）未能在恢复生态学的大背景下理解入侵物种的作用; 2）将生态恢复研究局限于小地块水平。 需要在更大的空间尺度上进行长期研究，以全面了解入侵生态学的复杂性，包括放牧和其他干扰类型、不同植物功能类型、生殖生态学、扩散和种子库的影响。 拟议的计划，以研究加里橡树草甸（GOM）盐泉岛是集中在Trinity西方大学的乌鸦巢生态研究区（CNERA），像大多数残余GOM，是由入侵的非本地草为主，从而提供了一个代表性的恢复实验室。 该计划建立在7年的前期研究的基础上，并通过在CNERA隔离GOM的大部分来将调查提升到一个新的水平。 短期目标包括：1）测试大面积封闭和/或割草处理是否会导致植物群落组成比小规模实验中观察到的更大变化，2）评估种植加里橡树草甸杂草是否显着增强恢复潜力，3）测试花旗松的清除是否会促进加里橡树本土群落结构，以及4）评估黑翅斑蝶种群是否随着栖息地恢复而增加。