Reframing plant competition: Understanding how plant social interactions affect community assembly and the delivery of ecological goods and services

重构植物竞争：了解植物社会互动如何影响群落组装以及生态产品和服务的提供

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-04350
• 负责人: Cahill, James
• 金额: $ 4.74万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=737573
• 关键词: Reframing; plant; competition; Understanding; how

The behavior of individuals influences the outcome of the interactions among species that can structure natural communities. For plants, species interactions are central to foundational theory in ecology and are drivers of issues of societal concern (e.g. invasive species, agricultural sustainability). The study of plant interactions has focused on deterministic outcomes of competition driven by shared limiting resources. However, plants engage in complex cue detection and fine-scale behavioural responses to neighbours which can be independent of resource-driven processes. Thus, the outcome of species interactions is determined by both resource and non-resource effects and responses of individual plants living together in space and time. The relative strengths of these processes will determine whether outcomes are negative, neutral, or positive at scales ranging from individual fitness to species coexistence. This ideas in this proposal build upon several recent discoveries, and continues to rely upon my experimental approach to understanding ecological processes. Over the next five years, I will address four objectives: 1.Determine how social context influences the relative importance of resource and non-resource cues for determining individual behaviour and performance. 2.Identify the determinants and contingencies of root placement decisions by individual plants. 3.Determine how plant traits, behaviour, and local context interact to affect ecosystem functioning. 4.Advance understanding of additional topics in plant behavioural ecology. Central to this research will be extensive training of HQP at the undergraduate, MSc & PhD, and PDF levels. The success of my program is dependent upon effective mentorship, helping encourage individuals as they develop as scientists. As evidenced from the publication record and current positions of my previous lab members, I have previously been successful in my training efforts. Though the research presented in the proposal is drawn from broad conceptual theory, its relevance to issues of concern in Canada and elsewhere is not abstract. Natural communities are constantly faced with external pressures, including the introduction of new species and changing climatic and resource conditions. As sessile organisms, plants must deal with their neighbours the entirety of their lives. Understanding how social interactions influence how plants respond to other factors could enhance the accuracy of conservation-oriented models. For example, behavioural adjustments may be a mechanism for ecosystem stability in the face of mild, but perhaps not major, perturbation. Furthermore, plant biology and ecology are the foundations of crop and cattle production. A deeper understanding of how plants occupy and use their habitat, including the integration of signals and cues, will have impacts on the productivity and sustainability of managed systems.

个体的行为影响着物种之间相互作用的结果，而物种之间的相互作用又可以构建自然群落。对于植物，物种相互作用是生态学基础理论的核心，也是社会关注问题（例如入侵物种，农业可持续性）的驱动因素。植物相互作用的研究集中在由共享的有限资源驱动的竞争的确定性结果。然而，植物从事复杂的线索检测和精细尺度的行为反应的邻居，可以独立于资源驱动的过程。因此，物种相互作用的结果是由资源和非资源的影响和反应的个体植物生活在一起的空间和时间。这些过程的相对强度将决定结果是消极的，中性的，还是积极的，从个体适应到物种共存。这个建议中的想法建立在最近的几个发现之上，并继续依赖于我的实验方法来理解生态过程。在接下来的五年里，我将致力于四个目标：1.确定社会环境如何影响资源和非资源线索的相对重要性，以确定个人的行为和表现。 2.确定单个植物根放置决策的决定因素和偶然性。3.确定植物性状，行为和当地环境如何相互作用，影响生态系统功能。4.增进对植物行为生态学其他主题的了解。这项研究的核心将是在本科生，硕士和博士，和PDF水平的HQP的广泛培训。我的计划的成功取决于有效的指导，帮助鼓励个人，因为他们发展为科学家。从我以前的实验室成员的出版记录和目前的职位可以证明，我以前在培训方面取得了成功。虽然提案中提出的研究来自广泛的概念理论，但它与加拿大和其他地方关注的问题的相关性并不抽象。自然群落不断面临外部压力，包括新物种的引进以及不断变化的气候和资源条件。作为固着生物，植物必须在其整个生命中与邻居打交道。了解社会互动如何影响植物对其他因素的反应，可以提高以保护为导向的模型的准确性。例如，行为调整可能是生态系统在面临轻微但可能不严重的扰动时保持稳定的一种机制。此外，植物生物学和生态学是作物和畜牧业生产的基础。更深入地了解植物如何占据和利用其栖息地，包括信号和线索的整合，将对管理系统的生产力和可持续性产生影响。