Ecological Consequences of Global Environmental Change: Plant-Insect Interactions

研究人员建议研究二氧化碳和臭氧水平升高对中西部落叶林常见树木和昆虫物种的植物化学成分和昆虫表现的影响。 实验将侧重于二氧化碳和臭氧之间的相互作用。 将通过测量几代人的表现来估计对昆虫种群的影响。 这项拟议的研究将深入了解二氧化碳浓度升高将如何影响森林群落中的物种相互作用。 它将提高对营养相互作用将如何改变以及这种变化对昆虫种群和树木生产力的影响的理解。 作为多学科自由空气碳交换（FACE）研究的一部分，这项工作将促进陆地生态系统中日益现实的碳预算模型的开发。 了解大气中浓缩的二氧化碳的生态后果具有相当大的国家和国际重要性，特别是在国际社会卷入关于排放限制的辩论之际。 虽然预计在今后50至100年内，大气中二氧化碳浓度的增加将对森林生态系统产生重大影响，但人们对这些变化如何影响生态相互作用以及这些变化如何反过来影响森林结构和功能知之甚少。 这项工作至关重要，因为美国正在评估全球环境变化的环境和经济后果，并执行政策来解决这些问题。 此外，这项研究将增强我们对基本生态问题的理解，例如资源的可用性如何改变植物中的化学成分和碳分配，以及这些变化对植物-昆虫相互作用的影响。

The investigators propose to examine the effect of elevated levels of carbon dioxide and ozone on plant chemical composition and insect performance in common tree and insect species of the midwestern deciduous forest. Experiments will focus on the interaction between carbon dioxide and ozone. Estimates of the effects on insect populations will be made by measuring performance over several generations. The proposed research will provide insights into how elevated carbon dioxide will affect species interactions in forest communities. It will improve understanding of how trophic interactions will be altered and the consequences of such changes for insect populations and tree productivity. As part of a multidisciplinary Free Air Carbon Exchange (FACE) study this work will enhance the development of increasingly realistic models of carbon budgets in terrestrial ecosystems. Understanding the ecological consequences of enriched atmospheric carbon dioxide is of considerable national and international importance, especially as the international community becomes embroiled in debate over emission restrictions. Although increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide are anticipated to exert significant impacts on forest ecosystems over the next 50-100 years, little is known about how these changes will affect ecological interactions, and how these in turn will feed back to affect forest structure and function. This work is of critical importance as the United States evaluates the environmental and economic consequences of global environmental change, and implements policies to address such issues. Moreover, this research will enhance our understanding of basic ecological problems such as how resource availability alters chemical composition and carbon partitioning in plants, and the effects of such changes on plant-insect interactions.