International Research Fellow Awards Program: Differential Responses of Native and Exotic Understory Plants to Different Rate of Nitrate Deposition: A Mechanism of Invasion

0003822温德姆国际研究员奖励计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将为利哈伊大学的Lisamarie Windham博士提供为期24个月的支持，让她与智利圣地亚哥智利大学的Juan Jose Armesto博士一起工作。该项目通过美国-智利项目得到支持。外来植物物种的传播已成为全球变化的一个日益重要的方面，因为外来入侵植物取代了本地植物，改变了群落结构和养分循环。研究人员使用的一种方法，通过调查和模型来预测哪些外来植物将入侵哪些景观。为此，PI考虑了北美有多少成熟森林具有高硝酸盐沉积率和大量外来林下植物，而智利的原始森林两者都没有。为了确定硝酸盐沉积是否影响外来植物的成功，PI将在三个野外地点和控制硝酸盐沉积的温室实验中检查外来和本地林下植物对硝酸盐的利用。具体来说，她将调查智利的森林中外来植物种群的存在，并测量智利以及美国其他地区（如纽约）植物种群中硝酸盐还原酶的活性。研究结果将提供给自然资源保护和管理机构。阿梅斯托是研究智利原始森林植物群落的权威。智利大学一直积极参与国家公园和保护区制度的建立和研究。拟议的研究与目前了解智利森林生物多样性模式的努力重叠。

0003822WindhamThe International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twentyfour months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will provide Dr. Lisamarie Windham of Lehigh University with support for twenty-four months to work with Dr. Juan Jose Armesto, at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Chile. Support for this project is through the U.S.-Chile Program.The spread of exotic plant species has become an increasingly important facet of global change when the replacement of native plants with exotic invaders alters community structure and nutrient cycling. A method used by researchers to predict which exotic plants will invade which landscapes is through surveys and models. To this end, the PI has considered how many mature forests of North America have high nitrate deposition rates and large populations of exotic understory plants, whereas Chilean old-growth forests have neither. To determine if nitrate deposits influence exotic plant success, the PI will examine nitrate use by exotic and native understory plants at three field sites and in greenhouse experiments with controlled nitrate deposition. Specifically, she will survey the forests of Chiloe for the presence of exotic plant populations and measure rates of nitrate reductase activity in populations of plants in Chile as well as other sites in the U.S., such as New York. The results will be provided to institutions of conservation and natural resource management.Dr. Armesto is an authority on plant communities of Chilean oldgrowth forests. The Universidad de Chile has been actively involved in the establishment and study of the system of National Parks and Reserves. The proposed research overlaps with current efforts to understand patterns of biodiversity in Chilean forests.