DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Species Pools and Plant Traits as Constraints on Species Diversity across Productivity Gradients

解释为什么物种多样性在植物群落中变化仍然很困难，因为多样性受到许多在不同尺度上相互作用的环境因素的影响。虽然有几项研究表明，更大的潜在殖民物种池会增加当地的多样性，但我们最近发现，这种增长率取决于特定地点的生产力。我们建议测试新物种的殖民地是否受站点生产力或常驻物种的控制，以及潜在殖民者的特征是否可用于预测在不同环境条件下的成功殖民。这些结果将有助于概括，可应用于保护和恢复植物群落的多样性，并了解是什么影响外来物种入侵。

Explaining why species diversity varies among plant communities remains difficult because diversity is affected by many environmental factors that interact at different scales. Although several studies have shown that larger pools of potentially colonizing species increase local diversity, we recently found that this rate of increase depends on the productivity of a particular site. We propose to test if colonization by new species is controlled by site productivity or by the resident species, and if traits of potential colonists can be used to predict successful colonization under varying environmental conditions. These results will contribute to generalizations that can be applied to conservation and restoration of diversity in plant communities, and to understanding what influences invasion of exotic species.