DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Mechanisms for Successful Invasions: Yellow Starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) in California, Central Argentina, and Turkey

许多植物物种在其原生社区并不常见，但当人们将它们运输到世界的新地区时，它们达到了非凡的丰富程度。 这种现象困扰了生态学家几十年。 黄星蓟，一种原产于欧亚大陆的一年生草本植物，已经入侵了世界各地的草原，但入侵成功率各不相同。 在加州，黄星蓟是一年生草原最具破坏性的入侵者之一。 在阿根廷中部，它也可以创造单一文化;然而，与加州相比，它的优势是短暂的，需要持续的干扰。 这项研究的目的是深入了解为什么同一个入侵者在不同的接受者社区中表现出不同的成功水平。 这一目标将通过在加州、阿根廷中部和入侵者的家乡土耳其南部重复实验来实现。 这些实验将评估气候、当地植物群落和入侵者基因型在这一地理格局中的作用。 在这样一个全球范围内拟议的比较活动代表了一种新的方法来研究引进的植物，并有可能阐明生态学中最困难的问题之一-驱动成功的植物入侵的机制。 我们改善入侵植物造成的巨大环境和经济危害的能力在很大程度上取决于了解这些机制是如何工作的。

Many plant species are not common in their native communities but reach extraordinary levels of abundance when people transport them to new parts of the world. This phenomenon has puzzled ecologists for decades. Yellow starthistle, an annual herb native to Eurasia, has invaded grasslands worldwide, but varies in invasive success. In California, yellow starthistle is one of the most devastating invaders of annual grasslands. In central Argentina, it can also create monocultures; however, in contrast to California, its dominance is short lived and requires continued disturbance. The goal of this research is to gain insight into why the same invader exhibits contrasting levels of success in different recipient communities. This objective will be addressed by replicating experiments in California, central Argentina, and in the homeland of the invader, southern Turkey. These experiments will assess the role of climate, local plant communities, and invader genotypes in this biogeographical pattern. Proposed comparative activities in such a global context represent a novel approach to the study of introduced plants and have the potential to shed light on one of the most difficult problems in ecology -the mechanisms driving successful plant invasions. Our ability to ameliorate the enormous environmental and economic harms caused by invasive plants largely depends on understanding how these mechanisms work.