CRB: Competitive and Demographic Trade-offs: Restoration of Tallgrass Prairie

将人类改变的景观恢复为自然生态系统，为生态理论提供了一个理想的试验平台，同时为公共和私营部门带来实际利益。 对于恢复生态学的实践者来说，在以前的农业或商业用地上建立原生草原往往受到杂草物种竞争成功的阻碍。 我们的研究需要实验来比较北美本土草原植物与它们在恢复项目中竞争的非本土物种的表现。 我们提出，一个种群的植物，如原生草大蓝茎，整体竞争力是一个层次结构的生物过程，从种子发芽到死亡的最终结果。 在我们的研究中，我们将开发这些物种在肥沃或贫瘠土壤条件下长期种群动态的计算机模型。 通过比较模型预测与草原恢复的结果，我们将测试目前的理论植物之间的差异资源利用和这些差异对恢复生态系统的最终物种构成的影响。 俄亥俄州州立大学马里恩分校是一个小型的区域性校园，主要为农业社区服务。我们已经与一所地区高中建立了科学教育伙伴关系，以开发实地练习，学生将与项目科学家同时收集数据。

The restoration of human altered landscapes to natural ecosystems provides an ideal test bed for ecological theory while yielding practical benefits to public and private sectors. For practitioners of restoration ecology, the establishment of native prairie on former agricultural or commercial land is often hindered by the competitive success of weedy species. Our research entails experiments to compare the performance of native North American prairie plants with the non-native species they compete against in restoration projects. We propose that the overall competitive ability of a population of plants, such as the native grass Big Bluestem, is the end result of a heirarchy of biological processes, from seed germination through death. In our study we will develop computer models of these species' long-term population dynamics under fertile or infertile soil conditions. By comparing model predictions with results from a prairie restoration we will test current theories of differential resource use among plants and the effect these differences have on the final species makeup of restored ecosystems. Ohio State University at Marion, where our field work will take place, is a small regional campus serving a largely agricultural community. We have entered into a science education partnership with an area high school to develop field exercises in which students will gather data in parallel with project scientists.