Pollination Webs: Impacts of a Plant Invasion on Native Plant-Pollinator Interactions, Linkage Strength, and Native Plant Reproduction

人类活动极大地改变了地球的自然系统。在这些变化中，最主要的是植物和动物在世界各地的偶然和有意的运动。生物入侵，即非本地物种在新环境中的建立和传播，具有巨大的经济和环境代价，现在被认为是人类引起的环境变化的主要组成部分。许多入侵植物需要传粉者才能成功繁殖和传播。如果入侵植物在新环境中非常成功地吸引了传粉者，这对本地开花物种的传粉有什么影响？该提案的目的是通过测量传粉媒介的访问、授粉和本地植物的种子产量来测试入侵植物如何影响本地植物群落。这项工作将利用美国西部的入侵植物Linaria vulgaris来解决这个问题。在落基山脉，野百合被认为是一种有害的入侵物种。Linaria vulgaris丰富、艳丽的花朵对本地传粉者非常有吸引力；然而，这种入侵者对本地植物-传粉者相互作用和本地植物种子生产的影响尚不清楚。在世界范围内，近90%的开花植物依靠昆虫或其他动物进行传粉服务，保护本土植物与传粉者的相互作用具有生态和经济意义。本项目的研究结果将有助于我们理解入侵物种对本地物种的影响，在这种情况下，通过一种相对未被探索的机制，即授粉服务的变化。总体而言，该项目将为18名本科生、2名研究生和1名研究技术人员提供培训机会。结合授粉生物学和物种入侵的研究提供了一个很好的机会来训练学生的实验方法和自然历史，这一建议提供了多个学术水平的人力资源开发。

Human activities have dramatically altered Earth's natural systems. Chief among these alterations is the accidental and intentional movement of plants and animals around the world. Biological invasions, the establishment and spread of non-native species into new environments, have substantial economic and environmental costs and are now considered a leading component of human-induced environmental change. Many invasive plants require pollinators for successful reproduction and spread. If invasive plants are very successful in attracting pollinators in their new environment, what impact might this have on the pollination of native flowering species? The aim of this proposal is to test how an invasive plant affects native plant communities by measuring pollinator visitation, pollination, and native plant seed production. The work will address this aim using the invasive plant, Linaria vulgaris, in the western United States. Linaria vulgaris is considered a noxious invasive species in the Rocky Mountains. The abundant, showy flowers of Linaria vulgaris are very attractive to native pollinators; however, the effects of this invader on native plant-pollinator interactions and native plant seed production are unknown. On a world-wide basis, almost 90% of flowering plants rely on insects or other animals for pollination service, and the conservation of native plant-pollinator interactions has both ecological and economic importance. Results from this project will contribute broadly to our understanding of the effects of invasive species on native species, in this case through a relatively unexplored mechanism, changes in pollination service. Overall, this project will provide training opportunities for 18 undergraduate students, 2 graduate students, and one research technician. Studies combining pollination biology and species invasions offer an excellent opportunity to train students in experimental methods and natural history, and this proposal provides for human resource development at multiple academic levels.