CRB: The Role of Apparent Competition and Patch Geometry in Mediating the Invasion and Restoration of Grassland Communities

NSF提案摘要PIs：Reichman and Orrock Proposal标题：“表观竞争和斑块几何在调节草原群落入侵和恢复中的作用”。当非本地物种在其原始范围之外的地区定居时，就会发生生物入侵。生物入侵具有深远的生态影响和经济代价，导致当地物种灭绝和生态系统功能转变，据估计，仅在美国每年就造成超过1380亿美元的损失。这项提案将在加利福尼亚州的草原上进行，那里920万公顷(几乎占全州25%)的土地主要是非本土植物。该提案将考察：1)非本土植物是否助长了本土消费者的增长，从而导致本土植物的灭绝；以及2)景观中介的消费者行为变化是否会导致消费者对本土植物产生更大的影响。这一建议将入侵生物学、植物和消费者之间的间接相互作用以及空间动态联系在一起，为构建生态群落的力量提供了新的见解。此外，这项提案中概述的工作具有广泛的应用价值，因为它可以提供简单的“经验法则”，帮助保护生物学家确定保护区域的优先顺序，并指导修复工作的设计。更广泛地说，这项工作将深入了解改变斑块几何形状的过程如何影响入侵的整体过程，这在当代景观中可能是至关重要的，因为在当代景观中，碎片正在以前所未有的速度改变斑块几何形状。

NSF Proposal AbstractPIs: Reichman and OrrockProposal Title: "The Role of Apparent Competition and Patch Geometry in Mediating the Invasion and Restoration of Grassland Communities".Biological invasions occur when non-native species become established in areas outside of their original range. Biological invasions have profound ecological impacts and economical costs, causing extinction of native species and shifts in ecosystem function that are estimated to cost over 138 billion dollars per year in the United States alone. This proposal will take place in the grasslands of California, where 9.2 million hectares (almost 25% of the entire state) are dominated by non-native plants. This proposal will examine whether 1) non-native plants fuel increases in native consumers that contribute to the elimination of native plants; and 2) whether landscape-mediated changes in consumer behavior lead to stronger impacts of consumers on native plants. This proposal links the biology of invasions, indirect interactions among plants and consumers, and spatial dynamics to provide novel insight into the forces structuring ecological communities. Moreover, the work outlined in this proposal has broad applied value because it may provide simple "rules of thumb" to aid conservation biologists in prioritizing areas for protection and to guide the design of restoration efforts. More generally, this work will provide insight into how processes that change patch geometry affect the overall course of invasions, which may be critical in contemporary landscapes where fragmentation is changing patch geometry at unprecedented rates.