DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Predicting Restoration Outcomes In Exotic-Invaded Ecosystems

恢复被外来的非本土植物物种入侵的栖息地往往具有挑战性。促进所需物种成功的努力必须与控制有害外来物种的努力相平衡。此外，成功恢复的可能性和成功恢复的成本在同等程度的入侵栖息地之间可能会有很大差异，因此很难预测。在这个项目中，德克萨斯州的湿地和草原被外来的中国乌桕树入侵，将被用作一个模型系统，以更好地了解驱动恢复结果的机制。必要和适当的管理方法（以及成本）取决于如何强烈乌桕树后，他们删除返回。据推测，这取决于土壤湿度和当地的牛脂和本地植物种子的可用性。在12牛脂入侵的栖息地位于整个水分梯度，水分，本地种子的可用性，牛脂种子的可用性和管理方法将被操纵。实验结果和数据从每个网站的初始栖息地特性将被用来开发一个模型，预测恢复结果的基础上网站的特点。除了促进对环境因素如何影响入侵和植物群落发展的理解外，这项工作还将对保护和恢复产生更广泛的影响。预测恢复结果的能力可以使土地管理者优先考虑成功机会高、成本低的努力。这将增加在景观规模上成功恢复和动物脂控制的程度，使野生动物以及与动物脂作斗争的土地管理者和土地所有者受益。

Restoring habitats that have been invaded by exotic, non-native plant species is often challenging. Efforts to promote success of desired species must be balanced with efforts to control detrimental exotic species. Furthermore, likelihood of success and cost of successful restoration can vary dramatically among equivalently invaded habitats and thus are difficult to predict. In this project, wetlands and grasslands in Texas invaded by exotic Chinese tallow trees will be used as a model system to better understand mechanisms driving restoration outcomes. The necessary and appropriate management methods (and thus cost) depend on how intensely tallow trees return following their removal. This is hypothesized to depend on soil moisture and the local availability of tallow and native plant seeds. At 12 tallow-invaded habitats located across a moisture gradient, moisture, native seed availability, tallow seed availability and management methods will be manipulated. Experimental results and data on initial habitat characteristics from each site will be used to develop a model that predicts restoration outcomes based on site characteristics. In addition to advancing understanding of how environmental factors influence invasions and plant community development, this work will have broader impacts for conservation and restoration. The ability to predict restoration outcomes could allow land managers to prioritize efforts where chances of success are high and costs are low. This would increase the extent of successful restoration and tallow control on a landscape scale, benefiting wildlife as well as land managers and landowners struggling with tallow.