EAGER: Building Arid-land International Collaborations between US and China: Ecology of Invasive Plants

该EAGER奖提供资金，以建立一个国际研究人员网络，探索中亚温带干旱地区和美国西部大盆地的比较生态学。 这些地区的气候和植被相似，很容易受到环境退化的影响。这项比较探索性研究将研究每个地区的本地和入侵植物物种的性质。目的是就这些区域对环境变化的复原力和敏感性提出假设。除了研究假设的发展，EAGER奖的另一个目标是与新疆生态与地理研究所的中国研究人员建立有效的合作，以进行正在进行的研究。除了在这两个国家进行实地研究外，该项目还将包括两个联合讲习班。2010年在新疆的一个项目将解决入侵物种的问题，并提出初步的研究假设。第二次讲习班将于2011年在内华达州举行，将审查实地研究的结果，并制定今后合作的计划。拟议的研究将为深入研究世界上两个重要的大区域提供令人感兴趣的基础。这些研究将是对称的，因为大盆地的原生物种在中亚似乎是入侵物种，反之亦然。区域比较将大大增加我们对驱动温带干旱地区生态系统结构和功能的过程的理解，并增强我们对这些地区的生物和生态知识。对干旱地区生态认识的提高有助于更有效地管理这些脆弱地区。此外，该项目还邀请了一些本科生参与实地工作，其中一些人将能够前往亚洲参加研讨会。 他们之间的互动以及与更资深的研究人员和外国同事的互动，预计将加强这一关键科学领域的人力资源。

This EAGER award provides funding to develop an international network of researchers to explore the comparative ecologies of temperate arid regions of Central Asia and the Great Basin of the western US. These regions are similar in climate and vegetation and are quite vulnerable to environmental degradation. This comparative exploratory study will examine the nature of the native and invasive plant species in each region. The objective is to develop hypotheses regarding the resilience and sensitivity to environmental change in such regions. In addition to the development of research hypotheses, the other objective of an EAGER award is to establish effective collaborations with Chinese researchers from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography for on-going studies. In addition to field studies in both countries, the project will include two joint workshops. One in Xinjiang in 2010 will address issues of invasive species and develop preliminary research hypotheses. The second workshop, to be held in Nevada in 2011, will review the results of the field studies and develop plans for future collaborations. The proposed studies will provide an interesting basis for in-depth studies of two large and important regions of the world. The studies will be symmetrical in the sense that species native to the Great Basin appear as invasive species in Central Asia and vice versa. The regional comparisons will add considerably to our understanding of the processes that drive ecosystem structure and function in temperate arid regions and enhance our biological and ecological knowledge of such regions. The improved ecological understanding of arid lands can contribute to more effective management of these vulnerable regions. Also, the project engages a number of undergraduates in the field work, some of whom will be able to travel to Asia and participate in the workshops. Their interactions, among themselves and with the more senior researchers and foreign colleagues, are expected to enhance human resources in a critical area of science.