US-Denmark-Czech Republic-China planning visit to develop an integrative approach to understanding range expansions and biological invasions under global change regimes

中美计划访问，以开发一种综合方法来了解全球变化制度下植物的范围扩张和入侵。据预测，全球气候变化将对物种范围在大陆内的扩张和物种跨大陆的入侵产生深远的影响。目前，关于全球环境变化（GEC）对入侵植物物种与入侵群落中原生植物、动物和其他生物相互作用影响的研究很少。此外，还没有研究试图整合不同的科学领域，如遗传学、生理学、地理学和生态学，以确定GEC对本土入侵物种相互作用的影响机制。这种综合方法可以提高预测新的植物-食草动物相互作用（例如，在植物范围扩大期间获得新的食草动物）的能力，这可能是全球气候变化的更严重后果之一。拟议的项目涉及共同研究员Cronin和Meyerson， Hans Brix（丹麦奥胡斯大学），peter Pysek（捷克共和国植物研究所）和王人清（山东大学）之间的合作伙伴关系，以加强全球科学家的网络，致力于预测和解决GEC对植物遗传学，生理学以及与本地植物和食草动物的相互作用的影响。美国和欧洲的合作伙伴之间已经存在合作，但将王教授纳入这一合作至关重要，并将代表一种新的伙伴关系。该项目将重点关注一个全球实验花园网络（五个合作机构各一个），其中包含从世界各地收集的芦苇物种标本。南方古树具有全球分布、遗传多样性高、纬度范围广（+/-60°）、现代和历史样本均可获得以及在某些大陆具有入侵性等特点，是一种典型的研究系统。合作伙伴和支持组织的互补资源和技能（植物学、生态生理学、统计建模、生态学和遗传学）以及国际经验将使研究人员能够研究过去、现在和未来GEC导致的南方杨分布的空间、时间和遗传模式。总的来说，这项合作将增加所有合作伙伴的研究规模、范围和能力，并为经济学、政策和社会学等领域的跨学科研究工作提供机会。为了与王教授和SDU建立新的合作关系，Cronin和Meyerson将带着每个实验室的一名学生前往SDU会见王教授和他的研究小组。这次访问的目标和相关活动有四个方面。(1)发起在SDU建立一个互补的公共花园。(2)在王教授的协助下，收集南洋蓟生理学、遗传学、食草性、对食草动物的防御和植物生长的概念验证数据。(3)通过实地演示和网络研讨会，在合作伙伴及其学生之间培训和传递知识。(4)促进伙伴机构之间长期可持续的合作研究。该项目将为两名研究生提供国际旅行、指导和培训。学生们不仅可以接触到各自领域的世界知名科学家，还可以使用五个共同的花园和相关的实验室设施，使他们能够就重要的社会和生态问题进行前沿的国际研究。外展活动将包括一系列关于入侵生物学和全球变化生态学的公众网络研讨会。

US-China planning visit to develop an integrative approach to understanding range expansion and invasiveness of plants under global change regimes.Global climate change is predicted to have profound effects on species range expansions within continents and species invasions across continents. At present, few studies have examined the effects of global environmental change (GEC) on the interactions between invasive plant species and the native plants, animals and other organisms in the invaded community. Moreover, no studies have attempted to integrate disparate scientific fields such as genetics, physiology, geography and ecology, to determine the mechanisms underlying the effects of GEC on native-invasive species interactions. Such an integrated approach can lead to a greater ability to predict novel plant-herbivore interactions (e.g., acquiring new herbivores during range expansion of a plant) which may be one of the more serious consequences of global climate change.The proposed projects involves a partnership between Co-Investigators Cronin and Meyerson and Hans Brix (Aarhus University, Denmark), Petr Pysek (The Institute of Botany, Czech Republic), and Renqing Wang (Shandong University, China; SDU) to strengthen a network of global scientists working to predict and address the effects of GEC on plant genetics, physiology and interactions with native plants and herbivores. Collaborations already exist between US and European partners, but inclusion of Professor Wang into this collaboration is essential and would represent a new partnership. The project will focus on a global network of experimental gardens (one at each of the five partner institutions) containing specimens of the plant species Phragmites australis collected from all over the world. P. australis is a model study system because it has a global distribution, high genetic diversity, wide latitudinal range (+/-60o), ready availability of both modern and historical samples, and is invasive on some continents. The complementary resources and skills (botany, ecophysiology, statistical modeling, ecology and genetics) and international experience of the proposal partners and supporting organizations will allow researchers to investigate the spatial, temporal and genetic patterns in the distribution of P. australis resulting from past, present, and future GEC. Overall, the collaboration will increase the scale, scope, and capacity of research of all partners and offer opportunities for interdisciplinary research efforts with fields such as economics, policy, and sociology. To establish a new partnership with Professor Wang and SDU, Cronin and Meyerson, along with one student from each lab, will travel to SDU to meet Prof. Wang and his research group. The objectives and associated activities from this visit are four fold. (1) Initiate the establishment of a complementary common garden at SDU. (2) With the assistance of Prof. Wang, collect proof-of-concept data on P. australis physiology, genetics, herbivory, defenses against herbivores, and plant growth. (3) Train and transfer knowledge amongst partners and their students through field demonstrations and web-based seminars. And (4) Foster long-term sustainable collaborative research amongst partner institutions. This project will provide international travel, mentorship and training for two graduate students. Students will have access not only to world renowned scientists in their field, but also to five common gardens and associated laboratory facilities to enable them to conduct cutting-edge international research on important societal and ecological problems. Outreach will include a general-public webinar series on invasion biology and global change ecology.