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

美国-中国计划访问，以开发一种综合的方法，以了解全球变化制度下植物的范围扩大和侵入性。全球气候变化预计将对大陆内物种范围的扩大和跨大陆的物种入侵产生深远影响。目前，很少有人研究全球环境变化(GEC)对入侵植物物种与入侵群落中本地植物、动物和其他生物之间相互作用的影响。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对本地-入侵物种相互作用的潜在机制。这种综合的方法可以带来更大的能力来预测新的植物-草食动物相互作用(例如，在植物范围扩大期间获得新的草食动物)，这可能是全球气候变化的更严重后果之一。拟议的项目涉及联合研究员克罗宁和迈耶森与汉斯·布里克斯(丹麦奥胡斯大学)、皮特·皮塞克(捷克共和国植物学研究所)和王仁青(山东大学，中国；SDU)之间的合作，以加强全球科学家网络，这些科学家致力于预测和解决全球气候变化对植物遗传学、生理学以及与本地植物和草食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，但将王教授纳入这种合作是至关重要的，并将代表着一种新的伙伴关系。该项目将侧重于一个全球实验园网络(五个伙伴机构各有一个)，其中包含从世界各地收集的芦荟植物标本。澳大利亚赤霉菌是一种模式研究系统，因为它具有全球分布、高度的遗传多样性、较宽的纬度范围(+/-60度)、可随时获得现代和历史样本，并且在一些大陆上是入侵的。提案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调查过去、现在和未来GEC导致的澳大利亚赤霉菌分布的空间、时间和遗传模式。总体而言，合作将扩大所有合作伙伴的研究规模、范围和能力，并为经济、政策和社会学等领域的跨学科研究提供机会。为了与王教授和SDU建立新的合作伙伴关系，克罗宁和迈耶森以及每个实验室的一名学生将前往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)在可持续发展组设立一个相辅相成的共同花园。(2)在王教授的协助下，收集有关澳洲松的生理学、遗传学、食草性、对食草性动物的防御和植物生长的概念验证数据。(3)通过实地演示和网上研讨会，在合作伙伴及其学生之间培训和传授知识。以及(4)促进伙伴机构之间的长期可持续合作研究。该项目将为两名研究生提供国际旅行、指导和培训。学生不仅可以接触到各自领域的世界知名科学家，还可以接触到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。外联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.