Do microbes facilitate the invasion of marine plants?

在世界范围内，对入侵物种的管理受到对允许入侵物种在新环境中建立和繁殖的过程的理解的限制。据信，海洋微生物在入侵性海洋大型植物的建立中发挥了关键但未经检验的作用。该项目旨在通过整合前沿微生物生态学和真核生物生态学来测试这一理论，这两个研究领域在很大程度上是不同的。入侵物种是对全球生物多样性的严重威胁，每年造成的损失超过40亿美元。该项目旨在创造保护澳大利亚海洋生态系统免受入侵害虫侵害所必需的新知识，并将使澳大利亚处于入侵生态学的前沿。

Worldwide, management of invasive species is limited by the understandings of processes that allow invasive species to establish and proliferate in a new environment. It is believed that marine microbes play a critical, but untested, role in the establishment of invasive marine macrophytes. This project aims to test the theory by integrating cutting edge microbial ecology with eukaryote ecology, two largely disparate research areas. Invasive species are a serious threat to biodiversity globally and cost more than $4 billion annually. This project aims to create new knowledge essential for safeguarding Australia’s marine ecosystems from invasive pests, and will place Australia at the forefront of invasion ecology.