Reframing plant competition: Understanding how plant social interactions affect community assembly and the delivery of ecological goods and services

个体的行为影响物种之间相互作用的结果，从而形成自然群落。对于植物来说，物种间的相互作用是生态学基础理论的核心，也是社会关注问题(如入侵物种、农业可持续性)的驱动因素。植物相互作用的研究主要集中在共享限制资源驱动的竞争的确定性结果上。然而，植物参与复杂的线索检测和对邻居的精细行为反应，这可能独立于资源驱动的过程。因此，物种相互作用的结果取决于资源和非资源效应以及在空间和时间上共同生活的单个植物的反应。这些过程的相对强度将决定结果是负面的、中性的还是正面的，范围从个体适应性到物种共存。本提案中的这一想法建立在几项最新发现的基础上，并继续依赖于我理解生态过程的实验方法。*在接下来的五年里，我将讨论四个目标：*1.确定社会背景如何影响资源和非资源线索对确定个人行为和表现的相对重要性。*2.确定单个植物根部放置决定的决定因素和偶然性。*3.确定植物特性、行为和当地环境如何相互作用以影响生态系统功能。*4.进一步了解植物行为生态学中的其他主题。*这项研究的核心是在本科、硕士和博士以及PDF水平上对HQP进行广泛的培训。我的项目的成功依赖于有效的指导，帮助鼓励个人发展为科学家。从我以前的实验室成员的出版记录和目前的立场可以看出，我以前的培训努力是成功的。虽然提案中提出的研究来自广泛的概念理论，但它与加拿大和其他地方关注的问题的相关性并不抽象。自然群落不断面临外部压力，包括引进新物种以及气候和资源条件的变化。作为固着生物，植物必须与邻居打交道，这是它们整个生命的过程。了解社会互动如何影响植物对其他因素的反应，可以提高以保护为导向的模型的准确性。例如，面对轻微但可能不严重的干扰，行为调整可能是生态系统稳定的一种机制。此外，植物生物学和生态学是农作物和牲畜生产的基础。更深入地了解植物如何占据和利用它们的栖息地，包括信号和信号的整合，将对管理系统的生产力和可持续性产生影响。*****

The behavior of individuals influences the outcome of the interactions among species that can structure natural communities. For plants, species interactions are central to foundational theory in ecology and are drivers of issues of societal concern (e.g. invasive species, agricultural sustainability). The study of plant interactions has focused on deterministic outcomes of competition driven by shared limiting resources. However, plants engage in complex cue detection and fine-scale behavioural responses to neighbours which can be independent of resource-driven processes. Thus, the outcome of species interactions is determined by both resource and non-resource effects and responses of individual plants living together in space and time. The relative strengths of these processes will determine whether outcomes are negative, neutral, or positive at scales ranging from individual fitness to species coexistence. This ideas in this proposal build upon several recent discoveries, and continues to rely upon my experimental approach to understanding ecological processes.******Over the next five years, I will address four objectives: ******1. Determine how social context influences the relative importance of resource and non-resource cues for determining individual behaviour and performance. ***2. Identify the determinants and contingencies of root placement decisions by individual plants.***3. Determine how plant traits, behaviour, and local context interact to affect ecosystem functioning.***4. Advance understanding of additional topics in plant behavioural ecology.******Central to this research will be extensive training of HQP at the undergraduate, MSc & PhD, and PDF levels. The success of my program is dependent upon effective mentorship, helping encourage individuals as they develop as scientists. As evidenced from the publication record and current positions of my previous lab members, I have previously been successful in my training efforts. Though the research presented in the proposal is drawn from broad conceptual theory, its relevance to issues of concern in Canada and elsewhere is not abstract. Natural communities are constantly faced with external pressures, including the introduction of new species and changing climatic and resource conditions. As sessile organisms, plants must deal with their neighbours the entirety of their lives. Understanding how social interactions influence how plants respond to other factors could enhance the accuracy of conservation-oriented models. For example, behavioural adjustments may be a mechanism for ecosystem stability in the face of mild, but perhaps not major, perturbation. Furthermore, plant biology and ecology are the foundations of crop and cattle production. A deeper understanding of how plants occupy and use their habitat, including the integration of signals and cues, will have impacts on the productivity and sustainability of managed systems. *****