Do Pathogens and Herbivores Regulate Plant Populations in Their Native and Introduced Ranges? A Test of the Enemy Release Hypothesis

病原体和食草动物是否调节其原生和引入范围内的植物种群？

• 批准号: 0515777
• 负责人: Barbara Roy
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Oregon Eugene
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-01 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0515777&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Do; Pathogens; Herbivores; Regulate; Plant

Invasive plants (aggressive, non-native weeds) cause several billion dollars per year in losses to agriculture and rangelands in the United States alone. Invasions also threaten the conservation of many native species and are a threat to biodiversity. This project will test one of the major hypotheses for why some plants are invasive: The enemy release hypothesis (ERH). The ERH states that when a plant is introduced to a new habitat, it grows better than native plants do because its enemies (herbivores and pathogens) are not present in the new habitat. A key untested assumption of the ERH is that herbivores and pathogens decrease population size in the native range but not in the invasive range. Enemy removal experiments and field surveys will be used to test whether enemies actually regulate plant populations for six grass species where they are native (Switzerland) and where they are invasive (Oregon). This project will provide financial support for students and will be integrated into two courses taught by the PI. Public outreach will be furthered through the training of volunteers and through public lectures. Work on invasive species is of great interest to federal agencies and conservation groups. We have been working with staff from the following: Finley National Wildlife Refuge, the Nature Conservancy, Lane County Parks, Army Corps of Engineers, BLM and the West Eugene Wetland Partners. Results will be disseminated to these agencies as well as in peer reviewed publications.

仅在美国，入侵植物（侵略性的非本地杂草）每年就给农业和牧场造成数十亿美元的损失。 入侵还威胁到许多本土物种的保护，并对生物多样性构成威胁。 该项目将测试一些植物为何具有入侵性的主要假设之一：敌害释放假说（ERH）。 ERH 指出，当植物被引入新的栖息地时，它会比本地植物生长得更好，因为它的天敌（食草动物和病原体）不存在于新的栖息地中。 ERH 的一个未经检验的关键假设是，食草动物和病原体会减少本地范围内的种群规模，但不会减少入侵范围内的种群规模。 敌害清除实验和实地调查将用于测试敌害是否真正调节了六种草类的植物种群，这些草种的原生地（瑞士）和入侵地（俄勒冈州）。 该项目将为学生提供经济支持，并将整合到 PI 教授的两门课程中。 将通过志愿者培训和公开讲座进一步加强公共宣传。 联邦机构和保护组织对入侵物种的研究非常感兴趣。我们一直在与以下机构的工作人员合作：芬利国家野生动物保护区、大自然保护协会、莱恩县公园、陆军工程兵团、土地管理局和西尤金湿地合作伙伴。 结果将分发给这些机构以及同行评审的出版物。