COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH - Nonnative Plant Impacts on Larval Amphibian Performance and Community Dynamics

合作研究 - 非本地植物对幼虫两栖动物性能和群落动态的影响

• 批准号: 0614392
• 负责人: John Maerz
• 金额: $ 9.42万
• 依托单位: University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-15 至 2008-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0614392&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Nonnative; Plant; Impacts

Plant detritus is the base of most food webs, but the effects of plant community change on food web dynamics have largely been ignored. As a result, it remains difficult to predict the effects of exotic plant invasions on native communities. A comparison of native and non-native plant species to determine whether non-native plant invasions have a general effect on food webs would facilitate predictions about the community level effects of plant invasions. Although most researchers assume that non-native plants are not sufficiently different from native plants to drive large changes within ecosystems, this assumption conflicts with recent empirical evidence documenting that even fine-scale genotypic or environmentally induced chemistry differences within plant species can have large extended effects on ecosystem processes. In this project, the investigators propose to determine nutritional quality of native versus non-native plant species to test directly the hypothesis that non-native plants produce lower quality detritus. By doing so, the study seeks clear evidence that impacts of non-native plant invasions are distinct from the levels of change that might occur as a consequence of shifts among native plant species. By attempting to reduce plant effects to aspects of plant detritus chemistry, the results of this project will facilitate predictions about the effects of other invasive plant species. This research will form the first step in testing the prediction that native plants, which decompose more rapidly and produce higher quality detritus, support greater algal productivity, zooplankton biomass, and amphibian abundance and biomass. To carry out this research, the investigators will work closely with federal and state agencies that seek to manage threats to native ecosystems. This project explicitly supports postdoctoral training and graduate and undergraduate thesis research (6-10 undergraduate research theses will result from the proposed research). Because the lead PI is a first year, junior faculty member, this project will contribute significantly to developing his program at the University of Georgia. Finally, this project creates a partnership between two reputable natural resources programs, providing opportunities for students to interact with faculty from other relevant institutions.

植物碎屑是大多数食物网的基础，但是植物社区变化对食物网络动态的影响在很大程度上被忽略了。结果，很难预测外来植物入侵对本地社区的影响。比较天然和非本地植物物种，以确定非本地植物入侵是否对食物网有一般影响，将有助于预测植物入侵的社区水平影响。尽管大多数研究人员认为，非本地植物与本地植物没有足够的不同，以驱动生态系统内的巨大变化，但这种假设与最近的经验证据相抵触，即即使是细规范的基因型或植物物种内的化学差异，也可能对生态系统过程产生巨大的扩展影响。在该项目中，研究人员建议确定天然植物物种的营养质量，以直接检验非本地植物产生较低质量碎屑的假设。通过这样做，该研究寻求明确的证据，表明非本地植物入侵的影响与本地植物物种之间转移可能发生的变化水平不同。通过尝试将植物作用降低到植物化学的各个方面，该项目的结果将有助于预测其他侵入性植物物种的影响。这项研究将构成测试迅速分解并产生更高质量碎屑，支持更高藻类生产力，浮游生物生物量以及两栖动物丰度和生物量的本地植物的预测的第一步。为了进行这项研究，调查人员将与寻求管理对本地生态系统威胁的联邦和州机构紧密合作。该项目明确支持博士后培训和研究生和本科论文研究（6-10本大学研究将源于拟议的研究）。由于PI是初级教职员工的第一年，因此该项目将为在佐治亚大学制定计划做出重大贡献。最后，该项目在两个知名的自然资源计划之间建立了合作伙伴关系，为学生提供了与其他相关机构的教师互动的机会。