NSFDEB-NERC: Diversity, Disturbance and Invasion: Using experimental microcosms to illuminate ecological theory

NSFDEB-NERC：多样性、干扰和入侵：利用实验微观世界阐明生态理论

• 批准号: 1556444
• 负责人: Katriona Shea
• 金额: $ 50.3万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-06-01 至 2021-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1556444&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSFDEB; NERC; Diversity; Disturbance; Invasion

Invasions by exotic species threaten agriculture, human health, the conservation of native species, and the maintenance of biological diversity. These threats have economic and environmental impacts both within the United States and globally. Attempts to understand the causes of successful invasions are frustrated by the large number of factors that can affect invasion success. This project will combine laboratory experiments and theoretical research to examine how biological diversity and environmental disturbance interact to affect invasion. Deeper insights into these processes will advance applied research as human modifications of the environment increase. The research extends a productive international collaboration and will train early-career US researchers in experimentation, mathematics, and theory. Freshman undergraduate students will be offered a research track that begins with a general course in research methods and is followed by additional seminars and independent research projects. Middle school students from underserved groups will participate in a Higher Achievement Program at Pennsylvania State University; this is a non-profit, academic support program that prepares students to complete high school and be college-ready. Because biodiversity and disturbance frequently interact, their net effects on invasion and invasion resistance are difficult to predict and interpret. Rapid evolution further complicates these interactions and their effects on invasion success. This project will combine experimental manipulations with mathematical models in an iterative approach to study the effect of independent, and combined, manipulation of disturbance and diversity on invasion success; and the role of adaptation to disturbance regimes in mediating invasion resistance. The researchers will independently manipulate disturbance frequency and intensity, and bacterial diversity, in a factorial design to assess the role that these factors (and their interactions) play in invasion resistance. They will also assess the hypothesized importance of adaptation to disturbance regimes by assessing invasion success following changes to previously established regimes. Laboratory microbial experiments will generate rapid results, allow iterative model improvement, and provide ideal opportunities to test rapid evolution. This combination surpasses research that could be accomplished with natural communities and promises to develop general ecological theory relevant to diverse, natural communities. The research will extend a nascent international collaboration by engaging two researchers with complementary expertise, one in modeling and the second in experimentation.

外来物种的入侵威胁着农业，人类健康，本地物种的保护以及生物多样性的维持。 这些威胁在美国和全球范围内都具有经济和环境的影响。试图了解成功入侵的原因的尝试对可能影响入侵成功的大量因素感到沮丧。 该项目将结合实验室实验和理论研究，以研究生物多样性和环境干扰如何相互作用以影响入侵。随着人类对环境的修改的增加，对这些过程的更深入的见解将推动应用研究。该研究扩展了一项富有成效的国际合作，并将培训早期职业的美国研究人员实验，数学和理论。新生的本科生将获得一条研究轨道，该研究轨道从研究方法的一般课程开始，然后是其他研讨会和独立的研究项目。来自服务不足的小组的中学生将参加宾夕法尼亚州立大学的更高成就计划；这是一项非营利的学术支持计划，使学生准备完成高中并准备上大学。由于生物多样性和干扰经常相互作用，因此很难预测和解释它们对侵袭和耐药性的净影响。快速进化使这些相互作用及其对入侵成功的影响变得复杂。该项目将在迭代方法中将实验操作与数学模型相结合，以研究独立和结合操纵干扰和多样性对入侵成功的影响；以及适应干扰方案在介导侵袭性中的作用。研究人员将独立操纵​​干扰频率和强度以及细菌多样性，以评估这些因素（及其相互作用）在入侵耐药性中起的作用。他们还将通过评估对先前确定的制度的变更后的入侵成功来评估适应对干扰制度的重要性。实验室微生物实验将产生快速的结果，允许迭代模型改进，并为快速进化提供理想的机会。这种结合超过了可以在自然界完成的研究，并有望发展与多样化自然社区有关的一般生态理论。这项研究将通过与两位具有互补专业知识的研究人员吸引新生的国际合作，其中一项是建模，第二个是实验。