Collaborative Research: Superinvaders: testing a general hypothesis of forest invasions by woody species across the Americas

合作研究：超级入侵者：测试美洲木本物种入侵森林的一般假设

• 批准号: 2331277
• 负责人: Patrick Martin
• 金额: $ 37.11万
• 依托单位: University of Denver
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-04-01 至 2028-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2331277&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Superinvaders; testing; general

Invasive plant species are a form of biological pollution that cost billions of dollars each year in lost crop and timber production, and they are one of the principal threats to native biodiversity. Effective management of invasive species requires that scientists understand how they compete successfully with native species. One of the least understood behaviors of invasive plants is that a single invasive species can dominate in many different types of environments. In particular, scientists have identified a group of ‘superinvaders’ that, counter to what is expected for native species, can grow very fast in sunlight but also tolerate heavy shade in the forest understory. Although there is good evidence that this behavior drives their increasing abundance in both temperate and tropical forests, scientists don’t understand how this occurs: why should invasive species play by different rules than native species in the same environment? One hypothesis is that invasive species have fewer pests than native species, and this advantage allows them to persist in stressful environments. In this project, ecologists will experimentally test this idea in many different types of forests to determine how this ‘superinvader’ behavior emerges. Moreover, by linking how plants simultaneously respond to pests and environmental stress, scientists will better understand how species coexist to foster native biodiversity. The project will train two US doctoral students, one postdoctoral scholar and numerous undergraduate students. The project will foster international collaboration, research partnerships and knowledge transfer across the Americas. This will benefit US scientists, doctoral student trainees and postdoctoral scholar. A new Research Experience for Undergraduates program at the University of South Carolina and a summer workshop in Puerto Rico will contribute to broadening participation by undergraduate students from groups under-represented in science and technology. The postdoctoral scholar will lead an effort to create a Forest Superinvader Network that will increase the scope of this project to the global level to facilitate international knowledge transfer and more effective forest and land management worldwide through better understanding of plant invasion mechanisms.The project involves two components. In the first, research teams will monitor the growth and survival of native and invasive tree saplings across lights gradients in 10 locations across the Americas, including temperate forests in Connecticut and South Carolina, tropical forests in Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Caribbean, and subtropical forests in southern Brazil. Using field measurements of metabolic activity of different tissues above- and belowground, researchers will test the hypothesis that lower energy costs in invaders, as a result of fewer pests, allows these invaders to circumvent functional tradeoffs typically associated with fast growth and shade tolerance. In a second component conducted in five locations, researchers will experimentally remove insects and fungal pathogens from native and invasive saplings to test whether shade tolerance is driven by pest loads. In both components, researchers will build and test integrative models of plant behavior that consider the energetic costs of seemingly disparate behaviors (e.g., resource capture versus defense) to further scientific understanding of critical linkages between plant functional ecology and population dynamics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

入侵植物物种是一种生物污染，每年造成农作物和木材生产损失数十亿美元，它们是对本地生物多样性的主要威胁之一，科学家需要了解它们如何成功地与本地生物竞争。入侵植物最不为人所知的行为是，单一入侵物种可以在许多不同类型的环境中占据主导地位，特别是，科学家们已经发现了一组“超级入侵者”，与本地物种的预期相反，它们可以在许多不同类型的环境中占据主导地位。在阳光下生长得很快，但也能耐受尽管有充分的证据表明这种行为导致它们在温带和热带森林中的数量不断增加，但科学家们不明白这是如何发生的：为什么在相同的环境中，入侵物种应该遵循与本地物种不同的规则。一个假设是，入侵物种比本地物种有更少的害虫，这一优势使它们能够在压力环境中生存。在这个项目中，生态学家将在许多不同类型的森林中实验测试这一想法，以确定这种“超级入侵者”行为是如何出现的。此外，通过链接通过了解植物如何同时应对害虫和环境压力，科学家将更好地了解物种如何共存以促进本地生物多样性。该项目将培训两名美国博士生、一名博士后学者和众多本科生。该项目将促进国际合作、研究伙伴关系和知识。这将使美国科学家、博士生学员和博士后学者受益，南卡罗来纳大学的新本科生研究体验项目和波多黎各的夏季研讨会将有助于扩大来自以下群体的本科生的参与。代表科学和博士后学者将领导创建一个森林超级入侵者网络，将该项目的范围扩大到全球水平，通过更好地了解植物入侵机制，促进国际知识转移和更有效的全球森林和土地管理。首先，研究团队将监测美洲 10 个地点的本地和入侵树苗在不同光照梯度下的生长和存活情况，其中包括康涅狄格州和南卡罗来纳州的温带森林，墨西哥、哥斯达黎加和墨西哥的热带森林。加勒比海，通过对地上和地下不同组织的代谢活动进行现场测量，研究人员将检验这样一种假设：由于害虫减少，入侵者的能量成本降低，使得这些入侵者能够规避通常与功能权衡相关的功能。在五个地点进行的第二个部分中，研究人员将通过实验去除本地和入侵树苗中的昆虫和真菌病原体，以测试耐荫性是否是由害虫负荷驱动的。植物行为的综合模型，考虑看似不同的行为（例如，资源捕获与防御）的能量成本，以进一步科学理解植物功能生态学和种群动态之间的关键联系。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得支持通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。