Resolution of evolutionary mismatches: the ecological and evolutionary processes of invasive species integration into native communities

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The introduction of exotic species to native communities has caused considerable ecological and economic damage to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. Research suggests this damage occurs in part due to a mismatch of evolutionary histories between the native and exotic species: native species are constrained by a complex web of interactions between species that has developed over millennia, but because exotic species evolved in a different part of the world, they are not involved in these co-evolved webs in their new range. However, evidence shows that both exotic and native species can evolve rapidly after the new species has been introduced. This project seeks to understand how rapid evolutionary changes in garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), one of the most aggressive invaders of eastern North America, and in native plants will affect their "evolutionary mismatch" over time. If, as predicted, rapid evolution acts to enmesh garlic mustard into the web of interactions with the native species, this may act to constrain the spread and impact of this devastating invader. The broader impacts of this research include management applications, training of undergraduate students, and educational outreach to high school classrooms. Land managers will benefit from understanding how the impact of an invasive species changes over time. The PI and collaborators will develop a citizen scientist network involving high school classrooms in which students conduct experiments on their local population of garlic mustard. The combined data will provide valuable information for the scientific goals of this project, while also providing students with hands-on experience in the scientific process.