COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Testing a conceptually-driven framework to predict variability in the ecosystem consequences of plant invasion across heterogeneous landscapes

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

Invasive species have highly variable impacts on natural services, such as carbon storage and nutrient retention, that make them very difficult problems for land managers to address. This project examines the impacts of one of the most widespread invasive plant species in the eastern United States, Japanese stiltgrass, on how forests use carbon and nitrogen, and will develop a more general framework with which to explain how and why impacts of invasives differ so much among different forests. The research will be conducted at three locations in Indiana, North Carolina and Georgia so that soil and climate effects can be separated, and a combination of observational measurements, controlled experiments in labs and greenhouses, and experiments in the field will be used. This research addresses important questions about how individual plants, especially invasive species, affect how forests use and cycle carbon and nitrogen. The investigators will also develop a general framework for predicting the impacts of invasives more broadly that will enable predictions of when and where biological invasions will have the greatest effects. As part of this project, the scientists will work with high schools to conduct training programs for teachers in Indiana and Florida that will include the development of new curricula and activities. The project will also train several undergraduate students each summer of the project, will provide an opportunity for a new PhD and Masters students, and will train a post-doctoral associate as well. The results of the project will be made available to land managers, other scientists, and to the general public through a web site, public presentations, and publications. Stiltgrass is one of the most common invasive plants in the forests of eastern North America, so that helping land managers to more efficiently target its removal and restoration efforts will have lasting benefits for conservation and forest restoration projects in the future.