US-Denmark-Czech Republic-China planning visit to develop an integrative approach to understanding range expansions and biological invasions under global change regimes

University Of Rhode Island, Kingston RI

Investigators

Abstract

US-China planning visit to develop an integrative approach to understanding range expansion and invasiveness of plants under global change regimes. Global climate change is predicted to have profound effects on species range expansions within continents and species invasions across continents. At present, few studies have examined the effects of global environmental change (GEC) on the interactions between invasive plant species and the native plants, animals and other organisms in the invaded community. Moreover, no studies have attempted to integrate disparate scientific fields such as genetics, physiology, geography and ecology, to determine the mechanisms underlying the effects of GEC on native-invasive species interactions. Such an integrated approach can lead to a greater ability to predict novel plant-herbivore interactions (e.g., acquiring new herbivores during range expansion of a plant) which may be one of the more serious consequences of global climate change. The proposed projects involves a partnership between Co-Investigators Cronin and Meyerson and Hans Brix (Aarhus University, Denmark), Petr Pysek (The Institute of Botany, Czech Republic), and Renqing Wang (Shandong University, China; SDU) to strengthen a network of global scientists working to predict and address the effects of GEC on plant genetics, physiology and interactions with native plants and herbivores. Collaborations already exist between US and European partners, but inclusion of Professor Wang into this collaboration is essential and would represent a new partnership. The project will focus on a global network of experimental gardens (one at each of the five partner institutions) containing specimens of the plant species Phragmites australis collected from all over the world. P. australis is a model study system because it has a global distribution, high genetic diversity, wide latitudinal range (+/-60o), ready availability of both modern and historical samples, and is invasive on some continents. The complementary resources and skills (botany, ecophysiology, statistical modeling, ecology and genetics) and international experience of the proposal partners and supporting organizations will allow researchers to investigate the spatial, temporal and genetic patterns in the distribution of P. australis resulting from past, present, and future GEC. Overall, the collaboration will increase the scale, scope, and capacity of research of all partners and offer opportunities for interdisciplinary research efforts with fields such as economics, policy, and sociology. To establish a new partnership with Professor Wang and SDU, Cronin and Meyerson, along with one student from each lab, will travel to SDU to meet Prof. Wang and his research group. The objectives and associated activities from this visit are four fold. (1) Initiate the establishment of a complementary common garden at SDU. (2) With the assistance of Prof. Wang, collect proof-of-concept data on P. australis physiology, genetics, herbivory, defenses against herbivores, and plant growth. (3) Train and transfer knowledge amongst partners and their students through field demonstrations and web-based seminars. And (4) Foster long-term sustainable collaborative research amongst partner institutions. This project will provide international travel, mentorship and training for two graduate students. Students will have access not only to world renowned scientists in their field, but also to five common gardens and associated laboratory facilities to enable them to conduct cutting-edge international research on important societal and ecological problems. Outreach will include a general-public webinar series on invasion biology and global change ecology.