Download Master spécialité Ecologie, Biodiversité et Evolution (EBE)

Master spécialité Ecologie, Biodiversité et Evolution (EBE)
Proposition de stage de M2
Année 2005-2006
Title of training :
Site factors associated with invasions by exotic plants
Laboratory:
Name of laboratory:
Name of term :
Plant Ecology Laboratory
Spring, 2006
The training’s Director :
Name :
Phone :
Fax :
Email :
Prof. Donald M. Waller
(608) 263-2042
(608) 262-9578
[email protected]
Bibliography on the subject:
Augustine, D.J. and L.E. Frelich, Effects of white-tailed deer on populations of an understory forb
in fragmented deciduous forests. Conserv. Biol., 1998. 12: p. 995-1004.
Brothers, T.S. and A. Spingarn, Forest fragmentation and alien plant invasion of central Indiana
old-growth forests. Cons. Biol., 1992. 6: p. 91-100.
Callaway, R.M. and E.T. Aschehoug, Invasive plants versus their new and old neighbors: A
mechanism for exotic invasion. Science, 2000. 290: p. 521-523.
Callaway, R.M. and W.M. Ridenour, Novel weapons: invasive success and the evolution of
increased competitive ability. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment., 2004. 2: p. 436443.
Côté, S.D., et al., Ecological impacts of deer overabundance. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Evol. System.,
2004. 35: p. 113-147.
Davis, M., J.P. Grime, and K. Thompson, Fluctuating resources in plant communities: a general
theory of invasibility. Journal of Ecology, 2000. 88: p. 528-534.
Diamond, J.M., Laboratory, field, and natural experiments. Nature, 1983. 304: p. 586-587.
Hale, C.M., L.E. Frelich, and P.B. Reich, Exotic European earthworm invasion dynamics in
northern hardwood forests of Minnesota, USA. Ecological Applications, 2005. 15: p. 848860.
Halpern, C.B. and T.A. Spies, Plant species diversity in natural and managed forests of the
Pacific Northwest. Ecological Applications, 1995. 5: p. 913-934.
Hendrix, P.F. and P.J. Bohlen, Exotic earthworm invasions in North America: ecological and
policy implications. BioScience, 2002. 52: p. 801-811.
Kourtev, P.S., W.Z. Huang, and J.G. Ehrenfeld, Differences in earthworm densities and nitrogen
dynamics in soils under exotic and native plant species. Biological Invasions, 1999. 1: p.
237-245.
Miller, S.G., S.P. Bratton, and J. Hadidian, Impacts of white-tailed deer on endangered plants.
Nat. Areas Journal, 1992. 12: p. 67-74.
Myers, J.A., et al., Seed dispersal by white-tailed deer: implications for long-distance dispersal,
invasion, and migration of plants in eastern North America. . . Oecologia, 2004. 139: p.
35-44.
Roberts, K.J. and R.C. Anderson, Effect of garlic mustard [Alliaria petiolata (Beib. Cavara and
Grande)] extracts on plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Amer. Midl. Natur.,
2001. 146: p. 146-152.
Rooney, T.P., et al., Biotic impoverishment and homogenization in unfragmented forest
understory communities. Conservation Biology, 2004. 18: p. 787-798.
Wiegmann, S.M. and D.M. Waller, Biotic homogenization in forest understories: identity and
traits of historical “winners” and “losers”. Biological Conservation 2005. In press.
Woods, K.D., Effects of invasion by Lonicera tatarica L on herbs and tree seedlings in four NewEngland forests. American Midland Naturalist, 1993. 130(1): p. 62-74.
Description of training:
Exotic weedy plants and Eurasian earthworms are invading many forests and natural areas in
North America. These organisms are having serious impacts, reducing native plant cover and
diversity and perhaps changing soil conditions and interactions with mycorrhizae. It is thus of
considerable interest to know which sites are most at risk of these invasions and what effects
various levels of invasion have on the native plant community. We are fortunate to have
extraordinary historical data in Wisconsin that document the distribution and abundance of
hundreds of native plant species across more than a hundred forested sites from 50 years ago.
We are using these data to document long-term shifts in plant abundance and community
composition and to explore the mechanisms driving these changes.
Ms. Seguin will begin the semester by working with a team of graduate students and a postdoc on these historical data to evaluate patterns of exotic species invasion and community
change in response to these invasions. This work will build on existing analyses of which
plant species are increasing or decreasing in abundance, which sites are gaining and losing
species, and what local site conditions and surrounding landscape conditions are associated
with these gains and losses. In particular, Ms. Seguin will focus on how a site’s soil
chemistry, litter conditions, and disturbance and management history are related to exotic
plant invasions. She will also follow up on our discovery that surrounding road and housing
density appear to increase exotic plant invasions and native plant species losses. This work
will involve testing the hypothesis that more diverse sites are less invasible and will explore
whether invasions of multiple exotic species tend to occur in a predictable sequence. Ms.
Seguin will learn to apply several methods of analysis including multiple regression, path
analysis, and multivariate ordination.
As the Spring progresses, Ms. Seguin will also initiate field studies in the landscapes of S
Wisconsin. These will include one or more of the following:
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Re-surveys of selected field sites to assess litter conditions, disturbance history, and
exotic earthworm abundance.
Collections and germination analyses of deer scat to determine the prevalence and
species composition of dispersing weedy species.
The erection and initial monitoring of new exclosures designed to assess the separate
and combined effects of deer herbivory and weedy plant abundance on native plants
Weeding experiments to assess competitive effects and the recovery potential of native
plant species.
We also anticipate that Ms. Seguin will have the opportunity to join an ecology field
excursion to the Great Smoky Mountains in April with Prof. Givnish. This area is a center of
diversity and endemism for the herbaceous flora of eastern North America.
We will expect Ms. Seguin to write up the results associated with her research projects with
the expectation that these will become part of at least one published paper.
Does this training offer a PHD thesis ?
NO