ABSTRACT

Invasive species significantly damage agriculture, forestry, and natural ecosystem services globally and in the United States. Increasingly, it is recognized that many biological invasions are actually "co-invasions," in which two or more invasive species always invade together because they depend on each other for their success. One widespread example is that of trees (such as pines and eucalypts) and their symbiotic root fungi, which often escape from areas where they were purposely planted and invade into native habitats and other sensitive areas, where they cause economic and ecological damage. Effectively addressing this and related problems in invasion biology requires a geographic, international perspective, which will be fundamental in the two proposed Advanced Studies Institutes (ASIs, i.e., graduate courses taught abroad). We will conduct a complementary pair of ASIs, one each in Australia and South Africa, each training 10 American PhD students for 21 days. Recruitment for these courses will insure that the trained students represent a diverse cross-section of American society, enhancing representation of traditionally under-represented groups in the field of invasion biology. The courses will teach fundamental concepts of invasion and co-invasion biology, and will involve the students in international collaborative research addressing fundamental questions on biological invasions. Students will learn cutting-edge field, laboratory, and analytical skills needed for addressing these problems, and will also gain international networking and professional development opportunities that will prepare them to be leaders in this field. Post-travel activities will guide each PhD student to learn about important invasive species issues in their local communities in the United States, and to pass along these lessons to approximately 400 American high school students.

Invasive species are an important threat to biodiversity and ecosystem services worldwide, including in the United States. They have the potential to reduce biodiversity, disrupt important co-evolved mutualisms and species coexistence, alter ecosystem processes, and produce new ecosystem states that are resistant to ecological restoration. It is thus critical to understand the eco-evolutionary dynamics of invasions, their consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem functions, and how their dynamics and restoration are influenced by global change and extreme climatic events. An important emerging sub-field within invasion biology is the study of co-invasions, in which the success and impact of an invader depends on co-invasion with other species, such as the widespread introduction of pines and their symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi throughout the Southern Hemisphere, and the parallel introductions of Eucalyptus and their ectomycorrhizal fungi in the Northern Hemisphere. Effectively addressing questions on biological invasions and co-invasions requires a geographic, international perspective, which will be fundamental in the two Advanced Studies Institutes (ASIs) proposed here. We propose two complementary ASIs, each training 10 American PhD students over the course of 21 days: ASI #1, Invasions and Ecosystems, will be hosted at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, NWS, Australia, and will focus on the ecosystem functional consequences of plant & fungal invasions, and how dynamics and management of invasions are affected by extreme climatic events. ASI #2, Invasions and Evolution, will be hosted at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, Pretoria, South Africa, and will focus on the evolutionary, phylogenetic, and genomic mechanisms and consequences of plant & fungal invasions. Each ASI will a) teach graduate students fundamental concepts of invasion biology; b) involve the students in international collaborative research addressing fundamental questions on biological invasions; c) teach the students cutting-edge field, laboratory, and analytical skills needed for addressing those questions; and d) provide students with international professional development opportunities that will prepare them to be leaders in this field. The proposed program will increase participation and leadership in invasion biology by groups traditionally under-represented this field, through recruitment partnerships with established programs at the University of Mississippi, as well as with graduate programs at two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Mississippi. Post-travel outreach by the graduate student trainees in local high schools will bring home the lessons of invasion biology, applying them to examples in the United States and impacting approximately 400 high school students. This outreach experience will also give our ASI graduates valuable experience synthesizing their knowledge and teaching it to a broader audience. The project will also enhance American research infrastructure by building new international partnerships with scientists in two countries (and with Lecturers from six others); these connections will benefit the participating students throughout their careers through potential international research collaborations.

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.

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