Keywords
PRICLE, invasive species, ecology, Nitrogen deposition, climate change, variable precipitation
Presentation Type
Event
Research Abstract
Current climate and human-induced changes are projected to alter many regimes of ecosystem functioning. It is projected that invasive species, nonnative species that can be of great detriment to an ecosystem, will benefit under these conditions. The Prairie Invasion and Climate Experiment (PRICLE) studies the effects of two global change factors – N addition and altered precipitation – on invasive species success and the traits that are selected for in a mixed-grass prairie ecosystem. PRICLE is a two by two factorial design over three replications in a restored mixed-grass prairie ecosystem. The major findings from the community traits examination of PRICLE are that the plants with a low %N and low LMA were selected for under N fertilization and more variable precipitation. It is expected that these results can aid in understanding the impacts of human-induced global change. Understanding other plant functional traits and their significance for invasive species success is hoped to be studied in the future.
Recommended Citation
Raj Lal, Jeffrey Dukes, Michael J. Schuster, and Nick G. Smith,
"Global Change Factors on Ecosystem Invasibility"
().
The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium.
Paper 145.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/surf/2013/presentations/145
Global Change Factors on Ecosystem Invasibility
Current climate and human-induced changes are projected to alter many regimes of ecosystem functioning. It is projected that invasive species, nonnative species that can be of great detriment to an ecosystem, will benefit under these conditions. The Prairie Invasion and Climate Experiment (PRICLE) studies the effects of two global change factors – N addition and altered precipitation – on invasive species success and the traits that are selected for in a mixed-grass prairie ecosystem. PRICLE is a two by two factorial design over three replications in a restored mixed-grass prairie ecosystem. The major findings from the community traits examination of PRICLE are that the plants with a low %N and low LMA were selected for under N fertilization and more variable precipitation. It is expected that these results can aid in understanding the impacts of human-induced global change. Understanding other plant functional traits and their significance for invasive species success is hoped to be studied in the future.