E&E Seminars:
Tiffany Betras, Carson Lab
Can a brief but intense window of exotic plant invasions during primary succession redirect successional trajectories for decades?
Primary succession occurs repeatedly whenever new landforms are created by flood events in riparian zones. Historically, these new landforms (cobble bars) are colonized by native woody and herbaceous species culminating in a stable mature forest with fairly predictable tree species composition. In the last few decades, these new landforms have been colonized by several aggressive exotic plant species that are likely inimical to native species. These invasive species (bush honeysuckle and Japanese Knotweed) may delay succession for decades or arrest succession entirely. Here, I outline a suite of hypotheses that explore the degree to which native species are reduced in abundance by invasive species and explore the underlying mechanisms responsible. I will use both field and mesocosm experiments to test these hypotheses.
University of Pittsburgh, Dept. of Biological Sciences
A219B Langley Hall
12-1 PM