1. Invasion, Biodiversity, and Conservation: What Are They and How Are They Connected? Laura Hancock, M.S. student University of Massachusetts Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Program Picture: http://www.jzenvironmental.biz/invasive-species.php

2. Overview 1.Invasion 2.Stinson Lab Research 3.Biodiversity 4.Conservation 5.Connecting these ideas 6.How you can get involved Photo: Peter Muka

3. Invasion: What is it? Native species live in an area where they are found naturally Species that have been moved by human activities to a location where they don’t naturally occur are exotic species When an exotic species negatively alters the native communities or causes economic problems it is invasive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-ftiWffNTc Not all exotic species are invasive! http://gilbertlake.org/2014/09-25-14-invasive-species.htm

4. Invasion: What About Plants? Animal invasions make it into the news a lot, but plants matter too! Its really easy to (accidentally) transport them Plants “self fertilize” http://ourstoriesandperspectives.com/2012/04/02/new-boot-brush-stations-curb-hitchhiking-seeds/

5. Invasion Hypotheses Biotic Resistance Hypothesis Propagule pressure Enemy release Novel weapons Polyploidy And many others http://www.slideshare.net/LaurentLamarque/ecology-and-evolution-of-maple-tree-invasion

6. Biotic Resistance Hypothesis Ecosystems with high biodiversity are more resistant to invasive species than ecosystems with low biodiversity Low biodiversity = more invasible? http://www.slideshare.net/MaraLuarte/low-and-high-biodiversity http://philschatz.com/biology-concepts-book/contents/m45571.html

7. Propagule Pressure Hypothesis Propagule = seed Number of seeds released * number of releasing events Lots of seeds * lots of events = high propagule pressure Photo: Peter Muka

8. Enemy Release Hypothesis http://bigsciencelittlesummaries.com/can-invaders-become-darwinian-demons/

9. Novel Weapons Hypothesis Novel = new Weapon = defense/ increases competitive ability http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/todays-high-tech-archery-isnt-much-like-the-hunger- games-version/255041/

10. Polyploidy Polyploid = more than two chromosomes More chromosomes = more variation = can better adapt to new places https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyploid

11. Is it Invasive?! http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/knotweed_child.shtml http://www.ecocontrol.co.uk/gallery.asp http://northforkwatershed.tripod.com/id6.html

12. Is it Invasive?! YES! Fallopia japonica; Japanese knotweed http://www.newsweek.com/2014/07/11/japanese-knotweed-driving-men-murder-257257.html

13. Is it Invasive!? http://woodyplants.wikidot.com/rhamnus-frangula

14. Is it Invasive!? YES! Rhamnus frangula; glossy buckthorn http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=FRAL4

15. Guess the Invasive!? https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/species/celastrus/scandens/ https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/oriental-bittersweet

16. Guess the Invasive!? Celastrus orbiculatus; Oriental bittersweet https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/species/celastrus/scandens/ https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/oriental-bittersweet

17. Is it Invasive!? http://en.cvetq.info/news.php?extend.71.15

18. Is it Invasive!? YES! Rosa multiflora; multiflora rose https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/tree-shrub/multiflora-rose

19. Is it Invasive?! http://homelandscape.net/norway-maple/

20. Is it Invasive?! YES! Acer platanoides; Norway Maple http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/acpl.htm http://homelandscape.net/norway-maple/

21. The Stinson Research Lab The main goals in our lab: 1.Identify range expansion mechanisms and changes in a population of garlic musatrd over time -> Me 2.Characterize the disruption of plant-mycorrhizal symbioses by garlic mustard -> Julia + Collaborators 3.Quantify the effects of global change on garlic mustard and its ability to invade -> Me, Julia, Collaborators 4.Identify the best way to eradicate garlic mustard while quickly restoring the native ecosystems

22. Alliaria petiolata; garlic mustard Invasive herbacious plant in much of the US Introduced to the US in about 1860 Prefers “edge” habitats, however.. http://www.eddmaps.org/distribution/uscounty.cfm?sub=3005

23. More on Garlic Mustard Biennial plant -> two year growth Photo: Peter Muka First year rosettesSecond year adults http://eattheweeds.com/forum/index.php?topic=1231.0 https://extension.umass.edu/landscape/weeds/ alliaria-petiolata

24. Garlic Mustard and Mycorrhizal Fungi What is arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)?? Garlic mustard doesn’t associate with AMF Garlic mustard inhibits association between native plants and AMF! http://www.uws.edu.au/hie/research/research_projects/how_plants_benefit_from_par tnerships_with_soil_fungi

25. My research: What is it? I’m trying to figure out: 1.Are the edge and understory sub-populations similar in size? 2.Is garlic mustard able to successfully sustain itself in the forest understory over time? Or is there a source-sink dynamic? 3.Is there a selection for a different ‘type’ of garlic mustard plant? E.g. smaller, taller, more flowers, more glucosinolates?

26. My research: Methods Forest Edge = Sunny Forest Understory = Shady Forest Edge = Sunny Forest Understory = Shady Forest Edge = Sunny Forest Understory = Shady 3 site * 2 habitats each = 6 plots At each of the 6 plots the number of rosettes and adults were counted Sites were counted in 2003, 2004, 2015

27. Garlic Mustard: IRL Photo: Peter Muka

28. My research: Results

29. Another Piece to the Puzzle… What about Climate change? http://prn.fm/nature-bats-last-10-06-15/

30. Julia and the SWaN Plots All plots are at the Harvard Forest, an LTER site Soil Warming and Nitrogen Plots 1.Control (no change) 2.Warmed Soil 3.Extra Nitrogen 4.Warmed Soil + Extra Nitrogen http:// harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/blog/soil-alive%E2%80%A6%E2%80%A6with-microorganisms

31. Diversity! How do we measure it? Species Richness (= number of species in a community) But what about evenness? – It’s a measure of how close each species is in the community Two main indices: 1.Shannon Index  2.Simpson Index 

32. Richness and Evenness Richness = 5

33. Diversity & Invasion Some native species use invasive species as a food source or nesting sites, however.. Simply adding a species doesn’t mean more diversity Video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J- ftiWffNTchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J- ftiWffNTc

34. Connecting Invasion, Biodiversity, and Conservation What do we conserve? Conservation is already hard to do Think back to Invasion hypotheses and ecological interactions http://iccopywriting.com/conservation-is-key/

35. Get involved Go Botany; gobotany.newenglandwild.org TIPS Network; tipsenemies.com