Welcome to Readings in Ecology, Biosciences course 563 of Rice University taught by

Evan Siemann

Jenn Rudgers

Meeting time: 2:00 to 3:00 pm

Meeting place: EEB conference room, Anderson Biology Lab 133

Prerequisites: Bios 325 or Bios 323

undergraduates have to get permission of instructors to take this course

This semester we will be reading and discussing papers focusing on the theme of invasive species and interspecific interactions.

****Please print papers to the office copier using the course code****

Schedule so far:

August 28^th - short introductory meeting

September 11^th

Focal paper:

Paul Kardol, T. Martijn Bezemer, Wim H. van der Putten 2006 Temporal variation in plant–soil feedback controls succession Ecology Letters

background papers:

Bever JD, Westover KM, Antonovics J. Incorporating the soil community into plant population dynamics: the utility of the feedback approach Journal of Ecology 85 (5): 561-573 OCT 1997

Van der Putten WH, Vandijk C, peters BAM Plant-specific soil-borne diseases contribute to succession in foredune vegetation Nature 362 (6415): 53-56 MAR 4 1993

Candidates for focal papers on Sept. 18^th

Reinhart KO, Callaway RM Soil biota and invasive plants New Phytologist 170 (3): 445-457 2006

Eppinga MB, Rietkerk M, Dekker SC, De Ruiter PC, Van der Putten WH

Accumulation of local pathogens: a new hypothesis to explain exotic plant invasions Oikos 114 (1): 168-176 JUL 2006

Jonathan M. Levine, Elizaveta Pachepsky, Bruce E. Kendall, Stephanie G. Yelenik, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers Plant–soil feedbacks and invasive spread Ecology Letters

Arthur R. Zangerl and May R. Berenbaum Increase in toxicity of an invasive weed after reassociation with its coevolved herbivore

PNAS 2005 102: 15529-15532

September 18^th

Focal paper:

Jonathan M. Levine, Elizaveta Pachepsky, Bruce E. Kendall, Stephanie G. Yelenik, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers Plant–soil feedbacks and invasive spread Ecology Letters

Candidates for focal papers on Sept. 11^th

Callaway RM, Maron JL

What have exotic plant invasions taught us over the past 20 years?

TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION 21 (7): 369-374 JUL 2006

Richards CL, Bossdorf O, Muth NZ, et al.

Jack of all trades, master of some? On the role of phenotypic plasticity in plant invasions

ECOLOGY LETTERS 9 (8): 981-993 AUG 2006

Dybdahl, MF; Kane, SL

Adaptation vs. phenotypic plasticity in the success of a clonal invader ECOLOGY, 86 (6): 1592-1601 JUN 2005

September 25^th

Focal paper:

Richards CL, Bossdorf O, Muth NZ, et al.

Jack of all trades, master of some? On the role of phenotypic plasticity in plant invasions

ECOLOGY LETTERS 9 (8): 981-993 AUG 2006

Candidates for focal papers on October 2nd

Mealor BA, Hild AL

Potential selection in native grass populations by exotic invasion

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY 15 (8): 2291-2300 JUL 2006

Phillips BL, Shine R

An invasive species induces rapid adaptive change in a native predator: cane toads and black snakes in Australia

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 273 (1593): 1545-1550 JUN 22 2006

Strauss SY, Lau JA, Carroll SP

Evolutionary responses of natives to introduced species : what do introductions tell us about natural communities?

ECOLOGY LETTERS 9 (3): 354-371 MAR 2006

October 2^nd

Focal paper:

Phillips BL, Shine R

An invasive species induces rapid adaptive change in a native predator: cane toads and black snakes in Australia

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 273 (1593): 1545-1550 JUN 22 2006

Background papers:

Ben L. Phillips and Richard Shine

Adapting to an invasive species: Toxic cane toads induce morphological change in Australian snakes PNAS 2004 101: 17150-17155

 Phillips BL, Brown GP, Webb JK, et al.

Invasion and the evolution of speed in toads

NATURE 439 (7078): 803-803 FEB 16 2006

Hat MY.

Rapid adaptation of a primate to lab conditions: morphological changes

NATURE 444 (7090): 101-101 SEP 28 2006

Candidates for focal papers on October 9^th

Grosholz, E. D. 2005. Recent biological invasion may hasten invasional meltdown by accelerating historical introductions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102:1088-1091.

Wonham, M. J., and E. Pachepsky. 2006. A null model of temporal trends in biological invasion records. Ecology Letters 9:663-672.

O'Dowd, D. J., P. T. Green, and P. S. Lake. 2003. Invasional 'meltdown' on an oceanic island. Ecology Letters 6:812-817.

Gurevitch, J. 2006. Commentary on Simberloff (2006): Meltdowns, snowballs and positive feedbacks. Ecology Letters 9:919-921.

Simberloff rejoinder.

Simberloff, D. 2006. Invasional meltdown 6 years later: important phenomenon, unfortunate metaphor, or both? Ecology Letters 9:912-919.

October 9^th

Focal paper:

O'Dowd, D. J., P. T. Green, and P. S. Lake. 2003. Invasional 'meltdown' on an oceanic island. Ecology Letters 6:812-817.

Background papers:

Abbott 2006

Candidates for focal papers on October 18^th WEDNESDAY

We’ll do Zangerl and Berenbaum

October 16^th

***NO CLASS (FALL BREAK) ***

October 18^th (WEDNESDAY MEETING)

Focal paper:

Arthur R. Zangerl and May R. Berenbaum Increase in toxicity of an invasive weed after reassociation with its coevolved herbivore

PNAS 2005 102: 15529-15532

Background papers:

Zangerl and Berenbaum2 (2003 Evolution -- applies a different method to assess whether coevolution is occurring in the parsnip system)

Hufbauer and Rodrick (review paper on biocontrol and microevolution)

Goolsby et al (a minor paper, but interesting to skim to give an applied angle)

Candidates for focal papers on October 23^rd

A set of papers on biocontrol:

Ding et al 2006 discusses analysis of possible biocontrol agents before their release to control water chestnut

Blossey 1995 evaluates all possible candidates to release and control Lythrum salicaria

Caesar 2003 talks about integrating insects and pathogens in biological control programs

Mcevoy 1999 has many models of which types of biocontrol measures work best

Thelen et al 2005 is a failure story that is pretty cool

Joshi et al 2004 is a success story on control of L. salicaria

October 23^rd

Focal paper:

Background papers:

Candidates for focal papers on October 30^th

November 6^th

Focal paper:

Background papers:

Candidates for focal papers on November 13^th

November 13^th

Focal paper:

Background papers:

Candidates for focal papers on November 20^th

November 20^th

Focal paper:

Background papers:

Candidates for focal papers on November 27^th

November 27^th

Focal paper:

Background papers:

Candidates for focal papers on December 4^th

December 4^th

Focal paper:

Background papers: