Achievement

Trainee Clare Aslan combined methods from plant ecology, animal behavior, and social sciences to study the impact of bird foraging on dispersal of seeds from non-native trees in California. Although hundreds of nonnative plant species have naturalized in the U.S., only a small percentage of these have been studied in their new biotic communities. Their interactions with native and introduced bird species remain largely unexplored. Aslan surveyed 173 ornithologists from four U.S. states, asking them to report observations of bird interactions with nonnative plants. Aslan used respondents' descriptions of feeding and habitat use to guide further research, which included studies of feeding preference, tree dispersal, and plant-bird interactions in naturalized populations of non-native trees.

Aslan, C. & M. Rejmanek 2010. Ecological Applications 20(4):

Bower, MJ, C. Aslan, & M. Rejmanek. 2009. Inv. Plant Sci & Mgt. 3:386-395.