Abstract
The uncontrolled spread of invasive species has always been my concern since I was child. I saw that Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth) dominated the surface of the water area in my hometown in the eastern China. People at that time tried so hard to get rid of it in order to spare more oxygen to the aquatic animals, but kept failing, so the water turned green and had a disgusting odor. Questions showered out of my mind what could be done to stop the invader from ruining my hometown. Those questions and furies rooted in my mind, motivating me to study the mechanism of species invasion. Besides being a problem for my hometown, invasive plants are a world-wide problem, which is why I have decided to study them. Therefore, in my thesis work, I have applied mathematical modelling, to be specific, spatially explicit individual-based modeling, to answer real ecology problems particular in invasive species.
The main objective of this thesis research is to contribute to addressing such questions as following: Does mean seedling dispersal distance affect the time Melaleuca takes to replace the native ecosystems? What is the strength and timing needed for biocontrol efforts to be successful at stopping Melaleuca invasion at a particular site? Can predictions be made from early dynamics of invasion of Melaleuca, under various biocontrol applications of whether Melaleuca’s invasion will be successful, or whether it can be controlled?