Dick Mack

Richard N. Mack (Ph.D, Washington State University, 1971) is a Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University. For approximately the last 30 years his research has been largely devoted to the ecology of invasive species. Much of his research has dealt with the aggressive invader, Bromus tectorum (Cheatgrass or downy brome) in the Intermountain West (USA). He has also investigated plant invasions in Hawaii, the southeastern U.S. and China. He is particularly interested in the population biology (including the immigration, demography, competition, and ecological genetics) of plant invaders as well as their environmental effects. He has framed much of his research with the goal of both addressing fundamental and applied aspects of combating invasive species. He served as Chair of the Department of Botany at Washington State University, 1986-1999. He served as Chair from 1999-2001 for the National Research Council's Committee for "Predicting the Invasive Potential of Non-indigenous Plants and Plant Pests in the United States." He has served on the editorial boards of Ecology & Ecological Monographs, Oecologia, Ecological Applications and Biological Invasions. Until recently he served on the SCOPE (Scientific Committee for Problems in the Environment) Executive Committee, and a member of the Board for the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP). He is currently a member of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) specialist group on invasive species.

Plenary Presentation - PREDICTING BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS UNDER GLOBAL CLIMATIC CHANGE: COMPLEXITY²

Predicting the identity of future plant invaders, to say nothing of predicting their rate of range expansion and the habitats they will eventually occupy, presents well-known challenges. Global atmospheric change with its repercussions for global climates complicates these challenges much further, as it could create a veritable moving target of possible ranges. Most reliable at this point are predictions of range expansions to higher latitudes as air temperatures increase across almost any spatial scale. Triadica sebifera (Chinese tallow), for example, seems poised to advance much further north in the U.S. as temperatures rise. More common will probably be the upslope movement of species into mountainous regions, including subalpine and alpine areas that had been previously occupied by few alien species; such species movement is reputedly underway in the Alps. Even though General Global Circulation models are in their infancy, several points seem clear: species that can tolerate (and even thrive) with increasingly erratic bouts of drought, punctuated by brief periods of heavy precipitation, will likely expand their ranges. Unfortunately, these species include many ruderals that have already become invaders, e.g. Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass). But the challenge is not limited to the Earth's changing atmosphere affecting plant invasions; some plant invasions are collectively so widespread and have so altered the energy budget of their new ranges that they collectively may already be altering climate. For example, the seemingly inexorable conversion of lowland tropical forest to grassland dominated by invasive species likely contributes to global atmospheric changes.