This summer has been highly successful for our MIREN trail survey. We can proudly present this map showing all the (approximated) locations where people have observed one of our focal plant species (red and white clover, common yarrow and narrowleaf plantain) along mountain trails.

Hiking trail in Abisko, northern Sweden

This map is a work in progress, of course, and we will be updating it while data keeps flowing in. We are currently still expecting observations from at least 200 more kilometers of trail!

With spring creeping up in the southern hemisphere, we will now switch our focus down under. This is thus a call for anybody who will be visiting mountains on the southern hemisphere to join the project and get your own star on our map! South American, African or Australian mountain enthusiasts, if you are lucky enough to be going out in the amazing nature, please think of us while you are there, and record the location of our study species if you happen to see them.

Even when you are lucky enough to see a guanaco on your hike through the Andes, don’t forget to look at your feet to check for our non-native plant species!

The southern hemisphere is of particular interest to us for this study, as all of our study species are either non-native there, or not (yet) present. This will help us comparing how their spread along mountain trails happens in both their native and introduced range, and which regions are currently invader-free.

All information on how to join can be found here.