Tag Archives: Plant invasions
A drastic shift in mycorrhizal communities
One of the key findings of the Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN) is that mountain roads have a MASSIVE impact on their surrounding vegetation. Whole communities are changing, non-native species are moving in, and all kinds of species are moving … Continue reading
Going up the Andes
One day, a fantastic gift arrived from one of my Chilean colleagues: a compendium of non-native plant species in the country. Beautifully illustrated and brimming with clear information, I immediately found it to be a go-to resource for understanding ruderal … Continue reading
The impact of the pines
Picture this: it’s the 20th century and people are planting pine trees all over Chile. Pines of the genus Pinus, that is, which is very different from the native Araucaria araucana (the monkey puzzle tree). The latter might very well … Continue reading
Exotic plant species thrive at high(er) elevations
Sometimes one needs patience to answer a research question. Lots of it. The Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN) already asked itself this important question back in 2006: how fast are non-native species travelling uphill along mountain roads? Now it’s 2023, … Continue reading
Hitchhiking mountain roads and trails
The Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN) has made itself ‘world famous’ through its protocol for the long-term monitoring of vegetation along mountain roads. We even got a recent publication dedicated in its entirety to that protocol! However, mountains – and … Continue reading
Are non-native plants adapting to city life?
With chapter 4 now published, the now finished PhD of Charly Géron has created quite the storyline on how non-native plants are invading our urban environments! In his first paper, we found out that alien plant species in European cities … Continue reading