Howdy y'all:
I presume that Bean is referring to alien invasive species, but in the
purest sense, might one interpret the phenomenon more broadly? Indigenous
colonizers seem to be the orphans of the phenomenon, but might the
"evolutionary responses" to them be, in terms of evolutionary pressure, more
"seasoned?"
I must admit that I had not thought much about evolutionary responses of
(particularly) native plant species until Bean's post, and I'm still
thinking about it, but maybe Bean and others can expand my consciousness
further on this particular topic.
In a recent casual (insofar as they can be casual) trip to a southwestern
desert to observe the rampage of Brassica tournefortii, I noticed some sharp
"ecotones" between a depauperate-appearing Erodium species and an indigenous
indicator species, Lasthenia sp. (glabrata?). The indigenous species
appeared to be succeeding better in the "poorer" soils, whilst the weedy
alien (of long standing) seemed to be thriving in apparently "better" soils.
While this is nothing new, it may be an under-studied phenomenon ripe for
investigation. (This was an accidental observation, however, while looking
at a large colony of B. t.) Either of these species would bear closer
observations in a more disciplined way, and I suspect that funding might
more readily be found for B. t. Apparently Robin Marushia has been looking
at B. t., and there are undoubtedly others. In my opinion, this species is a
preeminent invader (not merely a ruderal species), and extreme environments
like deserts may be more instructive places to work--especially if Bean
wants to relocate and can find a "slot" someplace.
Just a thought . . .
WT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carolyn Beans" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2010 7:39 AM
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] invasive and native plant competitors
Hello All,
I'm a first year graduate student and I'm planning to study the
evolutionary response of native plant
populations to an invasive plant competitor. Right now I'm at the stage of
trying to figure out exactly
which invasive and native plants to work with. I'm wondering if anyone has
noticed any invasive
plants that seem to be especially strong competitors with a specific
native plant species? I would also
be interested in instances where an invasive plant appears to be
facilitating a native plant species.
I'll most likely be doing my field work in Virginia at Mountain Lake
Biological Station, but I could
potentially go anywhere.
thanks for your help!
Carolyn
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.437 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2796 - Release Date: 04/07/10
06:32:00
