Author Archives: Sylvan Kaufman

Plants evolve greater phenotypic plasticity in invaded range

I’ve been interested in the expression of phenotypic plasticity by invasive plants since studying Melaleuca quinquenervia population genetics for my dissertation.  Often invasive plants seem to be able to grow in a wider range of habitats and perform better in their … Continue reading

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Defeating garlic mustard

For those of you faced with small patches of garlic mustard, or if you have access to a lot of volunteer labor, a new study  illuminates the best times to pull or cut plants.  Plants pulled before any seeds begin … Continue reading

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Invasive Species Slogans

The Illinois Invasive Species Awareness Month blog brings you the third installment of catchy invasive species slogans! http://illinoisisam.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-hunt-for-invasive-species-slogans.html “Spread the word, not the weed” was one of my favorites.

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Can extra chromosomes make a plant more invasive?

In 1948 two researchers looked at polyploidy (additional sets of chromosomes) in 175 weedy species in California and found about equal numbers of diploid and polyploid weeds.  They concluded that polyploidy had little to do with weediness in general, but … Continue reading

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Uses and abuses of water hyacinth

Water hyacinth, Eichornia crassipes, is known as the world’s worst aquatic weed because of its prolific growth.  It lowers biodiversity in tropical waterways, shelters pests like mosquitos, and causes eutrophication.  But all that biomass could have its uses.  Patel summarizes … Continue reading

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Is life in the garden less dangerous?

You might think that plants growing in gardens would face fewer pest problems as gardeners vigilantly defend them against unsightly leaf damage and flower mangling.  For introduced ornamental plants this could be just the boost they need to escape the … Continue reading

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Co-evolution between an invader and native plant

Following up on research that demonstrated that garlic mustard’s (Alliaria petiolata) production of chemicals detrimental to other plants declined the longer a population had been established, Lankau now reports on the ability of a native plant to resist the phytotoxins. … Continue reading

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Invasive grasses selfish in soil conditioning

A greenhouse study on native and non-native grasses from the Great Basin looks at changes in soil nutrient levels and soil microbes among species.  The researchers found that although both native and non-native grasses condition soils, the changes caused by … Continue reading

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