Invasive Plant Thrives by Adapting Quickly to Local Climates

Madhuri Raman
October 20th, 2013

Author: Kim Luke
Published: October 17, 2013
http://news.utoronto.ca/invasive-plant-thrives-adapting-quickly-local-climates#

Summary: It was previously thought that invasive species such as purple loosestrife, thrived because of their ability to escape from predators, but research from the University of Toronto has found that more importantly, they are able to thrive based on their ability to adapt to their local climate. As a result, purple loosestrife has been flowering three weeks earlier than they normally would, and are also producing up to 30 times as many seeds. Researchers conducted an experiment using purple loosestrife plants from 3 different latitudes and planted them in areas climatically similar or different to their homelands. They saw that the plants that were grown closer to home had higher growth and reproductive rates, while plants grown in a climate much more different from their homelands had lower rates. The scientists found that northern populations flower at half the size and roughly 20 days earlier than southern populations. They went on to find that early flowering is an adaptive trait found in flowers in the northernmost regions because of an abundance of pollinators and improbability of frost damage. Overall we learned that adaptability is an important characteristic of invasive species.

Connection: In our ecosystems unit and term one project, we discussed how invasive species were harmful to their environment and surroundings. Purple loosestrife, the species used in the above experiment, was mentioned many times in class, and we were able to see examples of its growth and spreading in our school's nature trail. In class, we learned about how invasive species like purple loosestrife were able to survive and thrive in various environments. Specifically, we learned that they have to compete with native species for space and other resources. This article explains why purple loosestrife is able to survive in different environments. In addition to their ability to escape from predators and other natural enemies, they perhaps more importantly, have the naturally selected characteristic of adaptation. This is and important discovery because we learn that the ability to adapt to new surroundings plays an important role in the survival of invasive species. This article complements what we learned in class because we learned about how invasive species thrive and this article teaches us why.