Non-native plants are 'not a threat' to floral diversity
2015-03-23
(Press-News.org) Non-native plants are commonly listed as invasive species, presuming that they cause harm to the environment at both global and regional scales. New research by scientists at the University of York has shown that non-native plants - commonly described as having negative ecological or human impacts - are not a threat to floral diversity in Britain.
Using repeat census field survey data for British plants from 1990 and 2007, Professor Chris Thomas and Dr Georgina Palmer from the Department of Biology at York analysed changes in the cover and diversity of native and non-native plants in Britain. Their study, available online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that native plants are unlikely to be out-competed by communities of non-native species, and that most non-native species remain too localised to have national-scale impacts.
Co-author Dr Palmer said: "Our research has shown that non-native plants are less widespread than native species, and are not increasing any more than native plants. It therefore seems likely that factors other than plant invasions are the main causes of vegetation change."
The study found that locations with high diversity of non-native species also support high diversity of native species, suggesting that high diversities of native and non-native plant species are compatible with one another.
The authors recognise that some non-native species can overwhelm native plants in some places - however, the conclusion of the research is that any such local changes are insufficient to endanger biodiversity across Britain as a whole. It is also true that a few non-native species that do not threaten biodiversity can be a nuisance, such as Japanese Knotweed whose underground runners can damage buildings, but this is not because they are foreign; some native plants also cause trouble, such as when poisonous ragwort plants infest horse pastures.
Lead author, Professor Thomas, added: "Non-native species have supplemented, rather than excluded native species. Negative impacts of non-native plants on British biodiversity have therefore been exaggerated, and may also have been exaggerated in other parts of the world. We question whether it is appropriate that over three-quarters of taxa listed globally as invasive species are plants."
INFORMATION:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2015-03-23
A 60-year-old maths problem first put forward by Nobel laureate Enrico Fermi has been solved by researchers at the University of East Anglia, the Università degli Studi di Torino (Italy) and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (US).
In 1955, a team of physicists, computer scientists and mathematicians led by Fermi used a computer for the first time to try and solve a numerical experiment.
The outcome of the experiment wasn't what they were expecting, and the complexity of the problem underpinned the then new field of non-linear physics and paved the way for six ...
2015-03-23
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University who develop snake-like robots have picked up a few tricks from real sidewinder rattlesnakes on how to make rapid and even sharp turns with their undulating, modular device.
Working with colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Zoo Atlanta, they have analyzed the motions of sidewinders and tested their observations on CMU's snake robots. They showed how the complex motion of a sidewinder can be described in terms of two wave motions - vertical and horizontal body waves - and how changing the phase and amplitude of ...
2015-03-23
Troy, N.Y. - A team of researchers, including Rensselaer professor Morgan Schaller, has used mathematical modeling to show that continental erosion over the last 40 million years has contributed to the success of diatoms, a group of tiny marine algae that plays a key role in the global carbon cycle. The research was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Diatoms consume 70 million tons of carbon from the world's oceans daily, producing organic matter, a portion of which sinks and is buried in deep ocean sediments. Diatoms account for over ...
2015-03-23
Archaeologists working in Guatemala have unearthed new information about the Maya civilization's transition from a mobile, hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a sedentary way of life.
Led by University of Arizona archaeologists Takeshi Inomata and Daniela Triadan, the team's excavations of the ancient Maya lowlands site of Ceibal suggest that as the society transitioned from a heavy reliance on foraging to farming, mobile communities and settled groups co-existed and may have come together to collaborate on construction projects and participate in public ceremonies.
The findings, ...
2015-03-23
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - March 23, 2015 - The results of a blood test done immediately after heart surgery can be a meaningful indicator of postoperative stroke risk, a study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has found.
An acutely elevated level of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) - a measure of kidney function detected through blood testing - was the most powerful predictor of postoperative stroke among the study's subjects.
Up to 9 percent of cardiac surgery patients suffer post-operative stroke, and these events are significantly more serious and more frequently ...
2015-03-23
The concept was simple: If two compounds each individually show promise in preventing colon cancer, surely it's worth trying the two together to see if even greater impact is possible.
In this instance, Case Western Reserve cancer researcher Li Li, MD, PhD, could not have been more prescient.
Not only did the combination of the two improve outcomes in animal studies, but the dual-compound effect was dramatically better than either option alone. Even better, these impressive results required only modest amounts of metformin and Vitamin D3, making concerns about side ...
2015-03-23
DURHAM, N.C. - Scientists have known for some time that people who carry a lot of weight around their bellies are more likely to develop diabetes and heart disease than those who have bigger hips and thighs. But what hasn't been clear is why fat accumulates in different places to produce these classic "apple" and "pear" shapes.
Now, researchers have discovered that a gene called Plexin D1 appears to control both where fat is stored and how fat cells are shaped, known factors in health and the risk of future disease.
Acting on a pattern that emerged in an earlier study ...
2015-03-23
(MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- MARCH 23, 2015) Research led by scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has identified key molecules that trigger the immune system to launch an attack on the bacterium that causes tularemia. The research was published online March 16 in Nature Immunology.
The team, led by Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, Ph.D., a member of the St. Jude Department of Immunology, found key receptors responsible for sensing DNA in cells infected by the tularemia-causing bacterium, Francisella. Tularemia is a highly infectious disease that kills more than 30 percent ...
2015-03-23
MAYWOOD, Ill. - No cures are possible for most patients who suffer debilitating movement disorders called cerebellar ataxias.
But in a few of these disorders, patients can be effectively treated with regimens such as prescription drugs, high doses of vitamin E and gluten-free diets, according to a study in the journal Movement Disorders.
"Clinicians must become familiar with these disorders, because maximal therapeutic benefit is only possible when done early. These uncommon conditions represent a unique opportunity to treat incurable and progressive diseases," first ...
2015-03-23
Contrary to the statistician's slogan, in the quantum world, certain kinds of correlations do imply causation.
Research from the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics shows that in quantum mechanics, certain kinds of observations will let you distinguish whether there is a common cause or a cause-effect relation between two variables. The same is not true in classical physics.
Explaining the observed correlations among a number of variables in terms of underlying causal mechanisms, known ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Non-native plants are 'not a threat' to floral diversity
