Alivia, Leo and Paola potted porcelain berries and measured their growth for their ecology project
By William Yates and Kayla VanHouten
SUNY P ENV hooligans study to see the importance of light in the growth of invasive porcelain berries. Turns out, they’re pretty bright!
They’re pastel, speckled, and they’re taking over your neighborhood. Ampelopsis brevipedunculata, or porcelain berries, are resilient invasives, which can survive in all light intensities. Alivia Zimmerman, Leo Frampton, and Paola Valencia took on porcelain berries and tested the light exposure under which this invader thrives. They found something they weren’t expecting, these plants will not be defeated. It’s far worse than we could have ever imagined, they even come back from the dead. If this research proves one thing, its that we are up against a huge problem, so next time you see porcelain berries, kill them before they kill you.
Future scientific research on this topic should include testing with more samples, different light exposures, and the addition of a control. Another thing that should be considered is a comparison between porcelain berries and native plant species.
