2021. To invade or not to invade that is the question
December 13, 2021
Open gallery
Two students stand in a forest. One student is looking up at the vast green trees as their pink hair is hanging in a pony tail. The other student is taking notes on their findings. The weather seems sunny and warm and we can see sun rays coming through the spaces between the leaves.
To invade or not to invade that is the question: A question that too many invasive species unfortunately don’t seem to ask themselves before taking over a new environment.
by Sara Atlassi
One of the consequences of a global pandemic, has proven to be that a lot of people actually pay attention to nature now, given that it was all that they could interact with for about a year. Who would’ve known that it would only take a global pandemic to make us notice the world around us! As they were learning to appreciate nature a bit more, a group of ecology students noticed that certain plants were taking the change to Fall a bit more visibly than others. As they were walking through the campus of Purchase college, they noticed that some plants had changed drastically as Fall season had arrived. But others were still green and flourishing. Because of that they decided to study how different plants respond to seasonal changes. And look at whether plants that are not original to that environment and usually invade those environments (invasive species), last longer into the fall season.
This group of scientists wandered around Purchase college’s forests taking pictures and looking at plants multiple times a week. Shaking bushes and being asked if this was an art project (which can be possible given how abstract art pieces can be). They finally found that most of these “invasive species” do last longer into the Fall compared to native/original ones. They also found that these invasive can create lodging and can be a source of food for some animals/insects.
To learn more about invasive species, their harms and potential benefits?, read the full article here