Invasive species are reshaping ecosystems and local people’s relationship with nature in the tropics, a study led by Danish researchers Ninad Avinash Mungi and Jens Christian Svenning from Aarhus University shows.
Invasive species are reshaping ecosystems and local people’s relationship with nature in the tropics, a study led by Danish researchers Ninad Avinash Mungi and Jens Christian Svenning from Aarhus University shows.
The researchers found roughly ten thousand alien plants in the greater tropics – which is an area composed of both the tropic and sub-tropic parts of the world. Especially islands, are invasion hotspots and some have more alien plants than native ones, explains Ninad Avinash Mungi.
But even though it sounds alarming, most alien species are not a problem. Many alien species are imported for their usefulness and value, but few escape and become invasive with undesirable impacts, he says.
Read More at: Aarhus University
The invasive plant Prosopis juliflora has taken over large parts of the dry grasslands here. An Indian metropolis can be glimpsed in the background. (Photo Credit: Rajat Rastogi)
