Different recipes for success in the world of plants

 These differ in part considerably from the propagation strategies of endemic plant species. Dr. Ingolf Khn and Dr. Sonja Knapp of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) reached this conclusion in a study published in the current issue of the scientific journal Ecology Letters. "These results are an argument in support of the view that the need to differentiate between native and non-native species in ecological systems remains", says Dr. Ingolf Khn.

Experts are currently debating whether this differentiation might be untenable, as it is only a question of the extent to which a plant species regardless of its origin is able to adapt to man-made conditions (Davis et al. (2011), Nature; Thompson et al. (2011) Trends in Ecology & Evolution). In the professional journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution (van Kleunen et al. (2011), Hulme et al. (2011)) a number of research groups counter with the argument that differentiating between these two groups contributes essentially to the understanding of modern ecosystems, as endemic and non-native species differ in many respects.