Natural History Wanderings

Science Daily reports on how alien plants use a different set of propagation strategies than endemic plants. Introduced plants use the following strategies:

• blossom later in the year so they provide food for pollinating insects in a less competitive environment
• many introduced plants are self-pollinated
• do not need to be established in many habitats to have a high frequency of occurrence (native plants often become established in many habitats to have a high frequency of occurrence)
• establish themselves niches not fully occupied by native plants ( if the alien plant is not invasive this is not necessarily a problem, however one per cent of aliens are invasive which is very problematic as they may suppress native plants and change the local ecosystem)

Read more at Science Daily  Different recipes for success in the world of plants.