Plant invasions – Arctic Research

Aliens and their way to the top

5 years later, we are getting ready for a re-survey of our longterm observational plots along the roads in the Norwegian mountains. The perfect moment to summarize in a series of posts what we learned from our first trip. Remember my story about how lowland roadsides are flooded with species that do not belong in the natural […]

by lembrechtsjonas

Road effects

5 years later, we are getting ready for a re-survey of our longterm observational plots along the roads in the Norwegian mountains. The perfect moment to summarize for a second what we learned from our first trip. Roadsides host more plant species than the natural vegetation. That is the conclusion I drew in my previous post. […]

by lembrechtsjonas

What is hiding in mountain roadsides?

5 years later, we are getting ready for a re-survey of our longterm observational plots along the roads in the Norwegian mountains. The perfect moment to summarize for a second what we learned from our first trip. Mountains are increasingly important islands of pristine nature in our rapidly changing world. They contain some of the most […]

by lembrechtsjonas

5 years later

Summer 2012. I was a young masters student, spending my first month of many above the polar circle. I joined a global consortium called MIREN, the Mountain Invasion Research Network, that surveyed plant invasions along roads in mountain regions scattered across the globe. With 3 roads in the north of Norway, close to Narvik, we […]

by lembrechtsjonas

Alpine invasions

When plants from the cosy environment of western Europe arrive in the high north, you would expect they are not used to the cold environment over there. Some of them however seem to do pretty well in the Swedish mountains, unlike what could be expected based on the climatic conditions in these harsh environments. We want to know the limitations of […]