Allergies in the City: what would a plant ecologist do?

Last year, while I was in the field trying to figure out how plants and insects are coping with urban life in Berlin, a visiting medical student from Spain, Sara Mejia Lanunciòn, came along with a question about the allergic risk of exotic plants. I have to admit, I had not given it any thought…

What’s the difference between an alien and a native plant across a landscape?

Impact studies in plant invasion ecology have consistently reported decreases in species richness associated with high abundances of invasive aliens, and interpreted it as a sign of negative impact of the alien. But how frequently do such correlative patterns occur across a landscape? Undoubtedly,  one could potentially detect similar patterns for some native plants as…