Poison ivy an unlikely hero in warding off exotic invaders?

(Pensoft Publishers) The invasive Japanese knotweed causes much more severe damage to floodplain forests along the Susquehanna River, Pa., USA, than previously thought, report Bucknell University biology professor Chris Martine and his two student co-authors. Furthermore, in their paper in the open-access Biodiversity Data Journal, the researchers point to a key role for the often-maligned poison-ivy as a native species that can not only compete with knotweed but also help sustain the growth of new trees.
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: news