4 ms·

There are many plants that have survival adaptations like that. The question is: what are the other animals that would normally eat it and keep it in check?

• fredley 2y ago
  Lava flows?
  • hosh 2y ago
    According to this article: > This BBC article from 2010 points out that Japanese knotweed isn't really a problem in its native country - while common, the plant "doesn't rage out of control like it does in the UK, thanks to natural predators that keep it in check". > In Japan, knotweed has many natural predators in the form of nearly 200 insect species and a variety of fungi. Certain psyllids (plant lice) have proven to have an appetite for Japanese knotweed sap - the organisers of the Chelsea Flower Show have looked at using psyllids to keep Japanese knotweed at bay, and one species (Aphalara itadori) has even been released into the wild in an effort to combat the UK's knotweed problem. https://www.taylor-weed-control.co.uk/news/post/what-eats-japanese-knotweed https://www.taylor-weed-control.co.uk/news/post/what-eats-ja...
    • zukzuk 2y ago
      Same with Dog Strangling Vine in Europe vs North America. I volunteer every week helping with ecosystem stewardship here in Southern Ontario, and DSV is absolutely out of control in parks and forests. It spreads like wildfire and wraps itself around anything and everything, choking out most other plants and creating mass monoculture. Meanwhile, in France, where I just spent a week hiking, you see the occasional vine here and there, minding its own business, acting like a well-behaved member of the forest community.
• pclmulqdq 2y ago
  Japanese bacteria, fungi, and lava. It's nearly defenseless against the microorganisms in its ecosystem because it spent all its evolution points on growing on the sides of mountains.
  • hosh 2y ago
    There are probably some kind of microorganism and insects native to the US that would like to eat them.