Biotech Updates

Potential of Invasive Weeds to Cope Climate Change

March 20, 2013

In a study by Cornell University scientists led by Antonio DiTommaso, weeds were considered as winners in the race to adapt climate change. Their paper Predicting Weed Invasion in Canada Under Climate Change: Evaluating Evolutionary Potential was published in the Canadian Journal of Plant Science.

The study shows that in the four different weed species: Himalayan balsam, velvetleaf, Japanese knotweed and johnsongrass, evidence for potential evolutionary responses to climate changed were observed. DiTommaso said weeds are essential to agriculture and human well-being, protecting and restoring the soil and providing surgery when areas are torn up for fields, burned or otherwise altered. The author hopes that some of the strategies that make them troublesome could help better design cropping systems to mitigate the effects of climate change.

See the original news at http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/March13/WeedsClimate.html