Elin Blomqvist and Lutz Eckstein are main and senior authors, respectively, of a paper that studied the links between phenology and biomass and nutrient dynamics in the invasive herb Lupinus polyphyllus to identify the optimal timing for control mowing along road verges. The paper, which has recently been published open access in the journal Basic and Applied Ecology (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2025.02.006), was a cooperation between Karlstad University and Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany: Yves P. Klinger and Till Kleinebecker).

The main findings of the study were that biomass and nutrients of Lupinus polyphyllus in the roots are lowest during the flowering phase and that shoot-to-root ratios peak during flowering and the seed ripening phase. Therefore, control mowing during flowering and before seed dispersal will weaken the plants the most. Generally, the planning of control management of this invasive species by mowing should be based on the species’ phenology.

Lutz Eckstein is senior author of a paper showing that the invasive herb Lupinus polyphyllus significantly reduces the richness of vascular plants along valuable road verges in Sweden. The paper, which has recently been published open access in the journal Nordic Journal of Botany (https://nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/njb.04438), is led by Juliana Dániel-Ferreira (SLU Uppsala). The study was a cooperation between Karlstad University and SLU (Swedish Biodiversity Centre – CBM) and is partly based on data collected by Karola Knudsen during her Master thesis at KaU.

One interesting finding of the study was that even though the direction of the effect of Garden lupine on vascular plant diversity was similar in both studied areas in Sweden, the magnitude was strongly dependent on the preexisting communities. The study area in the west (Värmland, Örebro) hosted a lower proportion of competitive species typical for nutrient poor soils compared to the area in the east (Västmanland, Uppland) (Fig. 1). The authors conclude that invasion by L. polyphyllus is a serious threat to vascular plant communities but that the response is context dependent. Communities with high abundance of vulnerable and poor competitive plant species should be prioritized for eradication and control of the invasive.

Satu Ramula, an Adjunct Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from University of Turku, Finland will give a seminar entitled ” The role of soil microbes in plant invasions“. Satu’s areas of expertise are Demographic methods, invasive species, plant ecology, population ecology, and structured population models.

Time and Date: Friday 13th October 2023 from 09:00 to 9:50 CET over zoom (https://kau-se.zoom.us/j/63791052457). You are cordially welcome to join this seminar.

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Road verges act as important refuges for grassland species since the areas of semi-natural grassland have declined during the last century. However, as linear habitats, road verges increase connectivity in fragmented landscapes, which also makes them prone to colonization by non-native species. This is currently seen as the greatest threat to species-rich road verges. The invasive Garden Lupine is commonly found in road verges where it alters competitive interactions, reduces native populations, and even causes extinctions of native species. 

This project is funded by The Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) and the aim is to improve ecosystem functions and services of species-rich road verges and green infrastructure through evidence-based control and monitoring of Garden Lupine at the landscape scale.

During this seminar, I’m going to introduce the background for the project, and talk about what has been done and what I am planning to do in the next years.

The seminar will be streamed live over zoom on Tuesday 26th April at 13.15 CET. The zoom link for the seminar is https://kau-se.zoom.us/my/kaubiology. You are welcome