The convergence of distinct lineages upon interspecific hybridisation, including when accompanied by increases in ploidy (allopolyploidy), is a driving force in the origin of many plant species. In plant breeding too, both interspecific hybridisation and allopolyploidy are important because they facilitate introgression of alien DNA into breeding lines enabling the introduction of novel charact...

This paper presents the chromosome numbers (2n) for 13 alien species (from families Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Polygonaceae, Solanaceae) in Novosibirsk Region. For Vincetoxicum hirundinaria Medik. (2n = 22) and Sisymbrium altissimum L. 14), were determined first time on material from Russia; Betonica officinalis 16) – Asian Stachys annua (L.) 34) West Siberia. C...

Invasive alien plants can compete with native plants for resources, and may ultimately decrease native plant diversity and/or abundance in invaded sites. This could have consequences for native mutualistic interactions, such as pollination. Although invasive plants often become highly connected in plant-pollinator interaction networks, in temperate climates they usually only flower for part of ...

*To understand prerequisites of biological invasions, it is imperative to know whether species have traits that pre-adapt them to become invasive elsewhere. However, few experimental studies have explicitly tested this by comparing traits between invasive and noninvasive species in their native range instead of in the nonnative range. *We used native plant material of 14 European congeneric pai...

The belowground mechanisms facilitating invasion and proliferation of non-native plant species into natural communities are of critical importance for understanding plant invasions. Research on allelopathy suggests that some exotic plant species produce compounds via root exudates that may suppress or inhibit the growth of neighboring plants, but the specific mechanisms and consequences of thes...