Our research group investigates how to restore natural ecosystems in degraded habitats. This includes studying the extent to which invasive plant species threaten restoration and testing the best methods to control them. By long-term monitoring we study how different treatments and the surrounding landscape affect the establishment of invasive species during restoration. This will help us to choose where and what kind of restoration methods need to be applied, including invasive species control. Using greenhouse and field experiments, we also investigate whether the establishment and spread of some common invasive plant species can be controlled by sowing native species, and which factors play an important role in this: similarity to invasive species? A greater amount of seed sown? Early sowing?
Participating researchers
Partners
- National Botanic Garden - greenhouse experiments to control invasive plant species are carried out in the area of the garden
- Kiskunság National Park Directorate (KNPD) - field experiments with seed sowing to control invasive plant species are carried out in the Fülöpháza area of KNPD
- Long-Term Ecological Research Network - including a restoration unit (Kiskun LTER Restoration Experiments) within the European (eLTER) and the Kiskunság (Kiskun LTER) networks. Since 1995 we have been monitoring the establishment, spread and impact of invasive plant species on the species composition of plant communities in relation to restoration interventions.
