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How do lupins harm forestry on Iceland? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by [email protected] to c/askbiologists

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Recently, I have been reading more and more articles saying that Alaskan lupines (Lupinus nootkatensis) are hindering the growth of trees in Iceland. Unfortunately, however, I could not find any valid reasons why this is so? The story goes that in 1945, the then director of the forest service brought two spoonfuls of seeds from Alaska to amfortify the nutrient-poor Icelandic soil, stop erosion in Iceland and prevent sandstorms. After all I know, lupines draw nitrogen from the air and store it in the soil. So why is that not good for native tree species, such as birch or larch?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Disclaimer: am not a biologist :)

Interesting! My wife loves lupins, and we're on the west coast of Canada where they're native as I understand it -- but apparently they can steal resources from other plants where they aren't native (thought they do indeed fix nitrogen)...

This link describes some of the good and bad, only hinting that they're not as good for eastern ecosystems; nothing specific about how they might affect birch or larch:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/lupins-invasive-species-1.6488784

..and yet, this page here says lupine and birch do better when together (though I just skimmed the article, perhaps Alaskan lupine is different):

https://www.skogur.is/en/moya/news/fruitful-symbiosis-of-birch-and-lupin-helping-birch-forest-restoration