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Lithops is a genus of succulent plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae. Members of the genus are native to southern Africa. They avoid being eaten by herbivores with their camouflage as small stones, and are often known as pebble plants or living stones. "Lithops" is both the genus name and the common name, and is singular as well as plural.
The Aizoaceae (/ eɪ z oʊ ˈ eɪ s iː ˌ iː,-s i ˌ aɪ /), or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1,800 species. [2] Several genera are commonly known as 'ice plants' or 'carpet weeds'. The Aizoaceae are also referred to as vygies in South Africa.
Grylloblattidae, commonly known as the icebugs or ice crawlers, is a family of extremophile (psychrophile) and wingless insects that live in the cold on top of mountains and the edges of glaciers. It is the only member of Grylloblattodea , which is generally considered an order .
However, some plants grow a little too well. “Invasive plants spread aggressively and cause environmental changes, such as the elimination of native plant populations,” says Justine Kandra ...
For example, invasive plants can alter the fire regime (cheatgrass, Bromus tectorum), nutrient cycling (smooth cordgrass Spartina alterniflora), and hydrology in native ecosystems. [89] Invasive species that are closely related to rare native species have the potential to hybridize with the native species.
The plant usually uses C3 carbon fixation, but when it becomes water- or salt-stressed, it is able to switch to Crassulacean acid metabolism. [4] Like many salt-tolerant plants, M. crystallinum accumulates salt throughout its life, in a gradient from the roots to the shoots, with the highest concentration stored in epidermal bladder cells.
The plant exhibits a high rate of clonal growth, a trait that is commonly associated with successful invasive species. [11] [12] Invasive ice plant also displays high levels of phenotypic plasticity, allowing it to best integrate into varied environmental conditions such as coastal cliff ranges as well as nutrient-rich forests. [13]
The economic impacts of invasive species can be difficult to estimate especially when an invasive species does not affect economically important native species. This is partly because of the difficulty in determining the non-use value of native habitats damaged by invasive species and incomplete knowledge of the effects of all of the invasive species present in the U.S. Estimates for the ...