Disappearing Poppies (Stephanie Mazzola)

         The poppy flower is a symbol of the lives lost in World War I.  The flower that once flourished in the former battlefields of northern France and Belgium is beginning to disappear.  Ecologists studying this issue have concluded that the cause is the dramatic change in Europe’s plant biodiversity.  Over the past 100 years, there has been a significant rise in the number of plant species in northern France and Belgium.  Dr. Nina Hautekeete of the University of Lille explains, “about one in every five to six species studied were either lost in particular regions or newly introduced”.  In other words, as invasive species are introduced to a particular area, more specialized species become extinct.  Habitat destruction due to intensive farming and urban development have also contributed to the disappearance of plant species to a given area.  Researchers have found that most new species occur in urban areas and tend to be garden plants.  Research shows that these new cosmopolitan species do not replace the complex interactions of the plant species that are disappearing or are already lost.  Dr. Hautekeete explains, “A short term increase in biodiversity could be followed by a long term decrease which may cause ecosystems to stop working properly”.  Her next step in this research is to determine where the non-native species are coming from and whether or not climate change is a factor to their relocation.

         In the “Principles of Ecology” course, we have learned about feedback loops as they relate to particular systems.  Feedback loops occur when an output is fed into the system as an input causing some type of change to occur.  In regards to the disappearance of the poppies, the new plant species are causing the poppies to disappear, which could have an effect on the overall health of our ecosystems.  We have also learned that it can take a long time for a system to respond to feedback, which we call a time delay.  Dr. Hautekeete refers to this idea of a time delay when she references the fact that we do not know the long-term effects of the disappearances of plant species.

         Poppies are disappearing from Northern Europe primarily because of other plants.  I find it very interesting that the main cause of the disappearance is not directly humans.  It seems to be a common belief that when species become extinct or endangered, humans are to blame.  However, that is not the case for the poppies.  Researchers are trying to figure out where the invasive, non-native plant species are coming from.  Whether or not this is a direct result of human behavior is still being researched.

Works Cited

British Ecological Society (BES). "Poppies fade from Flanders fields as Europe's plant life changes." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 December 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141210080458.htm>.

National Geographic. Most Popular Prints. 2015. 1 February 2015 <http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photos/most-popular-photo-gallery/#/red-poppies-daisies_26499_600x450.jpg>.