Le piante viaggiano, il mondo cambia

Autori

  • Enrico Banfi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13130/2035-7680/3303

Parole chiave:

Wild plants, cultivated plants, discovey of America, invasiveness.

Abstract

Despite being firmly attached to the ground, plants move, just like other organisms. Spores and seeds constitute the usual vehicle, however every journey made by this dispersive structure, even their simple fall under gravitational pull, is conditioned by the random nature of natural processes and does not necessary lead to success. This applies both to natural dissemination, be it mediated (by air, water, animals, etc.) or autonomous (passive fall, active expulsion), and, particularly in this day and age, when dispersion is in some way associated with Homo sapiens. In this last case, it is essential to make a distinction between wild and cultivated, remembering that the dead end of any crop is reached when, due to guided selection, the plant loses all capacity for autonomous life. The whole of human history is characterised by plant transfers (opportunist species) that were largely unplanned and in part outside human control, taking root in the natural environment thereby damaging and deteriorating biodiversity, human economics and health. These transfers increased with the discovery of America as a consequence of the contacts with the colonies established by Europe all over the world. The analysis of the success of international plant transfers, be they voluntary and involuntary, allows us to identify their causes, measure their development and build a general model from which to ascertain the chances offered to each new appearance for its future in foreign soil. Invasiveness indicates the “excess” of an alien presence and figures negatively as an increasingly pressing problem for the future of our planet.

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Biografia autore

Enrico Banfi

Enrico Banfi ha curato la Sezione di Botanica del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di
Milano dal 1976 al 2001, quindi ha diretto lo stesso istituto fino al 2011. Ha svolto
ricerca nei campi della floristica, sistematica e filogenesi delle piante, fitotassonomia e
fitogeografia; attualmente continua a collaborare con il Museo di Storia Naturale di
Milano e con numerose istituzioni botaniche italiane ed estere, tra cui la Società
Botanica Italiana. Conta al suo attivo 107 pubblicazioni in massima parte di carattere
specialistico e in parte con finalità divulgativa o di taglio interdisciplinare.

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Pubblicato

2013-11-10

Come citare

Banfi, Enrico. 2013. «Le Piante Viaggiano, Il Mondo Cambia». Altre Modernità, n. 10 (novembre):1-10. https://doi.org/10.13130/2035-7680/3303.