Iceland's Deserts Are Turning Purple - here's why

In this video, we are putting the Icelandic Lupin debate under the microscope to try and find out the good and the bad about this invasive species.

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⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️
0:00 Intro
1:04 Ecology
2:05 History
3:38 Debate

🧐 ABOUT THIS VIDEO
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Lupinus Nootkatensis was introduced to Iceland in 1945 and since then it has been a source of debate for the Icelandic people. Is it an Invasive species? Yes. Should it be removed? This is where it gets a little more complicated…and it’s this question that we want to explore in this video.

Lupin has both positive and negative consequences in Iceland and it’s important to analyse both sides of the story to get a better grip on the truth. Lupin can be used as a tool for reforestation but it can also have severe consequences on the land. So what are your thoughts on this fascinating plant?

[marsveinsson]

As a southern icelander, i can tell you i have personally seen and lived throught the direct change it had in our area. Absolutely amazing. Way more plants. What this video doesnt tell you is this. There was only rocks, then lupina came, now its grasses and trees. Lupina doesnt like to share space. Once thee is competing it just moves on. Living and dying making dirt in that rock layer that other plants then finally take hold. Thats what my experience had been. I see her as a god send.

[Novum]

Don’t worry. It’s totally not because someone killed a wall of flesh in the underworld, which causes a certain corruption to spread faster

[reynirgretarjonsson]

Worked for Reykjavík to plant trees in the fields of Lupine around the city about 20 years ago mostly in the Heiðmörk area, nothing but forest today so I don´t see a problem as long as you plan to go in and plant trees afterwards, they quickly make way for trees and mostly dissappear. Nothing but good things to say about it

[bjornbesbitt]

Native lupines helped regrow the land after Mt St. Helens erupted. They're really wonderful flowers. I tossed a few seeds into a bare little traffic island nearby, and now it's green and lovely and the intersection is less dusty.

[meiray]

Lupines also have huge taproots which can help with erosion issues in a topography where trees don't often thrive. Definitely one of the most complicated invasive species debates. But it's Iceland, so it's also one of the friendliest.

[DAH-ssnu]

I'm from Alaska where it's native, oddly enough I've also lived in Iceland for 4 years. The lupin is seen as a colonizer on degraded/bare soil but is quickly overtaken closely by birch and aspen trees. This can be seen on the edges of roads cut through the landscape. You want to control lupine then plant birch/aspen behind it which will soon outcompete the lupin. You'd be better served by air dropping lupin seeds everywhere, then 5-10 years later airdropping birch and aspen seeds, then in another 5-10 years airdropping various evergreen pine/spruce seeds. BTW blueberry is a understory shrub and it'll do fine.

[jackochainsaw]

Being a nitrogen fixer, it is very valuable, it might be an invasive species but it's doing some good. I'd say don't rush to purge it. Monocultures don't last forever anyways, so it will either hybridise or be replaced by something else. This plant doesn't enjoy shade so when trees beat out the light, it will die. Once you get trees and bushes back, you are on the right track.

[JulieKore]

From my experience, while lupine is highly invasive and spreads very easily, it is also quite easy to control. Farmers in eastern europe have been using it as a plant that allows the fields to 'rest' for a year for a while now, they just plow over the field before the seeds are 'ready' and pronto, a rejuvenated field is ready for a new year of crops.

[ScorpioIsland]

Lupine behaves almost exactly like Scotch Broom here in Canada. People hate it, but it only invades landscapes that are destroyed, it heals those landscapes, and then it does when other plants grow up around it. It is medicine

[dappledlight]

As an ecologist who got their degree studying invasive plant species, I have two things I would like to contribute. First, this is perhaps the best video I have seen on YouTube dealing with this issue. It is nuanced, and avoids absolutes, to which this field is prone. Bravo! The second thing is that because the flora is so closely related in this plant's native and invasive ranges, I wonder if contacting researchers in Alaska might give insights into how this species both colonizes similar situations, and then interacts with very similar communities over time. The glacial melting in Alaska, as elsewhere, is exposing new ground to be colonized, and there are likely to be good studies out there which could help you, and Iceland as a whole, assess what might be expected. It would give you a baseline from which to make informed decisions. Good luck, and keep up the good work!

[dashybaby]

One of the most fascinating attributes of Lupin is how it spreads it seed. When the seed pods dry up they twist and split open. The force can throw the seed up to 25 feet when they pop open, allowing the plant to spread itself even further. If you sit quietly in a Lupin field during this time of year you can hear the popping and flying of seeds. You might even get hit by one... ha ha

[alexandernevalainen]

I live in Sweden and the invasive lupine is spreading like wildfire on the countryside, pushing the native flora to extinction in some areas. it is a great dirt restorer but it must be kept at bay where it is not needed.

[jamestaylor]

Lupines aren't greedy... they retreat from competition and ends up in tiny pockets where others things just refuse to grow well. It appears here in recently done flatworks(read as ground disrupting landscaping) and stabilizes the new surfaces before retreating to the presence of other plants. It also appears in the wakes of wildfires in great abundance for a season or two.

[Dalcenn]

As a tree planter in British Columbia, we have a lot of lupin here, it is very often the first plant that returns following a forest fire (nicknamed fireflower), it is an incredible plant and plays a huge part of our forests recovery from fires in western Canada. It’ll be interesting to see its effects on the deserts in Iceland

[dawnhughes]

I've been resorting ecosystems from invasives as a Master Arborist in the northern UD. After 20 years I have learned to appreciate the invasives. They are healers. Use them as a tool or a step in the journey to help restore the canopy. Once you get larger shrubs or trees growing they will shade out the lupine. The key is to be focused and nurturing on that next step up, always planting trees! Trees need after care tho. You can't just plant and walk away. We have to manage it to be what we want. I wish I could help. you!

[ArheIy]

Oh, we had a field of lupines near my hometown! It just popped up on the *supposedly* dead soil after the town dump was leveled to the ground to build some apartments nearby. That was strange, but somehow beautiful. I used to walk there with my friends and sometimes take photos.
Just imagine: a few apartment buildings, a sports facility, some department store, an industrial zone... And just in 50 meters from that, right behind the road, lies a purple ocean, separating the city from the forest line.

[uts]

I'm from Texas and our state flower is called "blue bonnets". As soon as I seen this flower, I thought they were blue bonnets. So I looked up the scientific name of blue bonnets and its called "Lupinus subcarnosus" and they belong to the Lupinus family. They are related.

[maxhocks]

If the plant was invading existing forests or grasslands I would say fight it. But it’s growing in deserts and fixing the soil. If you can add trees and bushes to areas where the lupine has been for two or three years then it would be a huge benefit to let the lupine grow.

[d.c.marsha]

Having grown lupin in the North Eastern part US (native plant Lupinus perennis), it loves sun, if you were to plant trees/ birch or other native trees around the lupin it would just die off due to a lack of sunlight. Once your trees are established I doubt you'll have much a problem with the lupin.

[henankan]

Here in Sweden lupines have been taking over much of the areas where native flowers used to be. It's a pretty flower and from the video I can see that it has some good benefits. Sweden probably don't have the same "needs" like Iceland does when it comes to restoring flora in barren land and perhaps this is why it seems to be way more invasive here. Just this past summer I noted how few native flowers I saw in areas where I feel like I would have seen them otherwise. There has been a lot of talk about multiple invasive flowers and plants this past year too in Sweden. Interesting video for sure, thank you for making it!