Botanic Garden Meise- OUR SCIENTISTS
Ivan Hoste
Botany and history
CONTACT : Ivan
Hoste +32 2 260.09.59
List of Publication (PDF)
RESEARCH INTERESTS
My main research interests
are the alien flora of Belgium and the history of botany in the 19th
and 20th centuries. Initially I focused on the spread of C4-grasses in
maize fields in Flanders. For my current research I moved from the
agricultural landscape to plant nurseries and garden centres. I
concentrate on the world-wide network of the horticultural trade and
its consequences for the introduction and spread of exotic plant
species in Western Europe. Inclusion of human activities and human
history in the research questions is important for an understanding of
the causes that trigger invasions or change in the course of the
naturalisation processes of plant species. Topics and plants that
receive special attention include the importation of Mediterranean
container plants (olive, palm trees, etc.), the genera Cardamine
(especially C. corymbosa, originally from New
Zealand) and Oxalis species.
Themes in the history of botany in Belgium include the
reception of Darwin’s theory of evolution; the key role played by the
self-educated botanist and later director of the National Botanic
Garden of Belgium François Crépin (1830–1903); discussions among
botanists about the acceptance or rejection of non-indigenous plant
species; the emerging consciousness of environmental degradation; the
rarefication of a growing number of plant species and the ensuing need
for nature conservation, etc.
As member of a team of authors I am involved in the
preparation of a new edition of the Nouvelle
Flore de la Belgique / Flora
van België, and since 2002 I work as editor of Dumortiera,
the Belgian journal for field botany.
Since the 1970s the Kraenepoel in Aalter (province of East Flanders), a
pond with a rich flora, fauna and history, has remained one of my
favorite excursion destinations. [pdf]
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