India, Feb. 24 -- Very few species possess the ability to thrive under extreme harsh conditions (drought, salinity, pollution etc.) as profoundly as Neltuma juliflora (mesquite). The species was introduced to the Indian subcontinent to provide ecosystem services such as greening drylands, combating soil erosion, and supplying fuelwood. At present, depending on who you ask, this thorny tree is either a resilient saviour or an ecological villain. Recent research on mesquite's impacts in non-native landscapes reveals a nuanced truth: under the present ongoing and future climate instability and in human-altered systems, the idea of categorising Neltuma juliflora as purely 'good' or 'bad' no longer makes sense.

It is quite impossible not to a...