scholarly journals Naturalization of European plants on other continents: The role of donor habitats

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (52) ◽  
pp. 13756-13761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Kalusová ◽  
Milan Chytrý ◽  
Mark van Kleunen ◽  
Ladislav Mucina ◽  
Wayne Dawson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Plant Invasions ◽  
Habitat Types ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Species Association ◽  
Alien Flora

The success of European plant species as aliens worldwide is thought to reflect their association with human-disturbed environments. However, an explicit test including all human-made, seminatural and natural habitat types of Europe, and their contributions as donor habitats of naturalized species to the rest of the globe, has been missing. Here we combine two databases, the European Vegetation Checklist and the Global Naturalized Alien Flora, to assess how human influence in European habitats affects the probability of naturalization of their plant species on other continents. A total of 9,875 native European vascular plant species were assigned to 39 European habitat types; of these, 2,550 species have become naturalized somewhere in the world. Species that occur in both human-made habitats and seminatural or natural habitats in Europe have the highest probability of naturalization (64.7% and 64.5% of them have naturalized). Species associated only with human-made or seminatural habitats still have a significantly higher probability of becoming naturalized (41.7% and 28.6%, respectively) than species confined to natural habitats (19.4%). Species associated with arable land and human settlements were recorded as naturalized in the largest number of regions worldwide. Our findings highlight that plant species’ association with native-range habitats disturbed by human activities, combined with broad habitat range, play an important role in shaping global patterns of plant invasions.

scholarly journals ILORA: A database of alien vascular flora of India

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vidushi Pant ◽  
Chinmay Patwardhan ◽  
Kshitij Patil ◽  
Amiya Ranjan Bhowmick ◽  
Abhishek Mukherjee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Plant Invasions ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Alien Plant Species ◽  
Alien Plant ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Alien Flora

Plant invasions pose an unprecedented threat to biodiversity and ecosystems at different spatial scales, especially for a biodiversity-rich developing nation like India. While country-level checklists are considered as the first step for effective management of plant invasions, databases having biological and ecological attributes of these plant species are of paramount importance for facilitating research activities and developing policy interventions concerning alien plant invasion in a country or region. Though checklists with the names and basic details of alien plant species are available for India, a database aggregating attributes relevant to the understanding of the invasion continuum is lacking. We have curated data for 13 variables related to ecology, biogeography, introduction history, socio-economy and environmental niche of 1747 alien vascular plant species from 22 national and global sources to produce the Indian Alien Flora Information (ILORA) version 1.0 database. This paper describes the detailed methodology of curating these data along with the logic behind selecting these variables to be included in the database. The database, first of its kind for the Indian alien flora, will provide easy access to high quality data, offer a ready reference to comprehend the existing scenario of alien plant species in the country and provide opportunities to identify, scrutinize and prioritize the management of these species. The database is dynamic and will be continuously updated with the availability of new data. It has the provision for bidirectional information exchange with the users, which will allow increasing the resolution of the database as well as the expansion of its capacity. All data will be associated with the source information and ILORA will encourage users to refer to the primary sources to give the contributors full credit and acknowledgement. The database is, therefore, envisaged to become a nationwide collaborative platform for a wide spectrum of stakeholders involving the scientific community, citizens, and policymakers. ILORA is freely accessible via an online data repository as well as through a dedicated website (https://ilora2020.wixsite.com/ilora2020).

scholarly journals Determining Plant Diversity within Interconnected Natural Habitat Remnants (Ecological Network) in an Agricultural Landscape: A Matter of Sampling Design?

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Francesco Liccari ◽  
Maurizia Sigura ◽  
Enrico Tordoni ◽  
Francesco Boscutti ◽  
Giovanni Bacaro
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Sampling Design ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Habitat Types ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Pilot Studies ◽  
Integrated Method

In intensively used and human-modified landscapes, biodiversity is often confined to remnants of natural habitats. Thus, identifying ecological networks (ENs) necessary to connect these patches and maintain high levels of biodiversity, not only for conservation but also for the effective management of the landscape, is required. However, ENs are often defined without a clear a-priori evaluation of their biodiversity and are seldom even monitored after their establishment. The objective of this study was to determine the adequate number of replicates to effectively characterize biodiversity content of natural habitats within the nodes of an EN in north-eastern Italy, based on vascular plant diversity. Plant communities within habitat types of the EN’s nodes were sampled through a hierarchical sampling design, evaluating both species richness and compositional dissimilarity. We developed an integrated method, consisting of multivariate measures of precision (MultSE), rarefaction curves and diversity partitioning approaches, which was applied to estimate the minimum number of replicates needed to characterize plant communities within the EN, evaluating also how the proposed optimization in sampling size affected the estimations of the characteristics of habitat types and nodes of the EN. We observed that reducing the total sampled replicates by 85.5% resulted to sufficiently characterize plant diversity of the whole EN, and by 72.5% to exhaustively distinguish plant communities among habitat types. This integrated method helped to fill the gap regarding the data collection to monitor biodiversity content within existing ENs, considering temporal and economic resources. We therefore suggest the use of this quantitative approach, based on probabilistic sampling, to conduct pilot studies in the context of ENs design and monitoring, and in general for habitat monitoring.

scholarly journals Alien flora of Oman: invasion status, taxonomic composition, habitats, origin, and pathways of introduction

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Patzelt ◽  
Petr Pyšek ◽  
Jan Pergl ◽  
Mark van Kleunen
Keyword(s):  
Alien Species ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Plant Invasions ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Alien Plant Species ◽  
Alien Plant ◽  
Alien Flora ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Status Assessment

AbstractWe present the first inventory and status assessment of the alien flora of Oman, mainly based on field data collected from 1998 to 2021. The study provides (i) a comprehensive account of alien vascular plant species occurring in the wild in Oman, with information on their taxonomic composition. For each species information is given on (ii) invasion status (casual, naturalized or invasive), biogeography, habitat and life-form characteristics, and pathways of introduction. Further, we (iii) explain the differences in the alien species composition in different parts of the country, and (iv) analyse the drivers of plant invasions in Oman. Out of the 111 alien species reported (7.7% of the total Oman vascular flora), 34 species are casuals and 77 naturalized; of the latter seven are considered invasive. The moderate number of alien plant species is likely a result of the country’s arid climate, with extremely high summer temperatures and low annual precipitation in most of its area, and the relatively long isolation of the country. The families richest in alien plant species are Fabaceae (17 species), Asteraceae (14 species) and Poaceae (12 species). More alien plants were found in northern Oman (82 species) than in southern Oman (60 species), and very few species are recorded from the central desert (7 species). The main habitats colonized were man-made habitats, either ruderal or agricultural. Most species alien to Oman are native to South America (49 species) or North America (43 species). This inventory provides a knowledge base for developing a national management strategy for alien vascular plants in Oman.

scholarly journals Alien flora in the Lake Engure Nature Park

2011 ◽  
Vol 65 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 154-163
Author(s):  
Gertrūde Gavrilova ◽  
Māris Laiviņš ◽  
Agnese Priede ◽  
Anda Medene
Keyword(s):  
Alien Species ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Coastal Dunes ◽  
Plant Invasions ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Alien Flora ◽  
Species Area ◽  
Nature Park ◽  
Park Area

Alien flora in the Lake Engure Nature Park This paper describes the alien vascular plant flora in the Lake Engure Nature Park, one of the most species-richest and diverse areas in Latvia. The review was based on the floristic inventories conducted in 1983-1989 and a field survey carried out in 2010. In total, 68 alien species (7.6% of the vascular plant flora in the nature park) were recorded, of which four had established in the period between both surveys. 22 species were recognised as adventive species and 46 as escaped species. Most of the alien species area concentrated in coastal villages, around human settlements, roadsides, coastal dunes and along streams discharging in the Lake Engure, thus mostly in transformed habitats. They are absent in most of the natural and semi-natural habitats. In comparison to the overall situation in Latvia, the Lake Engure Nature Park area is relatively little affected by plant invasions, most probably because large areas of natural and semi-natural habitats remain, since high naturalness of vegetation plays a significant role as a natural barrier hindering alien invasions.

scholarly journals Family graveyards form underappreciated local plant diversity hotspots in China's agricultural landscapes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng Gong ◽  
Liangtao Li ◽  
Jan C. Axmarcher ◽  
Zhenrong Yu ◽  
Yunhui Liu
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Landscape Features ◽  
Habitat Islands ◽  
Local Plant ◽  
Ecological Functioning

AbstractIn the intensively farmed, homogenous agricultural landscape of the North China Plain, family graveyards form distinct cultural landscape features. In addition to their cultural value, these graveyards represent semi-natural habitat islands whose potential roles in biodiversity conservation and ecological functioning has remained poorly understood. In this study, we investigated plant species richness on 199 family graveyards of different ages and sizes. In accordance with biogeography theory, both overall and insect-pollinated plant species richness increased with area and age of graveyards. Even small graveyards show a strong potential for conserving local plant richness, and a mosaic of both large and small family graveyards could play an important role in the conservation of farmland biodiversity and related ecosystem functions. The launch of agri-environmental measures that conserve and create semi-natural habitats, in turn benefitting agricultural biodiversity and ecological functioning, has proven difficult in China due to the shortage of dispensable arable land. Given the great value of family graveyards as semi-natural habitats reflected in our study, we propose to focus preliminary efforts on conserving these landscape features as existing, widespread and culturally important semi-natural habitat islands. This would represent an effective, complementary policy to a subsequent re-establishment of other semi-natural habitats for the conservation of biodiversity and ecological functioning in agricultural landscapes.

Effects of natural habitat fragmentation on the species richness, diversity, and composition of cliff vegetation

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 786-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
A R Haig ◽  
U Matthes ◽  
D W Larson
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Habitat Fragmentation ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Cliff Vegetation

Plant species richness, diversity, and some aspects of species composition were measured on natural limestone cliff fragments of varying size within the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve, Canada. This information was collected because knowledge about how different components of community structure change in response to natural fragmentation may permit the prediction of the effects of future anthropogenic fragmentation. The number and relative abundance of vascular plant, bryophyte, and lichen species were determined on cliff fragments that varied in area from 185 to 126 000 m2. Latitude, aspect, percent available photosynthetically active radiation on the cliff face, distance from the nearest neighbouring cliff, and length of the nearest neighbouring cliff were also measured. Regression analysis was used to test for a significant relationship between fragment area and diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens both separately and combined. Multiple regression with all subsets selection was used to find the best predictors of species richness from among all variables measured for the 21 cliff fragments. Multivariate analyses were used to study the effect of fragmentation on the structure of the vegetation as a whole. The results showed no significant relationship between cliff fragment area and richness or diversity for vascular plants and bryophytes, and only a marginally significant increase in richness with area for lichens. The multivariate analyses also showed that only one community type exists, and that its structure mainly varies as a function of latitude. These results indicate that very small fragments of cliff face can support a similar plant biodiversity as do large continuous portions of the Niagara Escarpment.Key words: habitat fragmentation, plant species richness, lichens, bryophytes, cliff vegetation.

scholarly journals Non-native species in the vascular flora of highlands and mountains of Iceland

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pawel Wasowicz
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Hot Springs ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Plant Colonization ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Alien Plant ◽  
Alien Flora ◽  
Central Highland

Highlands and mountains of Iceland (defined here as areas located above 400 m a.s.l) are considered to be the largest remaining wilderness areas in Europe. The present study provides first comprehensive and up-to-date data on non-native plant species from this area. The study was aimed to provide a checklist of alien plant species recorded from highland and mountain areas of Iceland, assess their naturalisation status, define spatial patterns and hotspots of their distribution and analyse temporal trends in the data. The presence of 18 non-native vascular plant species was evidenced including 13 casuals and 5 naturalised taxa (1 invasive). The results showed that the central highland is most vulnerable to alien plant colonisation, while mountain and highland areas in other parts of the country are much less impacted by non-native plant taxa. Clear hotspots of occurrence of alien flora can be defined and their geographic location corresponds to places of touristic interest such as hot springs, geothermal areas, mountain huts and shelters as well as main roads and tracks. Temporal trends characterizing non-native plant colonization show clearly that the process is still in its initial phase. The research suggests that human-mediated dispersal is the major force contributing to increased invasion risk within the investigated area.

scholarly journals Vascular flora of the Viešvilė State Strict Nature Reserve and its buffer zone (West Lithuania)

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-48
Author(s):  
Asta Uselienė ◽  
Vytautas Uselis
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Buffer Zone ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Dynamics Of Abundance ◽  
Black Alder ◽  
Native Flora ◽  
Vascular Plant Species ◽  
Floristic Studies

AbstractThe paper presents analysis of the results of floristic studies carried out over 25 years in the Viešvilė State Strict Nature Reserve (VSSNR) and its buffer zone. The list of 703 vascular plant species including the data on their distribution and dynamics of abundance are provided. The native flora of the VSSNR includes 580 species, i.e. amounts to 47% of all native vascular plant species recorded in Lithuania. Since 1991, after the establishment of the Reserve, 15 species have become extinct and 30 have become endangered as a result of natural succession. Among 37 alien species recorded in the Reserve, four species are penetrating into natural habitats and threatening their existence. It was ascertained that about half of all species were recorded in meadows and glades of the forests, i.e. in the habitats, which occupy less than 1% of the whole territory. These are also habitats of most extinct and endangered species. Riparian and fontinal black alder woods are the most rich in vascular plant species among forest habitats.

scholarly journals Drivers of vascular plant species area relationships in British broadleaved woodlands and their effects on the species area curve

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra Guy ◽  
Simon Smart ◽  
Colin Prentice
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Habitat Heterogeneity ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Riparian Zones ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Species Area

SummaryThe loss of plant biodiversity in Great Britain is a major concern, with a fifth of species endangered or vulnerable according to the latest IUCN Red List. The Government’s 25 Year Plan for the environment aims to halt this loss and build new habitats, including new woodlands. To ensure that biodiversity loss is halted in existing woodlands and gain is maximised in new ones, we need to better understand which drivers have been most influential in controlling biodiversity. Here we focus on vascular plant species’ richness.Previous attempts to explain plant species richness have mainly focussed on alpha diversity in a consistent, fixed unit area. Here, we additionally undertake a novel analysis of the effects of environmental heterogeneity and abiotic factors on species-area relationships derived from 16 randomly placed quadrats in each of 103 semi-natural, broad-leaved woodlands across Britain. Species-area relationships were examined at two scales (4m2 to 200m2 and 200m2 to 3200m2) to explore the relationship between the drivers of species richness and the exponent z, of the canonical species-area curve, S = cAz. We also explore the use of a new metric ζr, based on zeta diversity to quantify heterogeneity. Zeta diversity quantifies the number of species shared between multiple combinations of plots.Habitat heterogeneity increased species richness, as did the proximity of the woodlands to surrounding natural habitats. Higher levels of soil organic matter and the progression of woodlands to later successional stages, decreased species richness. Richness was also seen to have a unimodal response to soil acidity with a peak around pH 6. At the smaller scale, heterogeneity elements in the woodland such as riparian zones or coppicing led to an increase in the value of the exponent of the species area curve. At the larger scale, species turnover led to an increase in the exponent of the curves while succession led to a decrease. At both scales, soil organic matter content had a negative effect. ζr was found to be a significant and important variable and to affect both species richness and the slope of the species accumulation curves at larger scales.SynthesisHabitat heterogeneity measures included the presence of coppicing, open areas such as rides and riparian zones and the difference between species assemblages in different plots in the woodland. Results suggest that to maximize vascular plant diversity, woodlands should be managed for heterogeneity. In addition, the increase in richness with exposure to surrounding natural habitats suggests that woodlands benefit from being embedded in more benign habitats and further, that land management surrounding woodlands has a clear role to play in supporting biodiversity within woodlands. This is an area were Agri-environment schemes have an important role.

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