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Grass fires and road structure influence plant invasions in a critical wildlife habitat in north-eastern India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2023

Subham Banerjee ,
Amit Das ,
Masidur Rahman ,
Swapnil Bhowal ,
Dhritiman Das  and
Robert John Open the ORCID record for Robert John [Opens in a new window]
Subham Banerjee
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, Mohanpur 741246, West Bengal, India
Amit Das
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, Mohanpur 741246, West Bengal, India
Masidur Rahman
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, Mohanpur 741246, West Bengal, India
Swapnil Bhowal
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, Mohanpur 741246, West Bengal, India
Dhritiman Das
Affiliation:
Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Les Augres Manor, La Profonde Rue, Trinity, Jersey, JE3 5BP, Channel Islands
Robert John*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, Mohanpur 741246, West Bengal, India Key Laboratory of Genetics and Germplasm Innovation of Tropical Special Rainforest Trees and Ornamental Plants, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, PR China
*
Author for correspondence: Dr Robert John, Email: robert.john@iiserkol.ac.in
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Summary

One of the multiple threats to protected areas worldwide, invasive plant species have the potential to decrease biodiversity and ecosystem function. We studied changes in infestation by two widespread invasive plant species – Chromolaena odorata and Mikania micrantha – in India’s Manas National Park, a critical conservation site for threatened flora and fauna. Based on field surveys in 2011 and 2019, we found that C. odorata and M. micrantha were present in most of the sampled plots and had newly invaded over 20% of the plots. However, the abundance of M. micrantha decreased in 45% of the plots while C. odorata increased in >50% of the plots. We used a decision tree-based regression with environmental variables as predictors to generate the distribution, abundance and invasion risk maps of the two species. Among environmental variables, road proximity and fire frequency had the strongest influences, respectively, on C. odorata and M. micrantha. Invaded quadrats exhibited lower native-plant diversity than non-invaded quadrats, and C. odorata specifically had a strong negative association with native-plant community structure. These invasive species have increased their range and abundance, and our predicted invasion risk maps indicate the areas where management intervention is urgently needed.

Keywords

biodiversityChromolaena odoratainvasive speciesManas National ParkMikania micranthaprotected areaTerai
Type
Research Paper
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , June 2023 , pp. 99 - 107
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Foundation for Environmental Conservation

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