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

Annette Patzelt,Petr Pyšek,Jan Pergl,Mark Van Kleunen

doi:10.1007/s10530-021-02711-4

Abstract

We 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.

Highlights

Environmental changes such as biological invasions are a significant aspect of the Anthropocene (Lewis and Maslin 2015; van Kleunen et al 2015; Pysek et al 2017) and a major threat to biodiversity (Brondizio et al 2019; Lowe et al 2004)
A total of 111 alien vascular plant species are recorded from Oman; a complete list of species with information on their taxonomy, life form, origin, invasion status and habitats is provided in Supplementary Table 1
The genera richest in alien species are Ipomoea (4 species), Amaranthus, Cenchrus, Euphorbia and Senna (3 species each), while 10 genera are represented by two species and 17 genera by one species (Supplementary Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Environmental changes such as biological invasions are a significant aspect of the Anthropocene (Lewis and Maslin 2015; van Kleunen et al 2015; Pysek et al 2017) and a major threat to biodiversity (Brondizio et al 2019; Lowe et al 2004). Alien species inventories for various taxonomic groups are available for many countries, as well as subnational regions (starting to systematically cover the European continent by DAISIE 2009; see e.g., van Kleunen et al 2015; Dawson et al 2017; Dyer et al 2017; Pysek et al 2017; Randall 2017; Pagad et al 2018; Darrigran et al 2020). Improving knowledge of the distributions of alien plant species in poorly studied regions is important for many reasons, including forming the baseline data for alien species management plans (Latombe et al 2017) and obtaining a complete picture of global alien species richness (Pysek et al 2017)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion