Abstract
Impact of parthenium weed invasion on plants and their soil seedbank in a subtropical grassland, central Nepal
Highlights
Increasing invasions by alien plants in grasslands and subsequent alteration of species composition and ecological processes is a global problem, in the grasslands of human dominated landscapes (Cilliers et al 2008; Seastedt and Pyšek 2011)
Species richness and composition at different levels of parthenium weed invasion We recorded a total of 62 plant species including Parthenium in the plots of high, medium and low levels of Parthenium invasions (Additional file 1: Table S1)
There was no significant difference in the species richness among various levels of Parthenium invasion though Parthenium density, maximum height, cover of Parthenium, and other vegetation cover were considerably diverse at different levels of Parthenium invasion (Table 1)
Summary
Increasing invasions by alien plants in grasslands and subsequent alteration of species composition and ecological processes is a global problem, in the grasslands of human dominated landscapes (Cilliers et al 2008; Seastedt and Pyšek 2011). Parthenium weed grows well in disturbed habitats such as the grasslands in urban and periurban areas, and various other natural habitats such as grassland, open woodlands, flood plains and river banks (Chhogyel et al 2021; Gupta and Narayan 2006; Shrestha et al 2019a; Tamado and Milberg 2000) High invasiveness of this weed has been attributed to its prolific seed production, persistent soil seedbank, intermediate C3C4 mechanism of photosynthesis, high tolerance to abiotic stresses, and allelopathic potential (Bajwa et al 2016). (Asteraceae; hereafter Parthenium) is an invasive alien species of global significance because of its’ negative ecological and socioeconomic impacts This species is spreading rapidly from lowland Tarai to Middle Mountain regions in Nepal. It suggests the need of monitoring the soil seedbank dynamics while managing Parthenium weed
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