Impact of troublesome expansive weed Rumex alpinus on species diversity of mountain pastures in Tatra National Park, Poland

Anna Delimat,Piotr Kiełtyk

doi:10.2478/s11756-018-0148-9

Abstract

Alpine dock (Rumex alpinus) is a native plant species in many European mountain ranges. It comes from moist brushwood and open tall herb communities, though it has invaded mountain pastures. This troublesome weed forms permanent monodominant stands characterised by low nature conservation and agricultural values. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies assessing the impact of R. alpinus on invaded communities. Therefore, in this study we examined the potential effect of an R. alpinus on species richness, diversity and the composition of invaded vegetation in Tatra National Park, Poland. Invaded plots dominated by R. alpinus had, compared to uninvaded control plots, significantly reduced species richness, as well as low Shannon and Simpson diversity and Pielou evenness indices’ values; the species richness decline in the pairs of invaded-uninvaded plots was as much as 37.7%. Analysing changes in diversity from an increase in R. alpinus coverage revealed that Shannon, Simpson and Pielou’s diversity indices’ values did not considerably change up to 30% of R. alpinus coverage, but a further increase in R. alpinus coverage led to a steep decline in diversity. There was exception in a number of species per plot, which decreased steadily along with the increase of R. alpinus coverage. Multivariate analysis indicated a significant shift in the composition of invaded plots in relation to uninvaded plots, resulting from the shared increase of more shadow-tolerant and higher soil base-, nutrient- and moist-demanding species.

Highlights

Mountain pastures developed from long-lasting, traditional pasturage farming in European high mountain regions are considered high conservation value zoo-anthropogenic habitats
We examined whether the impact of R. alpinus on diversity of invaded vegetation differed across elevations; in this analysis diversity indices were modelled by elevation in simple linear and quadratic regressions, both run separately for invaded and uninvaded plots
Invaded plots dominated by R. alpinus had significantly reduced species richness and diversity compared to uninvaded control plots (Fig. 2)

Summary

Introduction

Mountain pastures developed from long-lasting, traditional pasturage farming in European high mountain regions are considered high conservation value zoo-anthropogenic habitats. Along with subsequent soil fertilization from manure, have made these pastures species-rich plant communities. W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, 31-512 Kraków, Poland. Pasturage practices have ceased due to various socioeconomic reasons and nature conservation restrictions, such as the establishment of protected areas (StachurskaSwakoń 2008). Abandoned or inappropriately managed mountain pastures, over-fertilized locations, were invaded by alpine dock (Rumex alpinus L., Polygonaceae), a native in Poland troublesome species capable of forming permanent, monodominant stands characterised by a relatively low nature conservation and agricultural values (Spatz 1980; Rehder 1982; Bohner 2005)

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