Abstract
Heterogeneous and disturbed habitats within railway areas create an ideal environment for establishment of invasive plant species. In this study, we compared the invasive species composition and abundance within railway areas of two cities, Lublin, SE Poland and Lviv, W Ukraine. In total, 70 invasive species were recorded. The invasive species list was similar for the two cities, with the most invasive species occurring at both (81.4%), 8.5% occurring only in Lublin and 10% only in Lviv. The proportion of invasive species in the total flora was almost 1.5-fold higher at Lviv compared to Lublin. Invasive species have originated mainly from continental America (45.7%), followed by Asia and Eurasia. The participation of invasive plants derived from Asia and Eurasia at Lviv is higher than at Lublin. The invasive flora includes a wide range of taxonomic groups, with a predominance of Asteraceae and Poaceae. The ecological attributes of invasive species on railway areas are: mainly annual therophytes, mostly wind- and insect pollination modes, a predominance of generative reproduction, anthropochorous and anemochorous dispersal and short-term persistent, long-term persistent or transient seed banks.
Highlights
Invasions of plant species are considered among global problems which impair biodiversity in man-made and natural and seminatural ecosystems [1]
The great spread of invasive plant species is documented worldwide [2,3,4] and shows an increasing trend observed in Europe of the proportion of neophytes in the total flora, and a decreasing or stable trend in the number of archaeophytes [5,6,7]
509 vascular plant species were recorded on the railway areas (Lublin, 447 and Lviv 371 species; Tab. 1)
Summary
Invasions of plant species are considered among global problems which impair biodiversity in man-made and natural and seminatural ecosystems [1]. The great spread of invasive plant species is documented worldwide [2,3,4] and shows an increasing trend observed in Europe of the proportion of neophytes (alien species brought to Europe post-1500) in the total flora, and a decreasing or stable trend in the number of archaeophytes (alien species brought to Europe pre-1500) [5,6,7]. Evidence shows that the greater the number of transport links within an urban area, the greater the impact on increased risk from invasive species, as these usually spread along linear corridors, notably roads and railway lines [13]
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