Invasive plant species – threat to grasslands in river valleys

Abstract

River valleys are areas of transition between aquatic and terrestrial communities, with com- plex biological structure. As ecotones they have high biodiversity as a result of the occurrence of species with different requirements according to soil moisture. They create ecological corridors, allowing migration of the organisms in human disturbed landscape. With these migration routes, species of foreign origin which spread to a new area also benefit. Numerous alien species are considered as invasive, and described as a threat to biodiversity due to strong competitive abilities. To describe the relationships between a num- ber of invasive species, biodiversity and size of a river, the vegetation of 750 m fragments of the Odra and Dobra river valleys on the area of the Wroclaw city were analysed. The comparison of plant communities in the valley of a large, managed river (Odra) and its small tributary (Dobra) was carried out. The plant assemblages, occurring in study areas, determined the habitat conditions on the basis of Ellenberg's indi- cator values (EIV's), as well as Shannon-Wiener biodiversity index was defined. The designed sites differed according to Shannon-Wiener biodiversity index, as well as soil properties: moisture, reaction, and fertility. In the study side of the Odra river ruderal and scrub species were dominated, whereas in case of study site of the Dobra river - meadows and ruderal species. The invasive plant species occurring in the Odra valley are: Symphoricarpos albus, Solidago gigantea, S. canadensis, Robinia pseudoacacia, Clematis vitalba, Quercus rubra, Reynoutria japonica, Parthenocissus inserta and Echinocystis lobata, and in the Dobra valley: Solidago gigantea, S. canadensis. The analysis of correlation between Shannon-Wiener biodiversity index and share of invasive species revealed statistically significant influence of occurrence of invasive species on biodiversity of plant communities in case of the Odra river.