Mapping Invasive Plants in Riverbank Vegetation

Abstract

Invasive plants are naturalised plants that create populations that are spreading rapidly and to the long distances from parent plants. Invasive plants are occupying a large amount of space in invaded habitats, expected to impose a negative impact on the native vegetation. This study is focused on bearing the invasive plants close to the river. Based on the field work and measurements there can be seen relation between riverbank vegetation and river. We are mapping the occurrence Impatiens glandulifera and Fallopia japonica. They are invasive plants that threat the natural riverbank ecosystems. We updated the database of localities showed in the research of State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic and we identified a new locality of invasive plants. The focus of our research is the riverbank vegetation on the streams in region MaléKarpaty in Slovakia. Impatiens glandulifera and Fallopia japonicainvate the riverbank vegetation very often. Natural vegetation is degraded and the balance state in nature is broken. The spread of the invasive plants is driven by the dispersal and the colonization capabilities of the vegetative and sexual propagules. Our study focuses on how the water dispersal of stem and rhizome fragments have a share of the colonization dynamics of riverbanks. Watercourses are powerful vectors of species colonizing riverbanks. Invasion by these species is therefore likely to seriously affect biodiversity and reduce the quality of the riparian ecosystems for amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals whose diets are largely composed of arthropods. The biodiversity is rapidly decreasing and therefore it is very important to decelerate the invasive process.