Quick assessment of the invasiveness of non‐native plant species by using eco‐physiological parameters in Tram Chim National Park, Vietnam

Abstract

Using eco‐physiological parameters, a quick assessment of the invasiveness of non‐native plant species was conducted in Tram Chim National Park, a Ramsar site that is located in the Mekong River Delta region of Vietnam. An investigation of non‐native species and a vegetation analysis were carried out along 25 line transects and in 50 quadrats by using the Braun–Blanquet method. The researchers identified 84 non‐native plant species but only 31 species were naturalized in the wetland ecosystems. Twenty of those 31 species with a high importance value index were screened by using a parameter that was obtained from chlorophyll a fluorescence measurement, the performance index. Five species were identified as invasive and five others were predicted to be potentially invasive. The first group of five species were: M imosa pigra, P anicum repens, E ichhornia crassipes, S alvinia cucullata and L eersia hexandra, which already had been confirmed as important weeds in the national park by previous studies. From the second group, two species ( L udwigia hyssopifolia and S accharum spontaneum) already are becoming prominent species in some locations. The three remaining species ( M onochoria hastata, I sachne globosa and M arsilea quadrifolia) are likely to become invasive in the future.