Abstract
Abstract Morni Hills of Panchkula district, Haryana harbor floristically important tropical dry deciduous forests and are quite enriched with the phytodiversity of medicinally important plant species. But these forests are under huge pressure due to anthropogenic activities facilitating the establishment and spread of invasive plant species. So, the present study was conducted in the forests of Morni Hills to understand the ecology of invasive alien plant species growing there. During the study, the area was colonized by many invasive alien plant species, such as Ageratum conyzoides L., A. haustonianum Mill., Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M. King & H. Rob., Lantana camara L., etc. In terms of longevity, the annual growth form dominated over the perennial. The family Asteraceae was dominant with 11 species, followed by Malvaceae and others. The biological spectrum showed that the dominant life form was therophytes followed by phanerophytes and others, indicating vegetation disturbance while during flowering phenology assessment, maximum plant species were found to be flowering throughout the year. Using the data of flowering (presence or absence), a hierarchical cluster analysis was carried out and a heatmap was prepared. The diversity of invasive plants was calculated along an altitudinal gradient and was found to be changing along with rising altitude in a hump-shaped pattern. The invasive alien plant species cause severe threats to the forest ecosystems. Hence, by policy planning and adopting appropriate management strategies in the forests of Morni Hills, the growth of invasive alien plant species should be controlled to retain the natural ecology of the area.
Highlights
The tropical and subtropical forest ecosystems are often referred to have high species diversity that provides a variety of benefits to the local communities which help to endure the maintenance and their livelihood
A total of 31 invasive plant species (1 tree, 4 shrubs, 25 herbs, and 1 climber) belonging to 16 families have been recorded from the present study site (Table 1)
The floristic analysis revealed that the dominant life form was therophytes (22) followed by phanerophytes (5), hemicryptophytes (2), chamaephytes (1), and geophytes (1)
Summary
The tropical and subtropical forest ecosystems are often referred to have high species diversity that provides a variety of benefits to the local communities which help to endure the maintenance and their livelihood. Many of these forests are under excessive anthropogenic pressure and necessitate proper management activities to maintain overall biodiversity, productivity, and sustainability. It has been seen that in comparison to native species, the invasive plant species are phenotypically plastic which enhances their ecological niche breadth and confers a fitness advantage to dwell such an extensive range of environmental conditions (Kühn et al, 2004; Drenovsky et al, 2012; Oduor et al, 2016)
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