The presence of invasive alien plant species in different habitats: case study from Slovenia

Abstract

Invasive alien plants present a threat to diversity of native species. An attempt to evaluation of potential endangerment of specific habitats due to the presence of invasive alien plant species was made and results are presented in this paper. Data about the presence of invasive alien plants in specific habitats were extracted from the database Flora of Slovenia (at the Centre for Cartography of Fauna and Flora). The list of the most frequent invasive alien plant taxa in natural and semi-natural habitats is presented as well as the lists of invasive alien plants with potentially most negative influence on the biodiversity in different habitats. In general, taxa with potentially most negative influence on the biodiversity of natural habitats in Slovenia are: Robinia pseudacacia, Solidago gigantea, Fallopia japonica and F. × bohemica, Rudbeckia laciniata,Helianthus tuberosus. In the dataset the highest number of data about presence of invasive alien plants referred to riparian zones (44%). Thesecond highly infected group of habitats was floodplain woods. According to the Ellenberg indicator values the most of the invasive alien plants prefer nutrient-rich and sunny sites. The negative effect of Fallopia × bohemica on light conditions in established stands andconsequently on the species richness of native plants was also detected.