Journal of Ecology and Environment

The Ecological Society of Korea (한국생태학회)
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Impact of parthenium weed invasion on plants and their soil seedbank in a subtropical grassland, central Nepal

  • Received : 2021.10.19
  • Accepted : 2021.11.23
  • Published : 2022.03.31
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Abstract

Background: Parthenium hysterophorus L. (Asteraceae; hereafter Parthenium) is an invasive alien species of global significance because of its' negative ecological and socioeconomic impacts. This species is spreading rapidly from lowland Tarai to Middle Mountain regions in Nepal. In the present study, we analyzed the impacts of Parthenium on plant community composition including their soil seedbank in subtropical grasslands located in central Nepal. Data was collected in a 10 m long transects passing through areas of high (> 90% cover), medium (40%-60%) and low (< 10%) levels of Parthenium cover using a plot of 1 m2. Altogether, we sampled 90 plots in 30 transects. Seedling emergence method was used to estimate soil seedbank density in the soil samples (0-10 cm depth) collected from the plots with high Parthenium cover. Results: There was no significant difference in the plant species richness at different levels of Parthenium invasion whereas there was a significant change in the species composition of above ground flora due to Parthenium invasion. There was also a significant difference in species composition between soil seedbank and aboveground flora in the highly invaded plots. Parthenium was the most dominant in soil seedbank, contributing 65% to the total soil seedbank. Conclusions: Our study suggests that Parthenium has considerable negative impact on the native grassland flora, and the dominance of Parthenium in the soil seedbank means there is a challenge for its management. It also suggests the need of monitoring the soil seedbank dynamics while managing Parthenium weed.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

We are thankful to Ambika Paudel for help in field data collection and laboratory works, and Mahesh Bisht for preparing map of the study area. We are also thankful to Tribhuvan University Central Herbarium (TUCH) and National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (KATH) for their permission to examine herbarium specimens for plant identification.

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