Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India.
PLoS One. 2021 Mar 26;16(3):e0246665. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246665. eCollection 2021.
Precise assessment of the impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) on ecosystem structure and functions is paramount for implementing appropriate management and restoration strategies. Here we investigated the impacts of Leucanthemum vulgare (ox-eye daisy), an aggressive invader in Kashmir Himalaya, on species diversity and primary productivity. We also evaluated bunch of strategies for the ecological restoration of the habitats invaded by this species. We found that uninvaded plots harbored on an average of 6.11 (±2.92) more species per 1m2 of quadrat than invaded plots. At multivariate scale, the ordination (nMDS) and ANOSIM exhibited significant differences between invaded and uninvaded plots with R = 0.7889 and p < 0.001. The decrease in diversity indices in invaded as compared to uninvaded plots was associated with more productive plant communities due to Leucanthemum invasion. Higher altitude Gulmarg site was more affected by Leucanthemum invasion than lower altitude Drung site. We tested different approaches for restoration and management of invaded habitats that include herbicide treatment at seedling stage, herbicide treatment before and after flowering stage, mowing and herbicide treatment together, joint mowing, digging and herbicide treatment and Leucanthemum uprooting. Among these treatments, uprooting and combined digging, mowing and herbicide treatment proved to be most effective in controlling Leucanthemum invasion. The implications of these results for effective management of ecologically sensitive and socio-culturally important landscapes are discussed.
精确评估入侵外来物种 (IAS) 对生态系统结构和功能的影响对于实施适当的管理和恢复策略至关重要。在这里，我们研究了 Leucanthemum vulgare（牛眼雏菊）对物种多样性和初级生产力的影响，Leucanthemum vulgare 是克什米尔喜马拉雅山的一种侵略性入侵物种。我们还评估了一系列策略，用于恢复该物种入侵的栖息地。我们发现，未受入侵的样方平均每 1m2 的样方比受入侵的样方多 6.11 个（±2.92）物种。在多变量尺度上，排序（nMDS）和 ANOSIM 表明受入侵和未受入侵样方之间存在显著差异，R = 0.7889，p < 0.001。与未受入侵的样方相比，受入侵的样方多样性指数下降，这与 Leucanthemum 入侵导致的更具生产力的植物群落有关。与较低海拔的 Drung 地点相比，较高海拔的 Gulmarg 地点受 Leucanthemum 入侵的影响更大。我们测试了不同的方法来恢复和管理受入侵的栖息地，包括在幼苗阶段使用除草剂、在开花前后阶段使用除草剂、修剪和同时使用除草剂、联合修剪、挖掘和除草剂处理以及连根拔起 Leucanthemum。在这些处理中，连根拔起和联合挖掘、修剪、除草处理被证明是控制 Leucanthemum 入侵最有效的方法。讨论了这些结果对有效管理生态敏感和社会文化重要景观的意义。
