Tiawoun Makuété A P, Malan Pieter W, Comole Alvino A, Moshobane Moleseng C
Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Department of Botany, North-West University, Mafikeng, Private Bag X 2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa.
School of Mathematics, Sciences and Technology Education, Department of Natural Sciences, North-West University, Mafikeng, Private Bag X 2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa.
Plants (Basel). 2023 Apr 5;12(7):1561. doi: 10.3390/plants12071561.
Invasive alien species represent one of the main threats to biodiversity and species extinction. This is the case for the genus among which is the most invasive and common tree species along the Molopo River in the North-West Province, impacting native plant communities. However, its impact on the composition and diversity of native woody species remains poorly investigated in the area. Thus, this study aimed to assess the impact of on native woody plant composition and diversity across three sites along the Molopo River. At each site, five quadrats of 20 × 20 m were randomly established in invaded and adjacent uninvaded stands. A comparative methodological approach was adopted, and the woody plants in invaded and uninvaded stands with similar site conditions were sampled. The results showed that native woody species density differed significantly ( < 0.05) between invaded and uninvaded stands, except for Bray sites, where there was a marginal difference ( = 0.6). The overall native woody species density decreased by 79.7% in the invaded stand. However, non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) and analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) indicated significant differences in native tree composition between invaded and uninvaded stands at all sites. In all three sites, all ecological indices had significantly lower values in invaded stands compared to uninvaded stands. The decrease in all ecological indices in invaded over uninvaded stands indicated that invasion reduced the diversity of native woody plant species. Due to the incessant spread of , it may become a long-term dominant species with an increasing impact on the native vegetation. Therefore, the findings of this study call for urgent management and appropriate control measures against the ongoing spread of this invader within the riparian zones of the Molopo River in North-West Province.
外来入侵物种是生物多样性和物种灭绝的主要威胁之一。 属就是这种情况，其中 是西北省莫洛波河沿岸最具入侵性和最常见的树种，对当地植物群落产生影响。然而，其对当地木本物种组成和多样性的影响在该地区仍未得到充分研究。因此，本研究旨在评估 在莫洛波河沿岸三个地点对当地木本植物组成和多样性的影响。在每个地点，在入侵和相邻未入侵的林分中随机设立五个20×20米的样方。采用了比较方法，对具有相似立地条件的入侵和未入侵林分中的木本植物进行了采样。结果表明，除了布雷地点差异不显著（ = 0.6）外，入侵和未入侵林分之间的本地木本物种密度存在显著差异（ < 0.05）。入侵林分中本地木本物种的总体密度下降了79.7%。然而，非度量多维标度分析（nMDS）和相似性分析（ANOSIM）表明，所有地点入侵和未入侵林分之间的本地树木组成存在显著差异。在所有三个地点，与未入侵林分相比，入侵林分中所有生态指数的值均显著较低。入侵林分与未入侵林分相比，所有生态指数的下降表明 入侵降低了本地木本植物物种的多样性。由于 的不断扩散，它可能成为一种长期优势物种，对本地植被的影响越来越大。因此，本研究的结果呼吁针对这种入侵者在西北省莫洛波河河岸带的持续扩散采取紧急管理和适当的控制措施。
