Impact of Parthenium hysterophorus on grazing land communities in north‐eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

An investigation into the impact of Parthenium hysterophorus infestation was conducted in 2007 in the north-eastern grazing lands of Ethiopia. Data on the above-ground and seedbank species diversity were collected from five areas, each having sites with low, medium, or high levels of weed infestation. A total of 72 species was found in all areas. They were categorized into grass species (23), other species (48), or P. hysterophorus for ease of interpretation. A regression analysis showed a highly significant, but negative, relationship between the aboveground species diversity and evenness with P. hysterophorus abundance. The mean cover abundance for the three infestation levels was 33.4% for P. hysterophorus, 41.0% for the grass species, and 26.5% for the other species.The most dominant grass species under all infestation levels were Cynodon dactylon, Urochloa panicoides, and Chloris gayana, while Andropogon abyssinicus and Eragrostis spp. were dominant under the low and medium infestation levels, respectively, and Hyparrhenia hirta was dominant under the low infestation level. Among the other species, Solanum nigrum was the most dominant under the low infestation level and Datura stramonium and Xanthium spp. were the most dominant under the medium and high infestation levels, respectively. The above-ground dry biomass of P. hysterophorus increased between the low and high infestation levels, while that of the grass or other species reduced in the high, as compared to the low, infestation level. Although the grass species density decreased significantly with successive increases in the P. hysterophorus infestation level, no such trend could be seen for the other species. Within the soil seed bank, the viable seed density for the grass species, other species, and P. hysterophorus were 25.7, 5.8, and 68.5%, respectively. Similarly, the soil seed bank under the low-, medium-, and high-infestation sites was dominated by P. hysterophorus, which contributed 25.1, 65.4, and 87.4% of the viable seed bank, respectively. Although the overall similarity between the above-ground vegetation composition and the soil seed bank was low, it was similar at the low-infested site. Thus, the invasion by P. hysterophorus was found to critically endanger the biodiversity of the grazing lands, particularly for the different grass and forbs species in the area. These changes might adversely affect not only future agriculture, but also food security, unless appropriate practises are developed and implemented for P. hysterophorus management.

Impact of Invasive Alien Plant, Xanthium Strumarium, On Species Diversity and Composition of Invaded Plant Communities in Borena Zone, Ethiopia

“…Among these are parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus), prosopis (Prosopis juliflora), water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), cactus (Euphorbia stricta), Mimosa diplotricha, Xantium strumarium and lantana weed (Lantana camara). 3,4 Xanthium strumarium (English common name cocklebur, Banda in Oromiffa, Diha nikel in Amharic) is a common monoecious annual herbaceous plant species belonging to Asteraceae family. 5 More than sixteen Xthanthium species have been identified and the most common are Xanthium strumarium and Xanthium spinosum.…”

Early recovery signs of an Australian grassland following the management of Parthenium hysterophorus L.

“…hysterophorus (Osem et al, 2006;Nigatu et al, 2010;Tozer et al, 2010). The assessment methodology used for the below-ground community allows for the germination of species that might otherwise remain dormant under field conditions and with these species not being present at the time of the above-ground survey.…”

“…This, in turn, leads to a lowering of the carrying capacity of the grassland making profitable beef cattle production very difficult (Nigatu et al, 2010). Currently in Queensland, Australia, P. hysterophorus is mostly a weed of grasslands, affecting beef cattle production by as much as ca.…”

Parthenium hysterophorus in Current Scenario: A Toxic Weed with Industrial, Agricultural and Medicinal Applications

“…Parthenium hysterophorus extracts showed significant reduction in weed density and has also shown allelopathic effects toward Eragrostis tef, Cynodon dactylon, Cyperus rotundus, Digitaria sanguinalis, Portulaca oleracea, Echinochloa crus-galli, Euphorbia prostrata and Xanthium strumariam etc. (Maharjan et al, 2007;Nigatu et al, 2010) (Table 2).…”