Non-native plants invasions public parks, friends or foe?

Abstract

Non-native plants (NNPs) are known as alien species, which are brought outside of their natural habitats due to human activity and have an impact on the biodiversity of native plants (NPs). Because parks serve as havens for NNPs, they may pose a threat to them. The present study documented the NNPs conserved in the parks distributed in Cairo and the new settlements surrounding it. Thirty field visits were conducted from spring 2022 to Spring 2023 in 19 parks distributed in the study area. In each park NNPs were recorded. Native range, natural habitats and national geographical distribution, ethnobotanical uses, threats, and human risks were determined for NNPs. The results indicated that 37 wild NNPs belonged to 18 families were recorded in the surveyed gardens. Six species belonged to Tropical America, and other six species belonged to Mediterranean region. All recorded species were distributed in the Nile region. Thirty-six species used as medicinal plants and 31 species for human food. All recorded NNPs were exposed to one or several types of threats in their natural habitats, while 10 species were found to have a toxic effect on humans. Our results showed that the Egyptian botanic and public gardens could play an important role in the future as a source of NNPs that could be used for their contributions to ecosystem functioning and services. Also provides evidence for the essential role of public gardens in the Egyptian Nile Region for plant diversity conservation, as helps conserve wild species from other geographical regions.