Roads support the spread of invasive Asclepias syriaca in Austria

Abstract

Summary Asclepias syriaca is an invasive alien plant that has recently spread in Central Europe. The spatiotemporal spread of A. syriaca was reconstructed based on the distribution data for Austria. A. syriaca has increased in abundance and range, especially after the year 2005. At present, the species occurs primarily in eastern Austria (Vienna, Lower Austria), while it was rarely recorded in southern and western Austria. Further spread and range filling is probable. Moreover, the distribution of A. syriaca along roadsides and the role of road type and adjoining land use in facilitating its spread were studied in an area of high presence of the species in Lower Austria in 2018. It was shown that A. syriaca occurred regularly along roadsides and the chance of finding A. syriaca was higher along unpaved roads and along roadsides bordered by forests and grassland. The results indicate that the road network contributes to the spread of A. syriaca in the study area, most likely by providing suitable and well connected habitats. If A. syriaca densities are to be lowered, emphasis should be placed on both a proper roadside management (e.g., mowing regimes) and on the control of the species in the respective adjacent habitat.

Understanding the Environmental Background of an Invasive Plant Species (Asclepias syriaca) for the Future: An Application of LUCAS Field Photographs and Machine Learning Algorithm Methods

“…Common milkweed was introduced into Europe in 1629 [21]. In the invaded range, the species occurs mainly in ruderal habitats, road verges [22], abandoned fields, and tree plantations [21]. The study of its ecological effects has been gaining importance given its range expansion in recent decades.…”

Interaction of traffic intensity and habitat features shape invasion dynamics of an invasive alien species (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) in a regional road network

“…4; Joly et al 2011), while such change may favor other species. The perennial Asclepias syriaca, for example, preferably colonizes unpaved roadsides and those bordered by forests and grassland in Austria (Follak et al 2018b) The sudden increase in the overall occupancy of common ragweed in the road network after the first observation period (2008)(2009), Fig. 3) seems to be a system-wide event which might be related to interannual changes of the recruitment dynamics as well as to an unusually high seed production in the preceding year.…”

Roadsides and neighboring field edges harbor different weed compositions

“…Plants also spread without human assistance along the edge of these corridors where light conditions, disturbance and soil properties are altered (Forman and Alexander, 1998;Spellerberg, 1998). Roads can therefore facilitate the spread of invasive and other non-native species including weeds into the adjacent landscape (Tyser and Worley, 1992;Gelbard and Belnap, 2003;Joly et al, 2011;Meunier and Lavoie, 2012;Follak et al, 2018;Speziale et al, 2018). These species can reduce biodiversity and modify ecosystems (Gaertner et al, 2009).…”