Spread of invasive plants along trails in two national parks in West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The increase of alien invasive plants in biological reserves is a major threat to biodiversity in tropical areas. We surveyed invasive angiosperms in two national parks in West Java and estimated their potential effects on declining biodiversity. In 2010 and 2011, we surveyed three trails in Mt. Halimun-Salak National Park (HSNP) and three trails in Mt. Gede-Pangrango National Park (GPNP). At 50-m intervals along trails from the park border to the interior, we recorded species name and coverage of invasive plants, trail width, and degree of vegetation cover of all species. Excluding members of Poaceae and Cyperaceae, 31 invasive species were found: 19 along 13.75 km of trails in HSNP and 29 along 11.45 km of trails in GPNP. The number of species per 500 m was 10.7 in HSNP and 8.6 in GPNP. All trails in HSNP and the nearest trail in GPNP had similar species compositions. Invasive plants along these trails may have the same origin: Bogor and Jakarta. The other two trails in GPNP seemed to be affected independently by invasion from Cibodas Botanic Garden and orchards, respectively. The number of invasive species along trails was most significantly correlated with elevation, followed by distance from the park border, and trail width. The significant relationship with distance from the border highlights that a nature reserve with the same area but a longer border has a higher risk of invasion than one with a shorter border.

Management priorities for exotic plants in an urban Atlantic Forest reserve

“…The corn plant, Dracaena fragrans, is considered invasive in Costa Rica (Morales 2015) and occurs along trails in Mount Halimun-Salak National Park in Indonesia (Kudo et al 2014). In Brazil, the only invasion record found for the species is in Tijuca National Park, Rio de Janeiro, where it was diagnosed as a competitive and aggressive invader (Ribeiro 2006).…”

Alien plant invasions of protected areas in Java, Indonesia

“…In general, the results of this study agree with previous studies in some of the same parks 19 – 22 . Major exceptions can be explained by localized invasions, including Maesopsis eminii , which was reported common along a trail (from Bodogol) in Gunung Gede Pangrango that was not surveyed in this study 20 , and several species recorded in a savanna area at Alas Purwo 19 . This highlights a major problem with assessing plant invasions in protected areas, where broad-scale surveys like this one are an efficient way of detecting widespread species, but may miss habitat specialists or species in the early stages of invasion, both of which may require management attention.…”

“…These include the deliberate planting of Acacia nilotica as a fire break in Baluran in 1969 22 , and the spread of Acacia decurrens from state-owned forest concessions in Gunung Merapi, Gunung Merbabu, and Bromo Tengger Semeru (personal communications). Five species apparently escaped into Gunung Gede Pangrango from the adjacent Cibodas Botanical Garden, including Bartlettina sordida , Cestrum aurantiacum , two Brugmansia spp., and Passiflora ligularis 20 , 26 , 27 . All but one of these species are still confined to the park or parks into which they were historically introduced and where they are common, despite the occurrence of similar environments in other parks (Supplementary Table S1 ).…”

Invasive plants of the Kampinos National Park outskirts – the current state and threats to the protected area

“…According to many studies, humans and their activity are important vectors in the plant invasion process in the protected areas [e.g. ADAMOWSKI et al, 2002;MCKINNEY, 2002;PAUCHARD, ALABACK, 2004;ALLEN et al, 2009;PYŠEK et al, 2011;SPEAR et al, 2013;KUDO et al, 2014]. In the case of KNP, among others, it is the intentional cultivation of ornamental plants of alien origin in cottage gardens located in settlements surrounding the national park [KIRPLUK, 2012;KIRPLUK, BOMANOWSKA, 2015].…”