Status of Invasive Alien Plant Species in Urban Forest of Hetauda, Nepal

Abstract

This paper explores the status of Invasive Alien Plant Species in an urban forest of Hetauda, Nepal. The study is based on a quadrate survey (130 quadrants) within the transect line at an interval of 30 m within different six habitat types. This study identified a total of 22 invasive alien plant species representing 20 genera and 12 families out of recorded 26 species representing 24 genera and 15 families in the country. This study identified four species namely Chromolaena odorata, Eichhornia crassipes, Lantana camara and Mikania micrantha in the study area that were listed as the world’s 100 worst invasive species. The invasion was found to be negatively correlated with canopy cover. The higher the canopy cover; the lower the abundance of invasive alien species. Regarding the habitat type, settlement area had the highest number of invasive species followed by forest and roadside. Mikania micrantha, Lantana camara, Ageratum houstonianum and Chromolaena odorata were mostly abundant in forest whereas Eichhornia crassipes was highly abundant in wetlands. Mikania micrantha was mostly abundant in settlement area and Senna tora was confined to open land. The relative abundance of Ageratum conyzoides, Senna occidentalis, Ageratum adenophora, Leersia hexandra, Mimosa pudica, Bidens pilosa, Oxalis latifolia, Ipomoea carnea, Amaranthus spinosus, Argemone mexicana, Esosphaerum suaveolens were lower.

Chital's call: An appeal for conservation strategies in the forest of the Institute of Forestry, Hetauda, Nepal

“…The effects of IAPS on the degradation of chital habitat are seen to be another threat to the existence of their population. A total of 22 species of IAPS are recorded in the forests of IOF where Mikania micrantha, Chromolaena odorata, Lantana camara, and Ageratina houstonianum are found mostly (Pandey et al 2021) which is a worrying issue considering its small area. It threatens their survival and population growth mainly due to habitat loss and lack of palatable plant species by the IAPS invasion (Murphy et al 2013) and are negatively associated with the abundance of wild ungulates (Adhikari et al 2022).…”

Impact, management, and use of invasive alien plant species in Nepal’s protected area: a systematic review

“…Ageratum houstonianum distribute on grasslands and agro-ecosystems and forest with under high tension line (Panedy et al 2021;Sapkota et al 2023). The IAP and its toxic capacity the animal and livestock are in threat (Bhatta et al 2022;Pertin et al 2018;Sapkota et al 2023;Shrestha et al 2019a).…”