Restoring Lantana camara Invaded Tropical Deciduous Forest: The Response of Native Plant Regeneration to two Common Lantana Removal Practices
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36808/if/2018/v144i6/56750Keywords:
Community Composition, Restoration, India, Invasive Species, Regeneration.Abstract
Lantana camara (hereafter, Lantana), a pantropical invasive species, has become widespread across India. Lantana forms dense thickets in the understory of deciduous forests, adversely affecting regeneration of native vegetation and habitat for wildlife. Lantana removal is now an integral part of protected area management in India. We tested the relative efficacy of two Lantana removal techniques—cutting and burning, and uprooting—commonly employed by forest managers. Our objectives were a) to see which technique resulted in better native plant recovery post- Lantana removal; and b) to evaluate the mechanisms underpinning Lantana's success in these forests. The two techniques did not differ greatly in post-removal recovery of native vegetation. However, there was a marked difference in the post-removal recovery of Lantana. Lantana in the uprooted plots was significantly denser than in the cut-and-burnt plots, making the latter the more effective of the removal techniques. Given the numerical dominance of Lantana seeds in the soil, and their wide dispersal, no Lantana removal is likely to be effective without post-removal monitoring and weeding. We also recommend post-removal planting of species that can pre-empt Lantana re-colonization, and respond positively to disturbances like fire and grazing, that are known to promote Lantana's spread.
References
Anon. (1895). Is the Lantana a friend or an enemy? Indian Forester, 21: 455-460.
Anon. (1996). Map of Karnataka Soils. Nagpur: National Bureau of Soil Survey and Landuse Planning. Indian Council for Agricultural Research.
Babu S., Love A. and Babu C.R. (2009). Ecological restoration of Lantana-invaded landscapes in Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. Ecol. Restor., 27: 468-478.
Berry Z.C., Wevill K. and Curran T.J. (2011). The invasive weed Lantana camara increases fire risk in dry rainforest by altering fuel beds. Weed Res., 51: 525-533.
Bhatt D. and Kumar A. (2001). Foraging ecology of red-vented bulbul Pycnonotus cafer in Haridwar, India. Forktail, 17: 109-110.
Croat T.B. (1978). Flora of Barro Colorado Island. Stanford University Press.
Cummings J., Reid N., Davies I. and Grant C. (2007). Experimental manipulation of restoration barriers in abandoned eucalypt plantations. Restor. Ecol., 15: 156-167. doi:10.1111/j.1526-100X.2006.00200.x.
D'Antonio C.M., Jackson N.E., Horvitz C.C. and Hedberg R. (2004). Invasive plants in wildland ecosystems: Merging the study of invasion processes with management needs. Front. Ecol. Environ., 2: 513-521.
D'Antonio C.M. and Vitousek P.M. (1992). Biological invasion by exotic grasses, the grass/fire cycle, and global change. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst,. 23: 63-87.
D'Antonio C. and Meyerson L.A. (2002). Exotic plant species as problems and solutions in ecological restoration: A synthesis. Restor. Ecol., 10: 703-713. doi:10.1046/j.1526100X.2002.01051.x.
Day M.D., Wiley C.J., Playford J. and Zalucki M.P. (2003).
Lantana: Current Management Status and Future Prospects. Canberra. ACIAR Monograph 102.
Debuse V.J. and Lewis T. (2014). Long-term repeated burning reduces Lantana camara regeneration in a dry eucalypt forest. Biol. Invasions., doi:DOI 10.1007/s10530-014-0697-y.
Duggin J. A. and Gentle C.B. (1998). Experimental evidence on the importance of disturbance intensity for invasion of Lantana camara L. in dry rainforest–open forest ecotones in north-eastern NSW, Australia. For. Ecol. Manage., 109: 279-292. doi:10.1016/S0378-1127(98)00252-7.
Flory S.L. and Clay K. (2009). Invasive plant removal method determines native plant community responses. J. Appl. Ecol., 46: 434-442. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01610.x.
Funk J.L. and Vitousek P.M. (2007). Resource-use efficiency and plant invasion in low-resource systems. Nature, 446: 1079-81. doi:10.1038/nature05719.
Ganesan R. and Setty R.S. (2004). Regeneration of Amla , an important non-timber forest product from Southern India. Conserv. Soc., 2: 365-375.
Gentle C.B. and Duggin J. A. (1997). Allelopathy as a competitive strategy in persistent thickets of Lantana camara L. in three Australian forest communities. Plant Ecol,. 132: 85-95.
Gentle C.B. and Duggin J.A. (1998). Interference of Choricarpia leptopetala by Lantana camara with nutrient enrichment in mesic forests on the Central Coast of NSW. Plant Ecol., 136: 205-211.
Gooden B., French K. and Turner P. J. (2009). Invasion and management of a woody plant, Lantana camara L., alters vegetation diversity within wet sclerophyll forest in southeastern Australia. For. Ecol. Manage., 257: 960-967. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2008.10.040.
Gotelli N.J. and Colwell R.K. (2001). Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecol. Lett., 4: 379-391. doi:10.1046/j.14610248.2001.00230.x.
Hejda M., PyÅ¡ek P. and JaroÅ¡Ãk V. (2009). Impact of invasive plants on the species richness, diversity and composition of invaded communities. J. Ecol., 97: 393-403. doi:10.1111/j.13652745.2009.01480.x.
Hiremath A.J. and Sundaram B. (2013). Invasive Plant Species in Indian Protected Areas: Conserving Biodiversity in Cultural Landscapes, in Plant Invasions in Protected Areas: Patterns, Problems and Challenges, Invading Nature - Springer Series in Invasion Ecology 7 (Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media), 241-266.
Hiremath A.J. and Sundaram B. (2005). The Fire-Lantana Cycle Hypothesis in Indian Forests. Conserv. Soc., 3: 26-42.
Holmes P.M., Richardson D.M., Wilgen B.W. and Gelderblom C. (2000). Recovery of South African fynbos vegetation following alien woody plant clearing and fire: implications for restoration. Austral Ecol., 25: 631-639. doi:10.1111/j.14429993.2000.tb00069.x.
Kammathy R.V, Rao A.S. and Rao R.S. (1967). A contribution towards a flora of Biligirirangan Hills. Mysore State Bull. Bot. Surv. India, 9.
Kannan R., Shackleton C.M. and Uma Shaanker R. (2013). Reconstructing the history of introduction and spread of the invasive species, Lantana, at three spatial scales in India. Biol. Invasions, 15: 1287-1302. doi:10.1007/s10530-012-0365-z.
Lieberman D. and Mingguang L. (1992). Seedling recruitment patterns in a tropical dry forest in Ghana. J. Veg. Sci., 3: 375-382.
Lonsdale W.M., Harley K.L.S. and Gillett J.D. (1988). Seed bank dynamics in Mimosa pigra, an invasive tropical shrub. J. Appl. Ecol., 25: 963-976.
Love A., Babu S. and Babu C.R. (2009). Management of Lantana, an invasive alien weed, in forest ecosystems of India. Curr. Sci., 97: 1421-1429.
Murali K.S., Siddappa Setty R., Ganeshaiah K.N. and Uma Shaankar R. (1998). Does forest type classification reflect spatial dynamics of vegetation? An analysis using GIS techniques. Curr. Sci., 75: 220-227.
Paynter Q. and Flanagan G.J. (2004). Integrating herbicide and mechanical control treatments with fire and biological control to manage an invasive wetland shrub, Mimosa pigra. J. Appl. Ecol., 41: 615-629. doi:10.1111/j.0021-8901.2004.00931.x.
Prasad A.E. (2010). Effects of an exotic plant invasion on native understory plants in a tropical dry forest. Conserv. Biol., 24: 747757. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01420.x.
Prasad A.E. (2012). Landscape-scale relationships between the exotic invasive shrub Lantana camara and native plants in a tropical deciduous forest in southern India. J. Trop. Ecol., 28: 5564.
R Development Core Team (2012). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.
Ramaswami G., Prasad S., Westcott D., Subuddi S. and Sukumar R. (2014). Addressing the management of a longestablished invasive shrub: The case of Lantana camara in Indian forests. Indian Forester, 140: 129-136.
Ramesh B.R., and Menon S. (1997). Vegetation Map of Biligirirangan Hills. French Institute Pondicherry in collaboration with Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, Bangalore.
Ranganathan C.R. (1934). Working Plan, Kollegal Forest Division. In: Proceedings of the Chief Conservators of Forests. (Madras: Government of India).
Rossiter-Rachor N.A., Setterfield S.A., Douglas M.M., Hutley L.B., Cook G.D. and Schmidt S. (2009). Invasive Andropogon gayanus (gamba grass) is an ecosystem transformer of nitrogen relations in Australian savanna. Ecol. Appl., 19: 1546-1560.
Sanderson G.P. (1882). Thirteen Years Among the Wild Beasts of India: Their Haunts and Habits from Personal Observation; With an Account of the Modes of Capturing and Taming Elephants. First Published: London, 1882. Reprint: Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 2000.
Sawarkar V. B. (1984). Lantana camara in wildlife habitats with special reference to the Melghat Tiger Reserve. Cheetal, 26: 2438.
Sharma G.P. and Raghubanshi A.S. (2007). Effect of Lantana camara L. cover on local depletion of tree population in the Vindhyan tropical dry deciduous forest of India. Appl. Ecol. Environ. Res., 5: 109-121.
Sharma G.P. and Raghubanshi A.S. (2009). Lantana invasion alters soil nitrogen pools and processes in the tropical dry deciduous forest of India. Appl. Soil Ecol., 42: 134-140. doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2009.03.002.
Sundaram B. (2011). Patterns and processes of Lantana camara persistence in South Indian tropical dry forests.
Sundaram B. and Hiremath A.J. (2012). Lantana camara invasion in a heterogeneous landscape: patterns of spread and correlation with changes in native vegetation. Biol. Invasions, 14: 1127-1141. doi:10.1007/s10530-011-0144-2.
Tireman H. (1916). Lantana in the forests of Coorg. Indian Forester. 42: 384-392.
Turner P.J. and Virtue J.G. (2009). Ten year post-fire response of a native ecosystem in the presence of high or low densities of the invasive weed, Asparagus asparagoides. Plant Prot. Q., 24: 20-26.
Vilà M., Basnou C., Pyšek P., Josefsson M., Genovesi P., Gollasch S., Nentwig W., Olenin S., Roques A., Roy D., Hulme P.E. and DAISIE partners (2010). How well do we understand the impacts of alien species on ecosystem services? A panEuropean, cross-taxa assessment. Front. Ecol. Environ., 8(3): 135-144. doi:10.1890/080083.
Vitousek P.M. and Walker L.R. (1989). Biological invasion by Myrica faya in Hawai'i: plant demography, nitrogen fixation, and ecosystem effects. Ecol. Monogrpahs, 59: 247-265.
Vonshak M., Dayan T., Ionescu-Hirsh A., Freidberg A. and Hefetz A. (2010). The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata: a new invasive species in the Middle East and its impact on the local arthropod fauna. Biol. Invasions, 12: 1825-1837. doi:10.1007/s10530-009-9593-2.
Yelenik S.G., Stock W.D. and Richardson D.M. (2004). Ecosystem level impacts of invasive Acacia saligna in the South African fynbos. Restor. Ecol., 12: 4451. doi:10.1111/j.10612971.2004.00289.x
Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Unless otherwise stated, copyright or similar rights in all materials presented on the site, including graphical images, are owned by Indian Forester.
