Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae) invasion along streams in a heterogeneous landscape

Ramaswami, Geetha and Sukumar, Raman (2014) Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae) invasion along streams in a heterogeneous landscape. In: JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCES, 39 (4). pp. 717-726.

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Abstract

Streams are periodically disturbed due to flooding, act as edges between habitats and also facilitate the dispersal of propagules, thus being potentially more vulnerable to invasions than adjoining regions. We used a landscape-wide transect-based sampling strategy and a mixed effects modelling approach to understand the effects of distance from stream, a rainfall gradient, light availability and fire history on the distribution of the invasive shrub Lantana camara L.(lantana) in the tropical dry forests of Mudumalai in southern India. The area occupied by lantana thickets and lantana stem abundance were both found to be highest closest to streams across this landscape with a rainfall gradient. There was no advantage in terms of increased abundance or area occupied by lantana when it grew closer to streams in drier areas as compared to moister areas. On an average, the area covered by lantana increased with increasing annual rainfall. Areas that experienced greater number of fires during 1989-2010 had lower lantana stem abundance irrespective of distance from streams. In this landscape, total light availability did not affect lantana abundance. Understanding the spatially variable environmental factors in a heterogeneous landscape influencing the distribution of lantana would aid in making informed management decisions at this scale.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCES
Publisher:	INDIAN ACAD SCIENCES
Additional Information:	Copy right for this article belongs to the INDIAN ACAD SCIENCES, C V RAMAN AVENUE, SADASHIVANAGAR, P B #8005, BANGALORE 560 080, INDIA
Keywords:	Fire history; invasive plant; Mudumalai; rainfall gradient; seasonal streams; seasonally dry tropical forest
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences Division of Mechanical Sciences > Divecha Centre for Climate Change
Date Deposited:	24 Sep 2014 05:48
Last Modified:	24 Sep 2014 05:48
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/49920

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