The Multifaceted Botanical Impact of the Invasive Common Milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca L.) in a Protected Sandy Grassland in Central Europe

Sarolta Meinhardt, Dénes Saláta (), Eszter Tormáné Kovács, Örs Ábrám, Edina Morvai, Orsolya Szirmai and Szilárd Czóbel
Additional contact information
Sarolta Meinhardt: Doctoral School of Environmental Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter Károly Street 1, H-2100 Godollo, Hungary
Dénes Saláta: Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Management, Institute for Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter Károly Street 1, H-2100 Godollo, Hungary
Eszter Tormáné Kovács: Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Management, Institute for Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter Károly Street 1, H-2100 Godollo, Hungary
Örs Ábrám: Doctoral School of Environmental Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter Károly Street 1, H-2100 Godollo, Hungary
Edina Morvai: Kiskunság National Park Directorate, Liszt Ferenc Street 19, H-6000 Kecskemet, Hungary
Orsolya Szirmai: Institute of Animal Sciences and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Szeged, Andrássy Street 15, H-6800 Hodmezovasarhely, Hungary
Szilárd Czóbel: Institute of Plant Sciences and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Szeged, Andrássy Street 15, H-6800 Hodmezovasarhely, Hungary

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-12

Abstract: Asclepias syriaca L.is a perennial broad-leaved species native to North America. It has become established in many regions of Europe, and has spread with increasing rapidity in recent decades. Its reproductive behaviour allows this species to proliferate rapidly. The selected grasslands are located in the Carpathian Basin in Hungary, in the area of Kiskunság National Park, near Lake Kolon. In the framework of the research, in two consecutive years (2021 and 2022), and in two different seasons (spring and autumn), we examined the percentage cover of vascular plant species in the stands degraded by A. syriaca and the natural control (without A. syriaca ), and their seasonal and interannual dynamics. Between the A. syriaca -degraded and natural control stands, there was no significant difference in the number of species in the spring and autumn of any of the examined years. Surprisingly, in the spring, the degraded stands were somewhat richer in vascular plant species. In autumn, the control stands had more vascular plant species, but to a lesser extent. The Shannon diversity was higher in the A. syriaca -dominated stands than in the control in all recording periods. Simpson diversity showed a similar pattern to Shannon diversity, with one exception in spring 2022. In the case of the social behaviour type, it can be clearly seen that the alien competitor (AC) species dominated in spring and autumn in both years in the stand dominated by A. syriaca . In the natural control stand, specialists (S) and competitors (C) dominated in both years and in both seasons. The negative effect of the invasive species on the number and diversity of species was presumably significantly reduced by the significant drying of the study area experienced in recent years.

Keywords: invasive plant; common milkweed; diversity indices; sandy grassland; Hungary (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/10/1594/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/10/1594/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:10:p:1594-:d:1489591

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().