Invasive Plant Species Distribution
Diversity 2022, 14, 167
12 of 16
correlations between the invasion intensity of local invasive species and plant height,
a positive correlation between the invasion intensity of general invasive species and plant
cover, and a negative correlation between the invasion intensity of species requiring further
observation and plant cover and biomass (Table 4).
Table 4. Pearson's correlation coefficients between invasion intensity and plant community character-
istics. * indicates significant correlation at the level of 0.05.
Number of
Invasive Species
Biomass of
Invasive Species
Invasion Level
Number of
Species
Height
Plant Cover
Biomass
1234512345
-0.09
0.08
-0.13*
-0.15*
0.33 *
-0.46 *
0.09
-0.05
0.06
-0.10*
-0.02
-0.07
-0.01
-0.07
0.07
-0.04
-0.01
-0.06
-0.14*
-0.11*
-0.07
0.05
-0.13*
-0.10
0.10*
-0.32 *
0.08
-0.05
-0.01
-0.06
-0.01
-0.02
-0.06
-0.06
0.13*
0.07
0.00
-0.08
-0.12*
-0.10
4. Discussion
4.1. Grasslands in Guizhou Province Are Severely Invaded by Non-Native Species
Southwest China is an important route for invasive species [30,33,34]. Guizhou
Province, located in Southwest China, is an important part of the invasion route and
has one of the highest invasion risks [36]. Although previous studies have found that
the number of alien invasive plant species in Guizhou Province is lower than that in the
southwestern neighboring provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi, the number is close to that
of other inland neighboring provinces such as Hunan and Chongqing and exceeds that
of inland provinces such as Gansu and Shanxi [30]. This paper provides a catalogue of
invasive plants in the grasslands of Guizhou Province of China and quantifies their spatial
distribution patterns.
Invasive plants (15 families, 41 genera, 49 species) in the grasslands of Guizhou
Province accounted for about 30% of the grassland plants in China (41 families, 123 genera,
183 species) [32] and were more numerous than those within the grasslands of three
northeastern provinces in China (12 families, 35 genera, 38 species) [60]. However, their
number was much lower than that of the invasive plants found within the Serengeti-
Mara ecosystem in East Africa (245 species) [61], the Chilean Mediterranean grasslands
(66 species) [62], and the Leigong Mountain National Nature Reserve (38 families, 88 genera,
112 species) [44] and close to that of Hongfeng Lake, Baihua Lake, and the Aha Reservoir
of Guiyang City in central Guizhou (52 invasive plants from 20 families) [39]. However,
it was greater than that of the invasive plants found in other nature reserves of Guizhou
Province [40-43].
Fifteen invasive plant species, namely Chromolaena odorata, Erigeron sumatrensis, Bidens pilosa,
Ageratum conyzoides, Praxelis clematidea, Ambrosia trifida, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Solidago canadensis,
Parthenium hysterophorus, Ageratina adenophora, Dysphania ambrosioides, Alternanthera philoxeroides,
Amaranthus spinosus, Ipomoea cairica, and Ipomoea purpurea, were classified as malignant
invasive plants. They all originate from America (including Brazil, Mexico, South America,
Tropical America, Central America, and North America), which is in agreement with
previous studies reporting that Southern and Northern America were the first and second
source areas, respectively, for invasive plant species in China [30]. Species originating
from America account for more than 50% of the grassland invasive plants [32], suggesting
that species from America should be the focus of invasive plant management policies and
practices in the future in Guizhou Province.View entire presentation