engleski

Invasive alien flora of the Zagreb County (Croatia) – spatial distribution and potential spread

The County of Zagreb consists of urban and rural areas, which are extremely affected by alien species, and consequently their mapping has begun in 2012. The preliminary research of invasive alien plants was performed in 9 selected cities of the Zagreb County. In total, 541 plots of 250x250 m2 were investigated, and 39 invasive taxa were recorded. The most represented families are Asteraceae (35.90%) and Poaceae (10.26%). The most of detected invasive plants are therophytes (48.72%), and originate from Americas (71.79%). The most frequent plants recorded in all cities of the Zagreb County were Erigeron annuus, Conyza canadensis and Ambrosia artemisiifolia. The majority of invasive taxa are good indicators of warmer habitats and soils with low acid content. The most common life strategies are CR (41.03%) and C (38.46%), and zoohory is the most frequent way of spreading (20.51%). On 89.65% of the explored plots the fragmentation of habitat was noted. Spatial distribution shows an increase in the number of invasive plants on most surfaces, especially in urban areas and rural outskirts. Several anthropogenic, abiotic and biotic factors that can affect the spread of invasive plants have been detected, and the research has pointed to the need for permanent monitoring of distribution of alien and invasive plants in order to control their further spread within and outside the Zagreb County.

invasive plants, non-native plants, spatial distribution patterns, urban flora

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