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Article

Composition, Distribution, and Factors Affecting Invasive Plants in Grasslands of Guizhou Province of Southwest China

by
Qin Yang
1,
Baocheng Jin
1,
Xuechun Zhao
1,
Chao Chen
1,
Hua Cheng
2,
Huanhuan Wang
1,
Dengming He
1,
Yaoyao Zhang
1,
Jing Peng
3,
Zhongcai Li
3 and
Min Han
3,*
1
College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
2
School of Tourism, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453000, China
3
Guizhou Institute of Natural Resources Survey and Planning, Guiyang 550001, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Diversity 2022, 14(3), 167; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14030167
Submission received: 3 February 2022 / Revised: 23 February 2022 / Accepted: 24 February 2022 / Published: 26 February 2022
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Abstract

:
Southwest China is an important route for invasive species. In this study, 49 invasive plants of 15 families and 41 genera were found within 373 grassland sampling sites of Guizhou Province, a typical karst mountainous region with a high invasion risk located in Southwest China. Invasive plants could be found within over 90% of the grassland sampling sites, and malignant invasive species were found in 60% of the sites. In about 30% of the sampling sites, more than one malignant species coexisted. The malignant invasive species were mainly distributed in the southwestern part of Guizhou Province. Their distribution patterns were affected by environmental and traffic factors; they preferred areas with low elevation, high temperature, high rainfall, high soil nutrient content, and traffic accessibility and could adversely affect plant cover and biomass. Conversely, seriously invasive species and other low-level invasive species had a positive or neutral effect on grassland communities. Therefore, the focus of invasive plant control measures should be on malignant invasive species. Specific control policies and practices, especially in areas with resource-rich environments and well-developed traffic networks, should be carried out to facilitate grassland ecosystem sustainability and to prevent the spread of invasive species to inland China.

1. Introduction

Alien invasive species, introduced outside of their natural range either intentionally or unintentionally by human activities [1], can significantly impact ecosystem functions [2,3,4] and biodiversity [5,6,7,8]. In particular, this can lead to a reduction in spontaneous species useful to humans (e.g., crop wild relatives) [9] and can cause economic damage to the invaded habitats [10,11]. This means effective and specific management measures are needed to facilitate the sustainability of ecosystems [12,13,14], which must include the involvement of plant systematics and an improvement of the floristic knowledge on invasive plant species [15].
Grasslands cover more than 13% of the global land surface [16,17,18] and are susceptible to alien invasive species. Resource and traffic accessibility are two key factors affecting biological invasion [19,20,21], and resource-rich habitats often experience more invasion than resource-poor ones [19,22]. For example, Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. benefits more from nitrogen addition than its native competitor Spartina pectinata Bosc ex Link [23]. Previous research conducted in the Czech Republic also found that alpine–subalpine grasslands at high elevations are more resistant to alien plant invasions than other grassland types [24]. Traffic networks could promote the spread of invasive plants and increase invasibility, depending on traffic volume, road density, road age, road type, and other features of transportation corridors [20,21,25].
China is one of the countries most vulnerable to invasive species (e.g., Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms, Ageratina adenophora (Spreng.) R.King & H.Rob., and Solenopsis invicta Buren, 1972) [21,26,27,28,29]. Currently, it contains more than 500 invasive plant species (e.g., Solidago Canadensis L., Bidens pilosa L., and Spartina alterniflora Loisel.), including more than 30 malignant invasive species [30,31,32] (http://www.iplant.cn/ias/, accessed on 1 January 2022). Chinese grasslands contain more than 200 invasive plant species (e.g., Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb., Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.King & H.Rob., and Erigeron sumatrensis Retz.) [32].
Southwest China is an important route for invasive species from Southeast Asia to inland China [30,33,34]. For example, Ageratina adenophora, native to Central America, has been spreading into Southern China since the 1940s through Burma and Vietnam [21]. The species is dispersing northwards and eastwards at an average speed of 20 km year−1 from the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to inland China [35]. Chromolaena odorata, also native to Central America, has spread to Southern China since the 1930s through Thailand [21]. Guizhou Province, located in Southwest China and a typical karst mountainous region, has one of the highest invasion risks in the country [36]. According to a previous study, the province hosts 30 invasive plant species [37], and subsequent studies mainly explored invasive plants in different regions of Guizhou Province and in some nature reserves (including Hongfeng Lake, Dashahe Nature Reserve, and Zhaozishan Nature Reserve, among others). For example, one study found 67 invasive plant species in Tongren City in the northeast [38], whereas other authors found 52 invasive plant species in Hongfeng Lake, Baihua Lake, and the Aha reservoir of Guiyang City in Central Guizhou [39]. Guo et al. determined 46 invasive plant species using 380 plots in the four nature reserves Chishui Alsophila, Xishui, Fanjingshan, and Mayanghe [40]. Other authors found 29, 16, 19, and 112 invasive plant species in Dashahe Nature Reserve [41], Zhaozishan Nature Reserve [42], Bijiang National Wetland Park [43], and Leigong Mountain National Nature Reserve [44]. Other studies focused on the histories, physiological and ecological characteristics, and potential distributions of specific invasive plants, including Ageratina adenophora [35,45,46,47], Chromolaena odorata [48,49], Soliva anthemifolia R.Br. [50], Xanthium mongolicum Kitag. [50,51], Alternanthera philoxeroides [52,53], Eichhornia crassipes [47], Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq. [47], Ambrosia trifida L. [54], Ageratum conyzoides L. [55], Cyclospermum leptophyllum (Pers.) Sprague ex Britton & P.Wilson [56], and Mikania micrantha Kunth [49,57]. Despite these efforts, there is no complete list, and the distribution patterns of invasive plant species in the grasslands of Guizhou Province, Southwest China, as well as the factors affecting their growth, are largely unclear.
In this context, the objectives of this paper were to (1) provide a catalogue of invasive plants in the grasslands of Guizhou Province, (2) quantify the spatial distribution patterns of these plants, (3) quantify the factors affecting the distribution patterns, and (4) explore appropriate invasive plant management strategies in the grasslands of the Guizhou Province of China.

2. Materials and Methods

This study was conducted in Guizhou Province, Southwest China (24°37′–29°13′ N, 103°36′–109°35′ E; 150–2900 m elevation; Figure 1). The climate is a humid subtropical monsoon climate, with a mean (1981–2010) annual temperature of 14.2 °C and a mean annual precipitation of 1069.9 mm. The mean daily temperatures of the coldest (January) and warmest (July) months are 4.4 and 22.2 °C, respectively (data from the China Meteorological Data Center; https://data.cma.cn/, accessed on 11 July 2021). Although forest is the main vegetation type, there are about 200,000 hectares of grassland including natural grasslands, artificial grasslands, and abandoned fields in Guizhou Province (data from the third national land survey of China). According to the FAO 90 taxonomy [58], the main soils are Haplic Alisols, Haplic Luvisols, and Dystric Regosols. The terrain is a hilly mountainous karst area, and the grassland plant community is mainly composed of Arthraxon hispidus (Thunb.) Makino, Artemisia argyi H.Lév. & Vaniot, Imperata cylindrica (L.) P.Beauv., Eragrostis pilosa (L.) P.Beauv., Miscanthus floridulus (Labill.) Warb., Ficus tikoua Bureau, Erigeron annuus (L.) Desf, Erigeron acris L., and Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb.
Overall, 373 sampling sites, covering nearly all counties of Guizhou Province, were established from July to October in 2021. Within each sampling site, 20 sampling plots (1 × 1 m in size and well separated from each other) were surveyed to determine the plant community composition. At the same time, within each site, three sampling plots (1 × 1 m in size and well separated from each other) were established, and their numbers of species, average plant height, plant cover, and plant biomass for both invasive and non-invasive species were determined. The aboveground vegetation in each plot was collected by species. Plant samples were dried for 90 h at a temperature of 60 °C and weighed to determine aboveground plant biomass. The publications “Alien invasive plants in Chinese grassland” [32], “Invasive alien species of China” (website: http://www.iplant.cn/ias/, accessed on 1 January 2022), and “The checklist of the Chinese invasive plants” [30,31] were used to determine whether a plant was an invasive plant. The invasion levels of each plant species were classified according to previous publications [30,31], using the following five levels: 1, malignant invasive species, that cause malignant economic and ecological damage at a national scale and affect more than one geographical region; 2, seriously invasive species, that cause serious economic and ecological damage at a national scale and affect more than one geographical region; 3, local invasive species, that cause local economic and ecological damage within one or more geographical regions but not nationwide; 4, general invasive species, that will not cause serious or obvious economic and ecological damage based on their biological and ecological characteristics and will most likely not cause new invasions; 5, species requiring further observation; these are newly found, newly reported, or poorly understood species whose invasion trends require further observation.
We collected the corresponding environmental factors of each site, including mean (1970–2000) annual temperature, mean (1970–2000) annual precipitation, elevation, and SOC (Table 1) [58,59]. We also collected traffic network data (including railways, expressways, national roads, and country roads) from the GIM-Cloud (geographical information monitoring cloud platform, http://www.dsac.cn/, accessed on 1 January 2022), and the distance from each sampling site to the closest road was calculated using ArcMap (version 10.8, ESRI, Redlands, CA, USA). Their Pearson correlations with plant invasion intensity (namely the number and biomass of invasive species) were calculated using IBM SPSS Statistics (version 19, IBM).

3. Results

3.1. Catalogue of Invasive Plants

Overall, 49 invasive plant species, belonging to 15 families and 41 genera, were found within the 373 grassland sampling sites (Table 2). Asteraceae (19 species), Poaceae (6 species), Amaranthaceae (5 species), and Fabaceae (4 species) were the main families, with Ipomoea L. (3 species), Trifolium Tourn. ex L. (2 species), Sonchus L. (2 species), Ambrosia L. (2 species), Crassocephalum Moench (2 species), Solanum L. (2 species), and Veronica L. (2 species) being the main genera (Table 2). Trifolium repens L., Bidens Pilosa, and Ageratina adenophora appeared in more than 20% (41.29, 39.14, and 23.06%) of the sampling sites. Cyperus rotundus L. and Praxelis clematidea (Griseb.) R.King & H.Rob. appeared in 10–20% (15.01 and 14.75%) of the sampling sites, whereas Erigeron sumatrensis, Sonchus wightianus DC., Crassocephalum crepidioides (Benth.) S.Moore, Solanum quitoense Lam., Chromolaena odorata, and Avena fatua L. were present in 5–10% of the sampling sites. Trifolium pretense L., Alternanthera philoxeroides, and Ageratum conyzoides, along with 10 other species, were found in 1–5% of the sampling sites. As relatively rare species, Euphorbia dentate Michx., Dysphania ambrosioides (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants, Solanum aculeatissimum, Ambrosia trifida, Ambrosia artemisiifolia L., and Solidago Canadensis, along with other species, appeared in less than 1% of the sampling sites. There was no significant difference in the average frequencies among the five invasive levels.
Invasive plants were found in over 90% (90.35%) of the grassland sampling sites, whereas malignant invasive plants were detected in about 60% (59.79%) of all sites. Furthermore, in about 30% (29.23%) of the sampling sites, more than one malignant invasive species coexisted. There may be two (57 sites, 15.28%), three (39 sites, 10.46%), four (12 sites, 3.22%), or five (1 site, 0.27%) malignant invasive plant species within one site.
Overall, 15 invasive plants, including Chromolaena odorata, Erigeron sumatrensis, Bidens pilosa, and others, were classified as malignant invasive plants (Level 1), whereas 12 species, including Trifolium pratense L., Avena fatua, and others, were classified as seriously invasive plants (Level 2). Five species, namely Pennisetum purpureum Schumach., Paspalum dilatatum Poir., Oenothera rosea Aiton, Veronica persica Poir., and Euphorbia dentate, were local invasive plants (Level 3). Ten species, including Medicago sativa L., Sida acuta Burm. fil., and others, were classified as general invasive species (Level 4), and seven species, including Amorpha fruticose L., Axonopus compressus (Sw.) P.Beauv., and others, were species requiring further investigations (Level 5).
All malignant invasive plant species originated from America (including Brazil, Mexico, South America, Tropical America, Central America, and North America). Five of the seriously invasive plants originated from America and seven from Africa, Europe, and Asia. Three of the local invasive plants originated from America and two from Africa and Asia. Two of the generally invasive plants originated from America and eight from Africa, Europe, and Asia. Three species requiring further investigations originated from America and four from Africa, Europe, and Asia (Table 2).

3.2. Distribution of Invasive Plants

Regarding the malignant invasive species, Bidens pilosa covered most regions of Guizhou Province (Figure 2a), whereas Ageratina adenophora was mainly found in the southwestern part (Figure 2b). Praxelis clematidea was mainly reported from the southern part (Figure 2c) and Erigeron sumatrensis from the eastern part (Figure 2d). Chromolaena odorata had its main distribution range in the southeastern part (Figure 2e). Alternanthera philoxeroides was mainly found in the central and eastern parts (Figure 2f), whereas Ageratum conyzoides was mostly located in the central and southern parts (Figure 2g) and Ipomoea purpurea (L.) Roth in the southwest part (Figure 2h). Occasional species, such as Dysphania ambrosioides, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Solidago canadensis, Parthenium hysterophorus L., Amaranthus spinosus L., and Ipomoea cairica (L.) Sweet were found in different regions (Figure 2i).
Regarding the seriously invasive species, Trifolium repens, Crassocephalum crepidioides, Avena fatua, and Trifolium pretense covered most regions of Guizhou Province (Figure 3a–d), whereas Daucus carota L. was concentrated in the central part of Guizhou Province (Figure 3e). Occasional species, such as Solanum aculeatissimum, Celosia argentea L., Gomphrena celosioides L., Mirabilis jalapa L., Tridax procumbens L., and Opuntia dilleniid (Ker Gawl.) Haw., were found in various different regions (Figure 3f).
Regarding locally invasive plants, Paspalum dilatatum was mainly found in the central part of Guizhou Province (Figure 4a) and Pennisetum purpureum in the central part (Figure 4b). Occasional species, such as Euphorbia dentata Michx., Oenothera rosea, and Veronica persica, were located in different regions (Figure 4c).
Regarding general invasive plants, Cyperus rotundus and Sonchus oleraceus L. were present in most regions of Guizhou Province (Figure 5a,b), whereas Setaria palmifolia (J. Koenig) Stapf was mainly found in the southern part (Figure 5c). Occasional species, including Sonchus asper (L.) Hill, Medicago sativa, Sida acuta, Cichorium intybus L., Senecio vulgaris L., Helianthus tuberosus L., and Veronica arvensis L., were located in different regions (Figure 5d).
Regarding the invasive plants requiring further investigations, Solanum quitoense and Axonopus compressus were mainly found in the southwestern part of Guizhou Province (Figure 6a,b) and Crepis tectorum L. in the western part (Figure 6c). Occasional species, including Crassocephalum rubens (Juss. ex Jacq.) S.Moore, Sisyrinchium rosulatum E.P.Bicknell, Amorpha fruticose, and Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty were located in various different regions (Figure 6d).

3.3. Factors Affecting the Distribution of Invasive Plants

At the sampling plot scale, we found 0.43 ± 0.49 (mean ± std) invasive species within each 1 × 1 m sampling plot, including 0.17 ± 0.36 malignant invasive species, 0.19 ± 0.34 seriously invasive species, 0.01 ± 0.08 locally invasive species, 0.05 ± 0.14 generally invasive species, and 0.01 ± 0.06 species requiring further observation. The total biomass of all invasive species within each sampling plot was 11.08 ± 25.35 g, among which malignant invasive species, seriously invasive species, locally invasive species, generally invasive species, and species requiring further observation accounted for 3.28 ± 11.54 g, 4.71 ± 16.98 g, 0.40 ± 5.16 g, 2.64 ± 14.86 g, and 0.05 ± 0.43 g, respectively.
For the malignant invasive species, there was a significant negative correlation between plant invasion intensity (namely the number and biomass of invasive species) and elevation, and a positive correlation for precipitation, temperature, SOC, and distance to roads (Table 3). For the seriously invasive species, there was a significant positive correlation between plant invasion intensity and elevation and a negative correlation for precipitation, temperature, and SOC (Table 3). The correlations with distance to roads were inconsistent for different types of roads (Table 3). The invasion intensity–environmental factors correlation was weak for locally invasive plants, generally invasive plants, and invasive plants requiring further investigations (Table 3).
Regarding the malignant invasive species, there were significant negative correlations between invasion intensity and plant cover and biomass, but these correlations were not significant for number of species and plant height (Table 4). There also was a significant positive correlation between the invasion intensity of seriously invasive species and number of species, and a negative correlation for plant height, but these correlations were not significant for plant cover and biomass (Table 4). There was a trend toward negative 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).

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 [40,41,42,43].
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.
The malignant invasive species could adversely affect plant cover and biomass. This is consistent with previous research showing a negative correlation between grassland cover and the intensity of invasion [63]. The ecological processes leading to these correlations warrant future research. Invasive plant species were present in more than 90% of the grassland sampling sites, and malignant invasive species were found in about 60% of these sites. In about 30% of the sampling sites, more than one malignant species coexisted. There were 0.43 (or 11.08 g in weight) invasive species, including 0.17 (or 3.28 g in weight) malignant invasive species within each 1 × 1 m sampling plot; these percentages indicate over 20,000 and 6000 tons of invasive species and malignant invasive species in Guizhou Province, respectively, given that the total grassland area is about 200,000 hectares (data from the Third National Land Survey of China). Therefore, this paper addressed the severe plant invasion problem of the grassland of the Guizhou Province.

4.2. Distribution Pattern, Affecting Factors, and Management Implications

The malignant invasive species were mainly distributed in the southwestern part of Guizhou Province. This is consistent with the spreading trend for these newly introduced malignant invasion plants from southwest to inland China [35,36,45,46,64]. These malignant invasive species prefer areas with low elevation, high temperature, high rainfall, high soil nutrient contents, and traffic accessibility, which is consistent with their biological characteristics [64,65,66] and the results of previous studies [19,20,21,67,68]. This is also consistent with previous studies conducted in the Czech Republic, where alpine–subalpine grasslands were more resistant to alien plant invasions [24]. Although these malignant invasive species do not affect the number of species and plant height, they could adversely affect plant cover and biomass, suggesting that they have negative impacts on the local grassland ecosystem.
The seriously invasive species tended to be distributed in areas with high elevation, low temperature, low rainfall, and low soil nutrient content. Most likely, this is due to the fact that these plants are mainly forage plants, such as Trifolium repens, Avena fatua, Trifolium pretense, and Daucus carota [69], and have been intentionally introduced to these areas to improve grassland [70,71]. Therefore, the seriously invasive species could enrich plant biodiversity without reducing the height, cover, and biomass of local grassland ecosystems, suggesting that they have positive impacts.
Regarding other low-level invasive species (including local invasive plants, general invasive plants, and invasive plants requiring further investigation), their plant invasion intensity was lower than that of malignant and seriously invasive species. Although there was a trend toward negative correlations between the invasion intensity of local invasion species and plant height, and a positive correlation between the invasion intensity of generally invasive species and plant cover, this was inconsistent for the number and biomass of invasive species. The invasion intensity of species requiring further observation, however, surprisingly showed obvious negative effects on the plant cover and biomass of grassland. Considering the intensity and invasion levels [30,31], and their correlations with plant community characteristics, we suggest that these low-level invasive species had an effect close to neutral on grassland ecosystems, but further research is needed. At the same time, the interactions and correlations among environmental factors (such as between temperature and elevation) deserve further studies.
In summary, the focus of invasive plant control measures should be on malignant invasive species, which could adversely affect plant cover and biomass. In particular, the five malignant invasive species (Bidens pilosa, Ageratina adenophora, Praxelis clematidea, Erigeron sumatrensis, and Chromolaena odorata) that appeared in over 5% of the sampling sites require further attention. Seriously invasive species and other low-level invasive species were positive or neutral to grassland ecosystems. Given the wide distribution of invasive plants in this area, specific control policies and practices, especially in areas with resource-rich environments and a well-developed traffic network, should be carried out to facilitate grassland ecosystem sustainability and to prevent the spread of invasive species to inland China.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, Q.Y., M.H., B.J. and X.Z.; methodology, Q.Y., B.J., X.Z., H.C., H.W., D.H., C.C. and Y.Z.; software, Q.Y., M.H., J.P. and Z.L.; validation, Q.Y., B.J., X.Z. and J.P.; investigation, Q.Y., B.J., X.Z., H.C., H.W., D.H., Y.Z., J.P., Z.L., C.C. and M.H.; writing—original draft preparation, Q.Y., M.H., B.J., X.Z. and H.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31700390) and Guizhou University (2016-75), Qian Ke He Zhicheng ([2020]1Y076 and [2021]YIBAN503) from the Science and Technology Department of Guizhou Province, and the Guizhou provincial grassland resource survey project from the Guizhou Department of Natural Resources.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Not applicable.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Diversity 14 00167 g001 550
Figure 1. Distribution of the sampling sites in Guizhou Province, Southwest China. The geographic coordinate system of the map is the China Geodetic Coordinate System 2000.
Figure 1. Distribution of the sampling sites in Guizhou Province, Southwest China. The geographic coordinate system of the map is the China Geodetic Coordinate System 2000.
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Figure 2. Distribution of malignant invasive species (Level 1). Red and grey dots indicate detected and undetected invasive species, respectively.
Figure 2. Distribution of malignant invasive species (Level 1). Red and grey dots indicate detected and undetected invasive species, respectively.
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Figure 3. Distribution of seriously invasive plants (Level 2). Red and grey dots indicate detected and undetected invasive species, respectively.
Figure 3. Distribution of seriously invasive plants (Level 2). Red and grey dots indicate detected and undetected invasive species, respectively.
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Figure 4. Distribution of locally invasive plants (Level 3). Red and grey dots indicate detected and undetected invasive species, respectively.
Figure 4. Distribution of locally invasive plants (Level 3). Red and grey dots indicate detected and undetected invasive species, respectively.
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Figure 5. Distribution of generally invasive plants (Level 4). Red and grey dots indicate detected and undetected invasive species, respectively.
Figure 5. Distribution of generally invasive plants (Level 4). Red and grey dots indicate detected and undetected invasive species, respectively.
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Figure 6. Distribution of invasive plants requiring further investigations (Level 5). Red and grey dots indicate detected and undetected invasive species, respectively.
Figure 6. Distribution of invasive plants requiring further investigations (Level 5). Red and grey dots indicate detected and undetected invasive species, respectively.
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Table
Table 1. Possible environmental and traffic network factors affecting invasive plant distribution.
Table 1. Possible environmental and traffic network factors affecting invasive plant distribution.
ItemSource
Mean annual temperature
Mean annual precipitation		WorldClim Data version 2.1 (https://www.worldclim.org/, accessed on 1 January 2022)
ElevationASTER GDEM (https://www.gscloud.cn/, accessed on 1 January 2022)
SOCHarmonized World Soil Database version 1.21
(http://webarchive.iiasa.ac.at/Research/LUC/External-World-soil-database/, accessed on 1 January 2022)
Traffic NetworkGeographical Information Monitoring Cloud Platform (http://www.dsac.cn/, accessed on 1 January 2022)
Table
Table 2. Catalogue of invasive plants in grasslands of Guizhou Province, Southwest China. The five invasion levels are as follows: malignant invasion (Level 1), serious invasion (Level 2), local invasion (Level 3), general invasion (Level 4), and plants requiring further observation (Level 5) [30,31].
Table 2. Catalogue of invasive plants in grasslands of Guizhou Province, Southwest China. The five invasion levels are as follows: malignant invasion (Level 1), serious invasion (Level 2), local invasion (Level 3), general invasion (Level 4), and plants requiring further observation (Level 5) [30,31].
RankFamilyNameInvasive LevelSource AreaFrequency (%)
1AsteraceaeBidens pilosa L.1America39.14
2AsteraceaeAgeratina adenophora (Spreng.) R.King & H.Rob1Mexico23.06
3AsteraceaePraxelis clematidea (Griseb.) R.King & H.Rob1South America14.75
4AsteraceaeErigeron sumatrensis Retz.1South America9.65
5AsteraceaeChromolaena odorata (L.) R.King & H.Rob1Mexico6.97
6AmaranthaceaeAlternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb1Brazil4.02
7AsteraceaeAgeratum conyzoides L.1Tropical America3.75
8ConvolvulaceaeIpomoea purpurea (L.) Roth1America2.95
9AmaranthaceaeDysphania ambrosioides (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants1Tropical America0.8
10ConvolvulaceaeIpomoea cairica (L.) Sweet1America0.27
11AsteraceaeAmbrosia artemisiifolia L.1Central America, North America0.27
12AsteraceaeAmbrosia trifida L.1North America0.27
13AsteraceaeParthenium hysterophorus L.1Tropical America0.27
14AsteraceaeSolidago canadensis L.1North America0.27
15AmaranthaceaeAmaranthus spinosus L.1Tropical America0.27
16FabaceaeTrifolium repens L.2North Africa, Central Asia, West Asia, Europe41.29
17AsteraceaeCrassocephalum crepidioides (Benth.) S.Moore2Africa7.51
18PoaceaeAvena fatua L.2South Europe, Mediterranean6.17
19FabaceaeTrifolium pratense L.2North Africa, Central Asia, Europe4.83
20ApiaceaeDaucus carota L.2Europe2.68
21SolanaceaeSolanum aculeatissimum Jacq.2Brazil0.8
22AmaranthaceaeCelosia argentea L.2India0.8
23NyctaginaceaeMirabilis jalapa L.2Tropical America0.54
24AmaranthaceaeGomphrena celosioides L.2Tropical America0.54
25ConvolvulaceaeIpomoea triloba L.2India0.27
26CactaceaeOpuntia dillenii (Ker Gawl.) Haw.2Caribbean0.27
27AsteraceaeTridax procumbens L.2Tropical America0.27
28PoaceaePaspalum dilatatum Poir.3South America3.22
29PoaceaePennisetum purpureum Schumach.3Africa2.68
30EuphorbiaceaeEuphorbia dentata Michx.3North America0.8
31ScrophulariaceaeVeronica persica Poir.3West Asia0.54
32OnagraceaeOenothera rosea Aiton3Tropical America0.54
33CyperaceaeCyperus rotundus L.4India15.01
34AsteraceaeSonchus oleraceus L.4Europe, Mediterranean7.77
35PoaceaeSetaria palmifolia (J. Koenig) Stapf4Africa3.22
36AsteraceaeSonchus asper (L.) Hill4Europe, Mediterranean1.34
37FabaceaeMedicago sativa L.4West Asia1.07
38MalvaceaeSida acuta Burm. fil.4Tropical America0.54
39ScrophulariaceaeVeronica arvensis L.4South Europe, West Asia0.27
40AsteraceaeCichorium intybus L.4Europe, Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa0.27
41AsteraceaeHelianthus tuberosus L.4North America0.27
42AsteraceaeSenecio vulgaris L.4Europe0.27
43SolanaceaeSolanum quitoense Lam.5Asia7.51
44PoaceaeAxonopus compressus (Sw.) P.Beauv.5Tropical America3.49
45AsteraceaeCrepis tectorum L.5Europe1.34
46IridaceaeSisyrinchium rosulatum E.P.Bicknell5North America0.54
47AsteraceaeCrassocephalum rubens (Juss. ex Jacq.) S.Moore5Tropical Africa0.54
48PoaceaeChrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty5India0.27
49FabaceaeAmorpha fruticosa L.5America0.27
Table
Table 3. Pearson’s correction coefficients between plant invasion intensity and environmental factors. * indicates significant correlation at the level of 0.05.
Table 3. Pearson’s correction coefficients between plant invasion intensity and environmental factors. * indicates significant correlation at the level of 0.05.
Invasive LevelElevationPrecipitationTemperatureSOCDistance to RailwaysDistance to ExpresswaysDistance to National RoadsDistance to Country Roads
Number of Invasive Species1−0.24 *0.30 *0.39 *0.18 *0.14 *0.030.18 *0.01
20.38 *−0.33 *−0.44 *−0.11 *−0.060.16 *0.01−0.16 *
30.11 *−0.02−0.080.000.00−0.010.21 *−0.08
4−0.010.020.020.00−0.10−0.07−0.040.03
50.050.04−0.01−0.060.01−0.08−0.010.04
Biomass of Invasive Species1−0.15 *0.22 *0.26 *0.14 *0.090.000.080.06
20.23 *−0.23 *−0.25 *−0.070.040.05−0.04−0.11 *
30.03−0.03−0.02−0.03−0.040.030.10−0.03
40.000.010.000.09−0.09−0.08−0.080.03
50.040.070.02−0.05−0.02−0.070.02−0.06
Table
Table 4. Pearson’s correlation coefficients between invasion intensity and plant community characteristics. * indicates significant correlation at the level of 0.05.
Table 4. Pearson’s correlation coefficients between invasion intensity and plant community characteristics. * indicates significant correlation at the level of 0.05.
Invasion LevelNumber of SpeciesHeightPlant CoverBiomass
Number of Invasive Species1−0.090.08−0.13 *−0.15 *
20.33 *−0.46 *0.09−0.05
30.06−0.10 *−0.02−0.07
4−0.01−0.070.07−0.04
5−0.01−0.06−0.14 *−0.11 *
Biomass of Invasive Species1−0.070.05−0.13 *−0.10
20.10 *−0.32 *0.08−0.05
3−0.01−0.06−0.01−0.02
4−0.06−0.060.13 *0.07
50.00−0.08−0.12 *−0.10
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Yang, Q.; Jin, B.; Zhao, X.; Chen, C.; Cheng, H.; Wang, H.; He, D.; Zhang, Y.; Peng, J.; Li, Z.; et al. Composition, Distribution, and Factors Affecting Invasive Plants in Grasslands of Guizhou Province of Southwest China. Diversity 2022, 14, 167. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14030167

AMA Style

Yang Q, Jin B, Zhao X, Chen C, Cheng H, Wang H, He D, Zhang Y, Peng J, Li Z, et al. Composition, Distribution, and Factors Affecting Invasive Plants in Grasslands of Guizhou Province of Southwest China. Diversity. 2022; 14(3):167. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14030167

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Yang, Qin, Baocheng Jin, Xuechun Zhao, Chao Chen, Hua Cheng, Huanhuan Wang, Dengming He, Yaoyao Zhang, Jing Peng, Zhongcai Li, and et al. 2022. "Composition, Distribution, and Factors Affecting Invasive Plants in Grasslands of Guizhou Province of Southwest China" Diversity 14, no. 3: 167. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14030167

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