Alien Invasive Plants:
A new study has found that several alien invasive plants growing together can have a detrimental effect on the biodiversities in tiger habitats in Kanha Tiger Reserve.
- The research paper has deciphered many negative impacts of multiple co-occurring alien plants on biodiversity and what it means for conservation in the era of global changes.
- India’s biodiverse ecosystems are threatened by a variety of alien plants like Lantana Camara, Parthenium hysterophorous, and Prosopis juliflora introduced during British colonisation.
- Co-occurring invasive plants like Ageratum conyzoides, and Pogostemon benghalensis cause ecological homogenisation in invaded regions.
- Multiple alien species together affected soil nutrients, which may have depleted the richness of diverse plants.
- Invasions might slowly deplete the native plant populations and might lead to diseases in the herbivores.
Kanha Tiger Reserve:
- It is nestled in the Maikal range of Satpuras in Madhya Pradesh, the heart of India that forms the central Indian highlands.
- This Tiger Reserve stretches over an area of 940 square km in the two districts Mandla and Balaghat in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
