TITLE:
Diversity, Invasion Status and Usages of Alien Plant Species in Northeastern Hilly State of Tripura: A Confluence of Indo-Barman Hotspot
AUTHORS:
Amal Debnath, Bimal Debnath
KEYWORDS:
Alien Flora, Plant Invasion, Invasion Status, Tripura, NE India
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.8 No.2,
January
22,
2017
ABSTRACT: The present study has explored the first authentic
catalogue of the alien flora of the foot Himalayan hilly region along with
their diversity, uses, various ecological aspects and invasion status.
Environmentally similar south and tropical American aliens are higher in
numbers in this region. A total of 216 plant species under 158 genera belonging to 58 families have been
compiled in this catalogue. This alien flora occupies ~14.5% of the state flora, while 3.47% is invasive. Families having a large number of alien
species are Asteraceae followed by Caesalpiniaceae and Solanaceae. Most of the
alien species (61.57%) are of American origin followed by Asia (15.28%) and
African continent (12.04%). Life form analysis shows that herbs (42.6%) are
dominated alien. Among all the aliens, 67 species are used as ornamental plant,
followed by 50 medicinally useful plants. In the state neutralized aliens are
(36.57%) followed by invasive alien (24.07%). The present study also reports
five alien species for the first time from the study site. This base line study
would be the foundation for further advance studies on the invasion ecology and
for the future assessment and management of invasive species in this
biodiversity rich zone. Present work obviously helps in the agricultural sector
of the state as well as the country and gives a clue for further introduction
of new species in the country.