Author(s)

Seemanti Chatterjee, Anjana Dewanji^*

Agricultural and Ecological Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India.

Urbanization contributes to extensive land use changes and environmental degradation which may influence changes in soil properties. These abiotic changes may aggravate invasions and favour the distribution and number of invasive species in urban areas which could negatively impact biodiversity. This case study was, therefore, undertaken in the metropolitan city of Kolkata to assess the existing plant species richness (both native and exotic) and to determine the relative role of some soil physico-chemical parameters on species richness. Plant species were recorded and soil samples were collected from each study site. The total species richness ranged from 4 to 25 with 50% of sites having a median number of 11 species. The presence of at least 3 or more invasive species was observed in >80% of sites. The mean and median values of soil parameters showed considerable variation in soil properties between sites. Urban soils had elevated pH values and higher available N, P and Ca. Soil available N appeared to be significantly correlated with both total species and exotic (including invasive) species richness while available phosphorus showed significant correlation with only exotic species richness. The GLM Poisson log-linear models showed a significant positive relationship of soil N with total species richness and exotic richness including invasive species richness in the study area.

Urban Area, Species Richness, Soil Physico-Chemical Parameters

Chatterjee, S. and Dewanji, A. (2019) Soil Nutrients Can Influence Exotic Species Richness in Urban Areas: A Case Study from the City of Kolkata. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 10, 2052-2069. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2019.1011145.