Catalogue of expansive plants in the Czech Republic

Irena Axmanová 1 , Kryštof Chytrý 1 2 , Karel Boublík 3 , Milan Chytrý 1 , Pavel Dřevojan 1 , Ester Ekrtová 4 , Karel Fajmon 5 , Petra Hájková 1 6 , Handrij Härtel 7 8 , Martin Hejda 9 , Viera Horáková 10 , Jan W. Jongepier 11 , Veronika Kalníková 12 , Zdeněk Kaplan 9 13 , Petr Koutecký 14 , Pavel Lustyk 15 , Jan Pergl 9 , Karel Prach 14 16 , Petr Pyšek 9 17 , Jiří Sádlo 9 , Martin Vojík 3 18 & Jakub Těšitel 1

Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, CZ-61137 Brno, Czech Republic
  2. Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, AT-1030 Vienna, Austria
  3. Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, CZ-16500 Praha 6 – Suchdol, Czech Republic
  4. nám. Bratří Čapků 264, CZ-58856 Telč, Czech Republic
  5. Bílé Karpaty Protected Landscape Area Administration, náměstí Míru 1759, CZ-69801 Veselí nad Moravou, Czech Republic
  6. Department of Paleoecology, Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Lidická, 25/27, CZ-60200 Brno, Czech Republic
  7. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, Za Válcovnou 1000/8, CZ-40096 Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
  8. Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Benátská 2, CZ-12801 Praha 2, Czech Republic
  9. Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Zámek 1, CZ-25243 Průhonice, Czech Republic
  10. Krkonoše National Park Administration, Department of Nature Conservation, Dobrovského 3, CZ-54301 Vrchlabí
  11. Nár. mučedníků 948, CZ-69801 Veselí nad Moravou, Czech Republic
  12. Beskydy Protected Landscape Area Administration, Nádražní 36, CZ-75661 Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, Czech Republic
  13. Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Benátská 2, CZ-12801 Praha, Czech Republic
  14. Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1760, CZ-37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
  15. Moravský Lačnov 287, CZ-56802 Svitavy, Czech Republic
  16. Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Dukelská 135, CZ-37982 Třeboň, Czech Republic
  17. Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-12844 Praha, Czech Republic
  18. Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, Kaplanova 1931/1, CZ-14800 Praha, Czech Republic

Published: 12 December 2024 , https://doi.org/10.23855/preslia.2024.299

PDF Appendices

Abstract

Alien plant invasions have been systematically studied for more than half a century and we already have extensive scientific evidence of their negative role in the current biodiversity decline. Here we aim to draw attention to expansive plants (also called native invaders, super-abundant natives), i.e. native plant species that exhibit similar ecological behaviour to invasive alien plants, being promoted by recent environmental changes. Some of them can also have negative impacts on native plant communities. However, they have been much less studied than alien species. Our goal was to create an up-to-date catalogue of expansive species (including aggregates or subspecies where needed) in the Czech Republic, compare their functional traits and ecological strategies with non-expansive native species and provide a list of regions and habitats where they spread expand. We conducted a questionnaire survey, asking local experts to evaluate the expansive character of preselected species in 17 regions and 27 broadly defined habitat types (66 regional assessments). We critically revised these data and verified the distribution patterns. In total, we identified 126 expansive taxa (116 species, 8 species aggregates and 2 subspecies, for simplicity referred to as species) from 43 families. The most represented were Poaceae (27 species, i.e. 21%, while only 7% in the native flora), Asteraceae (10 species; 8%) and Rosaceae (10; 8%). Our list comprises a heterogeneous group of plants, which tend to be taller and are more frequently polycarpic perennials than the non-expansive native species of the Czech flora. The highest numbers of expansive species were reported at middle elevations. Thirteen species were considered expansive in all regions: Aegopodium podagraria, Alopecurus pratensis, Anthriscus sylvestris, Artemisia vulgaris, Betula pendula, Calamagrostis epigejos, Dactylis glomerata, Elymus repens, Phalaris arundinacea, Poa trivialis, Rumex obtusifolius, Trifolium pratense and Urtica dioica. Expansive species were most frequently found in anthropogenic habitats, both non-forest (99 species) and woodlands (including plantations and clearings; 73), as well as in mesophilic meadows and pastures (64) and wet meadows (60). We hope that the presented list of expansive plants will trigger further research on them and their potential impacts on plant communities and other biota.

Keywords

checklist, Czech Republic, expansive plants, geographical distribution, habitat, invasions, native invaders, phytogeographical regions, vascular plants

How to cite

Axmanová T., Chytrý K., Boublík K., Chytrý M., Dřevojan P., Ekrtová E., Fajmon K., Hájková P., Härtel H., Hejda M., Horáková V., Jongepier J. W., Kalníková V., Kaplan Z., Koutecký P., Lustyk P., Pergl J., Prach K., Pyšek P., Sádlo J., Vojík M. & Těšitel J. (2024) Catalogue of expansive plants in the Czech Republic. – Preslia 96: 299–327, https://doi.org/10.23855/preslia.2024.299