The Riverian region is highly sensitive to biological invasion due to higher nutrient levels, frequent natural and anthropogenic disturbances, and rivers that serve as effective conduits for the spread of non-native plants (NNPs). This study characterizes the composition, distribution, ecological dynamics, and socio-economic impacts of NNPs across 11 human-altered habitats in the Nile Valley. The non-native flora comprises 117 species across 33 families and 91 genera, representing 15.13% of the regional flora, with Poaceae (23 species, 19.7%) and Fabaceae (19 species, 16.2%) emerging as the dominant families. Invasion status profiling revealed that 40.17% of these species are invasive, 39.32% are naturalized, and 20.51% are casual, with the majority tracing back to Pantropical (34.19%) and Palaeotropical (17.95%) origins. Therophytes (51.28%) and herbaceous growth forms (57 species) dominated the life-history traits of the documented alien flora. Habitat-level analyses indicated that highly anthropized, resource-rich environments, specifically cultivated fields and orchards, harbored the highest alpha-diversity (species richness). Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) ordination demonstrated a distinct compositional homogenization (low beta-diversity) across heavily disturbed habitats (e.g., agricultural fields, roadsides, and canals), contrasting sharply with the specialized, high-heterogeneity assemblages found in natural stress-prone habitats like swamps and dunes. 79.5% of the NNP species are actively dispersed via anthropogenic disturbance factors, primarily driven by over-collection/over-cutting (62.37%) and habitat loss (40.86%). Although 62.39% of the recorded species possess documented economic utility principally as medicinal or fodder plants, invasive taxa exert severe ecological tolls. The primary negative impacts include the displacement of native flora through competition (85.1%) and biomass alteration (36.2%). Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) assessments categorized the majority of invasive species under Minor (51.1%) to Moderate (21.3%) impact tiers, though high-threat invaders like Lantana camara, Bidens pilosa, and Pontederia crassipes were emphasized via dual-hierarchical clustering as major drivers of ecological degradation. Ultimately, these findings underscore the urgent need for targeted management frameworks that decouple human agricultural activities from the structural homogenization and degradation of native riparian biodiversity. Graphical Abstract

The role of non-native plants in shaping biodiversity and ecosystem

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发表日期：

2026年8月1日

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Fatma A. Ayed,
Dalia Abd El-Azeem Ahmed

摘要

The Riverian region is highly sensitive to biological invasion due to higher nutrient levels, frequent natural and anthropogenic disturbances, and rivers that serve as effective conduits for the spread of non-native plants (NNPs). This study characterizes the composition, distribution, ecological dynamics, and socio-economic impacts of NNPs across 11 human-altered habitats in the Nile Valley. The non-native flora comprises 117 species across 33 families and 91 genera, representing 15.13% of the regional flora, with Poaceae (23 species, 19.7%) and Fabaceae (19 species, 16.2%) emerging as the dominant families. Invasion status profiling revealed that 40.17% of these species are invasive, 39.32% are naturalized, and 20.51% are casual, with the majority tracing back to Pantropical (34.19%) and Palaeotropical (17.95%) origins. Therophytes (51.28%) and herbaceous growth forms (57 species) dominated the life-history traits of the documented alien flora. Habitat-level analyses indicated that highly anthropized, resource-rich environments, specifically cultivated fields and orchards, harbored the highest alpha-diversity (species richness). Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) ordination demonstrated a distinct compositional homogenization (low beta-diversity) across heavily disturbed habitats (e.g., agricultural fields, roadsides, and canals), contrasting sharply with the specialized, high-heterogeneity assemblages found in natural stress-prone habitats like swamps and dunes. 79.5% of the NNP species are actively dispersed via anthropogenic disturbance factors, primarily driven by over-collection/over-cutting (62.37%) and habitat loss (40.86%). Although 62.39% of the recorded species possess documented economic utility principally as medicinal or fodder plants, invasive taxa exert severe ecological tolls. The primary negative impacts include the displacement of native flora through competition (85.1%) and biomass alteration (36.2%). Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) assessments categorized the majority of invasive species under Minor (51.1%) to Moderate (21.3%) impact tiers, though high-threat invaders like Lantana camara, Bidens pilosa, and Pontederia crassipes were emphasized via dual-hierarchical clustering as major drivers of ecological degradation. Ultimately, these findings underscore the urgent need for targeted management frameworks that decouple human agricultural activities from the structural homogenization and degradation of native riparian biodiversity.

Graphical Abstract