The rapid growth of urban human populations has accelerated the introduction of exotic plants in cities globally. Urban landscapes create habitats with distinct environmental conditions that promote the establishment and spread of non-native plant species, some of which can become highly invasive in urban ecosystems and threaten native plant communities. Invasive plants often displace native species from urban plant communities and reduce the quality of ecological, economic, and social benefits that urban ecosystems provide. Conventional methods (e.g., mechanical, chemical, and biological control) to mitigate the spread of invasive species are very labor-intensive and expensive. In addition, management approaches that only target the removal of invasive plants are unlikely to succeed in the long term because invasive species can easily reclaim managed sites. Restoration strategies should therefore also aim to decrease the competitive advantage of invasive species by planting strong native competitors, increasing the functional diversity of native plants, suppressing the invasive seed bank, and adding soil amendments to enhance the recovery of native plant communities in invaded urban ecosystems and increase their resilience against re-invasion by exotic species. This chapter gives an overview of the environmental factors and characteristics of non-native plants that facilitate their invasion in urban environments and discusses active management strategies for the restoration of invaded urban ecosystems.

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Management Approaches for the Restoration of Invaded Urban Plant Communities

  • Leeladarshini Sujeeun

摘要

The rapid growth of urban human populations has accelerated the introduction of exotic plants in cities globally. Urban landscapes create habitats with distinct environmental conditions that promote the establishment and spread of non-native plant species, some of which can become highly invasive in urban ecosystems and threaten native plant communities. Invasive plants often displace native species from urban plant communities and reduce the quality of ecological, economic, and social benefits that urban ecosystems provide. Conventional methods (e.g., mechanical, chemical, and biological control) to mitigate the spread of invasive species are very labor-intensive and expensive. In addition, management approaches that only target the removal of invasive plants are unlikely to succeed in the long term because invasive species can easily reclaim managed sites. Restoration strategies should therefore also aim to decrease the competitive advantage of invasive species by planting strong native competitors, increasing the functional diversity of native plants, suppressing the invasive seed bank, and adding soil amendments to enhance the recovery of native plant communities in invaded urban ecosystems and increase their resilience against re-invasion by exotic species. This chapter gives an overview of the environmental factors and characteristics of non-native plants that facilitate their invasion in urban environments and discusses active management strategies for the restoration of invaded urban ecosystems.