A Suitable Method for Assessing Invasibility of Habitats in the Ramsar Sites - an Example of the Southern Part of the Pa
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RAMSAR
A Suitable Method for Assessing Invasibility of Habitats in the Ramsar Sites - an Example of the Southern Part of the Pannonian Plain Vera Stanković 1
&
Eva Kabaš 2 & Nevena Kuzmanović 2 & Snežana Vukojičić 2 & Dmitar Lakušić 2 & Slobodan Jovanović 2
Received: 20 March 2019 / Accepted: 12 September 2019 # Society of Wetland Scientists 2019
Abstract Considering the great importance of Ramsar Site for biodiversity, we measured the invasibility - the habitat characteristic that refers to the susceptibility to invasions, in six Ramsar Sites of the southern part of the Pannonian Plain. We selected 18 invasive neophytes of different life forms, due to their different habitat preferences, to cover as many habitat types as possible. We made 669 plots during the period 2011-2015, in which at least one target invasive taxa was present. We determined habitat types in each plot, using the EUNIS habitat classification. The invasibility of different habitats in Ramsar Sites was determined taking into account the coverage index (D%) of all selected invasive species. Our analyses showed that habitat invasibility was highest in different forest, and in riverine shrub habitats, while the smallest invasibility was registered in sedge and reed beds, without free-standing water. Previous research based on some other methods coincides with our results and supports the suitability of using the coverage index method when estimating the habitat’s invasibility. As wetlands are one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, determination of habitat invasibility has great importance for management and should be one of the main preventive steps in their protection. Keywords Invasive plants . Internationally important wetlands . EUNIS habitat types . Invasibility - coverage index relations
Introduction * Vera Stanković [email protected] Eva Kabaš [email protected] Nevena Kuzmanović [email protected] Snežana Vukojičić [email protected] Dmitar Lakušić [email protected] Slobodan Jovanović [email protected] 1
Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research, Gračanička 18, 11000 Belgrade, Republic of Serbia
2
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Botany and Botanical Garden “Jevremovac”, Takovska 43, 11000 Belgrade, Republic of Serbia
Wet habitats, representing complex and fragile ecosystems, are very rare and threatened currently (Finlayson and D’Cruz 2005). Being such unique and important habitats of specific wildlife, especially migratory water birds, these habitats have been a subject of interest and concern of the scientific community since the 1960s. That is why the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, called the Ramsar Convention, was adopted in Ramsar (Iran) in 1971, which is the only global convention that relates to particular types of ecosystems. The current Convention text, as amended in 1982 and 1987, includes the guidelines in the form of articles, which are expected to be followed by the Contracting Parties. The fourth o
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