Understanding ecological strategies and habitat association of invasive species of northern western ghats and konkan

Abstract

Ecological strategies are adaptations and mechanisms that help plants maintain their ecosystem function. Ecological strategies are closely related to the traits. Traits are measurable and observable characteristics of organisms that are shaped by genetic and environmental factors. However, is there any specific trait combination associated with invasive species? Are these traits related to their invasion success? Moreover, is there a relationship between these traits and the habitat they occupy? We try to answer these questions in our study. This study aims to look at different ecological strategies of seventy-two invasive species found in the Northern Western Ghats and Konkan (NWGK), using the Leaf-Height-Seed mass (LHS) scheme. Leaf-height-seed (LHS) is a plant ecological strategy scheme that uses Specific leaf area (SLA), Maximum Height (Hmax) and Seed mass (SM) to express meaningful difference in ecological behavior between plant species. We also examined the association between individual traits and trait combinations with Invasion success. We were finally focused on the habitat-traits association. The result of our study shows that invasive species mainly differ in their competitive and establishment strategies, which are captured by combinations of Height-Seed mass. We found less variation in these species' resource acquisition strategy (Specific leaf area). SLA was found to be associated with invasion success. We found that the human habitat was this region's most preferred habitat for invasive species. There are some species with specific trait combination absent from a particular habitat. Invasive plant species in the NWGK region with higher specific leaf area are more likely to become widespread. Some trait combination are not suppoted in particular habitats of NWGK region.