One year spread and insight into ecology of invasive Impatiens glandulifera in Ljubljansko barje area (Central Slovenia)

Abstract

Impatiens glandulifera Royle (Himalayan balsam) is an annual plant, native to humid parts of the Himalayas. Brought to Europe in the XIX century, it has since successfully naturalized and spread throughout the continent, becoming one of the best-known invasive plants. Even though it has been thoroughly studied by many authors, some aspects of its biology and ecology remain unclear and debatable, such as its spreading dynamics, negative impacts in invaded ecosystems and ecological adaptability regarding moisture, nutrients, and light. This 2019 field study from the Ljubljana Marsh (Slovenia) has proved that Himalayan balsam successfully develops under mesophilic conditions, where it easily compensates moderate deviations from its ecological optimum. The species thrives in riparian zones, out-competing native vegetation, trait shown as potentially the biggest negative impact of chosen species in this context. This study additionally gave us a different insight into - usually highly emphasized - dynamics of species’ spreading. Spreading was not either dependent on hydrochory or as drastic as mentioned in literary sources, giving it a secondary role in species’ invasiveness on the chosen area. Lastly, we proposed rough estimates of eradication expenses for given area, based on our field results of species’ abundance and distribution on chosen area.

Keywords

• Impatiens glandulifera
• ecology
• Himalayan balsam
• invasive species
• plant invasions