Inventory of the spontaneous alien flora in Tunisia. Sayari, N. and Mekki, M. (Tunisia)

Abstract

The first step in any management strategy to control plant invasion is the compilation of a national and regional inventory of alien plant species. In this paper, we present a comprehensive inventory of the spontaneous alien vascular flora of Tunisia, including accepted names, family, biological form, habitat type, native origin, and invasive status. National flora accounts were the main source of information. Data were completed with new flora records and field surveys. The Raunkiaer’s life forms were adopted to distinguish plant biological forms. Information on species habitats, geographical origins and invasive status were checked based on literature and online databases. The alien flora of Tunisia comprises 92 taxa belonging to 33 families, with 80% Dicotyledoneae and 20% Monocotyledoneae. The families represented most in the Tunisian alien flora are Asteraceae (15%), Amaranthaceae (14%) and Poaceae (12%). Amaranthus is the most represented genus. The most numerous are the therophytes followed by geophytes and phanerophytes. The majority of the alien taxa has its native range in the Americas followed by Africa (tropical and south), Eurasia and Australia. About 90% of the alien taxa are recognized as weeds of disturbed habitats. On other hand, almost 40% of these alien taxa are listed in the invasive alien plants lists of many regions i.e. Mediterranean Basin and Sardinia or institutions i.e. EPPO, CAB International and Invasive Species Specialist Group. Hence, all these alien taxa are likely to be invasive in Tunisia.

Keywords

• Alien flora
• invasive status
• inventory
• native origin
• Tunisia