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## Meet the editors

Sudam Charan Sahu, M.Sc., PhD, F.I.A.T. is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Botany, North Orissa University, Baripada (Odisha), India. He completed his PhD from CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar (Under Utkal University, Bhubaneswar), India and his Post-Doctorate from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (India). His specialization and research fields include plant taxonomy, ethnobotany, forest ecology, climate

change, and biodiversity conservation. He has published more than 40 papers in various national and international journals, one book, 12 book chapters and edited 2 books. He is recognized as a Fellow of the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy. He was also awarded with the DST-Young Scientist from Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), DST, Government of India. He is a well-recognized reviewer of many SCI and non-SCI journals.

Dr. Sanjeet Kumar, PhD, DELF, is a founder and CEO of Ambika Prasad Research Foundation, Odisha. His current research is focused on status, taxonomy, diversity, phytochemistry; wetland ecosystems and their biowealth; establishment of relationships between flora and fauna, and restoration of medicinal plants found in riverine ecology. He has 10 years of research experience on medicinal plants. He has discovered 4 new orchid species for

the flora of Manipur and 3 species new to India. He has about 100 publications in journals of national and international repute. He has written 8 books and is currently writing 2 books on medicinal plants. He has organized two national seminars on medicinal plants in association with the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India.

Contents

**Section 1**

**Section 2**

*and Sudam C. Sahu*

Invasive Species in the Amazon

**Preface III**

Diversity of Invasive Species **1**

**Chapter 1 3**

**Chapter 2 21**

Impact of Invasive Species on Ecosystem and Its Control **43**

**Chapter 3 45**

**Chapter 4 63**

**Chapter 5 81**

Invasive Alien Flora in and around an Urban Area of India

*by Wanessa Almeida da Costa, Cinthya Elen Pereira de Lima, Sérgio Henrique Brabo de Sousa, Mozaniel Santana de Oliveira, Fernanda Wariss Figueiredo Bezerra, Jorddy Neves da Cruz,* 

*Pedro Alam de Araújo Sarges, Daniel Santiago Pereira,* 

*by Brooke Pickett, Mia Maltz and Emma Aronson*

and Climate in Forest Ecosystems of Chile *by Pablo I. Becerra and Ramiro O. Bustamante*

Knotweed (*Fallopia japonica*)

*and Michael Jungmeier*

*by Samarendra Narayan Mallick, Nirius Xenan Ekka, Sanjeet Kumar* 

*Sebastião Gomes Silva, Renato Macedo Cordeiro, Cintya Cordovil Rodrigues, Antônio Robson Batista de Carvalho, Priscila do Nascimento Bezerra,* 

Impacts of Invasive Plants on Soil Fungi and Implications for Restoration

Relationship between Exotic Plant Species Richness, Native Vegetation

Game of Clones: Students Model the Dispersal and Fighting of Japanese

*by Anneliese Fuchs, Christina Pichler-Koban, Wilfried Elmenreich* 

*Antônio Pedro Silva de Souza Filho and Raul Nunes de Carvalho Junior*

## Contents


Preface

The study on the diversity and ecology of invasive plants in the recent Anthropocene

era has enormously increased. Invasive species are one of the worst threats to biodiversity and ecosystems across the globe. According to the Rio Convention of Biological Diversity (1992), invasive alien species were ranked the second highest threat to the loss of biodiversity. Invasive plants are non-native plants that are introduced into an area and spread at a very fast rate with significant ecological and economic impacts. In a new area, an invasive plant competes with native plants for light, nutrients, water, and other resources, thereby replacing the native vegetation. As a consequence, the biodiversity and natural beauty of the environment are distorted. Controlling invasive plant species is very difficult and costly. There are various methods available for control such as mechanical, chemical, and biological. Further, climate change exacerbates the spread of invasive alien plant species. Therefore, it is

important how to control it by applying modern tools and techniques.

This book gives an account of diversity, distribution, and ecology of invasive plant species around the globe, their impact on ecosystem, and control and management for conserving native biodiversity. Section I (Diversity of invasive species) describes the diversity and distribution of invasive plant species in various parts of the world. Section II (Impact of invasive species on ecosystem and its control) sheds light on the impact of invasive plants on natural and artificial ecosystems, economics and human health and also control and management for biodiversity conservation.

We express our deep gratitude to the authors for sharing their knowledge by contributing chapters to this book. We are extremely thankful to Ms. Dolores Kuzelj, Ms. Sara Petanjek, and other officials for their constant support during various phases of publication of this book and thank them for providing us opportunity to edit the book.

We hope that this book will be helpful to a wider group of people; researchers,

**Dr. Sudam Charan Sahu** Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, North Orissa University, Baripada (Odisha),

**Dr. Sanjeet Kumar**

Bhubaneswar (Odisha),

Ambika Prasad Research Foundation,

India

India

scientists, forest managers, conservation biologists, and academicians.
