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COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON
THE COMPETITIVE ABILITIES OF AN EXOTIC,
PARTHENIUM HYSTEROPHORUS
L., WITH CO-EXISTING SPECIES TO DETERMINE THE IMPACTS
OF ITS INVASION
SEEMAL VEHRA*
AND AMIN U. KHAN1
Abstract: Germination percentage
of a newly introduced exotic plant, Parthenium hysterophorus L.,
that has now dominated most of the herbaceous flora, was compared with 7
annual indigenous colonizer plants, commonly found in the wastelands of
Lahore, Pakistan. The percentage of germination, determined under
various sets of conditions revealed that having higher and relatively
constant rates of germination throughout the year, P. hysterophorus
is more competitive as compared to the other co-existing colonizers.
The competitive abilities of P. hysterophorus were further
compared with two dominant colonizers i.e., Chenopodium album and
Kochia indica, to assess the competitive abilities on both
interspecific and intraspecific competition. The results based on
Absolute Yield, Relative Yield Total and Relative Crowding Coefficients
clearly indicated that P. hysterophorus was competitively more
aggressive as compared to both co-occurring species and there is a
possibility that in the long run it would eliminate them from their
habitat in the irrigated plains.
Department of Botany,
Post-Graduate Government College for Women, Samanabad, Lahore, Pakistan.
1Sustainable Development Study Centre, Government College University,
Lahore, Pakistan.
*E-mail:
svehra@hotmail.com; Phone 092-3004105969
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