Alien flora of the Czech Republic is presented. In Appendix 1, 1378 alien taxa (33.4% of the total flora) are listed with information on the taxonomic position, origin, invasive status (casual, naturalized, invasive; a new category post-invasive is introduced), time of immigration (archaeophytes vs. neophytes), habitat type invaded (natural, seminatural, human-made), vegetation invaded (expressed as occurence in phytosociological alliances), mode of introduction into the country (accidental, deliberate), and date of the first record. Number of phytogeographical as well as biological and ecological attributes were compiled for each species in the database; its structure is presented in Appendix 2 as a suggestion for similar work elsewhere. Czech alien flora consists of 24.1% of taxa which arrived before 1500 (archaeophytes) and 75.9% neophytes. There are 891 casuals, 397 naturalized and 90 invasive species. Of introduced neophytes, 21.9% became naturalized, and 6.6% invasive. Hybrids contribute with 13.3% to the total number of aliens, and the hybridization is more frequent in archaeophytes (18.7%) than in neophytes (11.7%). If the 184 hybrids are excluded from the total number of aliens, there are 270 archaeophytes and 924 neophytes in the Czech flora, i.e. total of 1195 taxa. Accidental arrivals account for 53.4% of all taxa and deliberate introduction for 46.6%; the ratio is reversed for neophytes considered separately (45.5 vs. 54.5%). Majority of aliens (62.8%) are confined to human- made habitats, 11.0% were recorded exclusively in natural or seminatural habitats, and 26.2% occur in both types of habitat. Archaeophytes and neophytes occur in 66 and 83 alliances, respectively, of the phytosociological system. Flora is further analysed with respect to origin, life histories, life forms and strategies. Only 310 species (22.4% of the total number of all alien taxa) are common or locally abundant; others are rare, based on a single locality or no longer present. The following 19 taxa are reported as new for the Czech alien flora: Agrostis scabra, Alhagi pseudalhagi, Allium atropurpureum, Bromus hordeaceus subsp. pseudothominii, Carduus tenuiflorus, Centaurea ×gerstlaueri, Centaurea nigra ×phrygia, Cerastium ×maureri, Gilia capitata, Helianthus strumosus, Hieracium pannosum, Hordeum leporinum, Oenothera coronifera, Papaver atlanticum subsp. mesatlanticum, Parietaria pennsylvanica, Polypogon fugax, Rodgersia aesculifolia, Sedum pallidum var. bithynicum, Sedum stoloniferum; these represent results of our own field research as well as of herbaria search, and unpublished data from colleagues. Other 44 taxa are reported as escaping from cultivation for the first time. Twenty two archaeophytes are listed in the Red List of the Czech flora.
A complete list of all alien taxa ever recorded in the flora of the Czech Republic is presented as an update of the original checklist published in 2002. New data accumulated in the last decade are incorporated and the listing and status of some taxa are reassessed based on improved knowledge. Alien flora of the Czech Republic consists of 1454 taxa listed with information on their taxonomic position, life history, geographic origin (or mode of origin, distinguishing anecophyte and hybrid), invasive status (casual; naturalized but not invasive; invasive), residence time status (archaeophyte vs neophyte), mode of introduction into the country (accidental, deliberate), and date of the first record. Additional information on species performance that was not part of the previous catalogue, i.e. on the width of species’ habitat niches, their dominance in invaded communities, and impact, is provided. The Czech alien flora consists of 350 (24.1%) archaeophytes and 1104 (75.9%) neophytes. The increase in the total number of taxa compared to the previous catalogue (1378) is due to addition of 151 taxa and removal of 75 (39 archaeophytes and 36 neophytes), important part of the latter being the reclassification of 41 taxa as native, mostly based on archaeobotanical evidence. The additions represent taxa newly recorded since 2002 and reported in the national literature; taxa resulting from investigation of sources omitted while preparing the previous catalogue; redetermination of previously reported taxa; reassessment of some taxa traditionally considered native for which the evidence suggests the opposite; and inclusion of intraspecific taxa previously not recognized in the flora. There are 44 taxa on the list that are reported in the present study for the first time as aliens introduced to the Czech Republic or escaped from cultivation: Abies concolor, A. grandis, A. nordmanniana, Avena sterilis subsp. ludoviciana, A. ×vilis, Berberis julianae, B. thunbergii, Bidens ferulifolius, Buddleja alternifolia, Buglossoides incrassata subsp. splitgerberi, Buxus sempervirens, Corispermum declinatum, Cotoneaster dielsianus, C. divaricatus, Euphorbia myrsinites, Gleditsia triacanthos, Helleborus orientalis, Hieracium heldreichii, Koelreuteria paniculata, Lonicera periclymenum, Lotus ornithopodioides, Malus baccata, M. pumila, Miscanthus sacchariflorus, Morus alba, Muscari armeniacum, Paeonia lactiflora, Pennisetum alopecuroides, Pinguicula crystallina subsp. hirtiflora, P. grandiflora subsp. rosea, Podophyllum hexandrum, Pyracantha coccinea, Rhodotypos scandens, Rumex patientia × R. tianschanicus ‘Uteuša’, Salix cordata, Sarracenia purpurea, Sasa palmata ‘Nebulosa’, Scolymus maculatus, Spiraea japonica, Tagetes tenuifolia, Thuja occidentalis, Trifolium badium, Vaccinium corymbosum and Viburnum rhytidophyllum. All added and deleted taxa are commented on. Of the total number of taxa, 985 are classified as casuals, 408 as naturalized but not invasive, and 61 as invasive. The reduction in the number of invasive taxa compared to the previous catalogue is due to a more conservative approach adopted here; only taxa that currently spread are considered invasive. Casual taxa are strongly overrepresented among neophytes compared to archaeophytes (76.7% vs 39.4%), while naturalized but non-invasive taxa follow the reversed pattern (18.8% vs 57.4). However, these two groups do not significantly differ in the proportion of invasive taxa. Of introduced neophytes, 250 taxa (22.6%) are considered vanished, i.e. no longer present in the flora, while 23.3% became naturalized, and 4.5% invasive. In addition to the traditional classification based on introduction–naturalization–invasion continuum, taxa were classified into 18 population groups based on their long-term trends in metapopulation dynamics in the country, current state of their populations, and link to the propagule pressure from cultivation. Mapping these population groups onto the unified framework for biological invasions introduced by Blackburn et al. in 2011 made it possible to quantify invasion failures, and boom-and-busts, in the Czech alien flora. Depending on inclusion criteria (whether or not extinct/vanished taxa and hybrids are considered), alien taxa ever recorded in the Czech Republic contribute 29.7–33.1% to the total country’s plant diversity; taking into account only naturalized taxa, a permanent element of the country’s flora, the figure is 14.4–17.5%. Analysis of the dates of the first record, known for 771 neophytes, indicates that alien taxa in the flora have been increasing at a steady pace without any distinct deceleration trend; by extrapolating this data to all 1104 neophytes recorded it is predicted that the projected number would reach 1264 in 2050. Deliberate introduction was involved in 747 cases (51.4%), the remaining 48.6% of taxa are assumed to have arrived by unintentional pathways. Archaeophytes are more abundant in landscapes, occupy on average a wider range of habitat types than neophytes, but reach a lower cover in plant communities. The alien flora is further analysed with respect to representation of genera and families, origin and life history. and Nevejdou se dvě poslední jména autorů
Heracleum mantegazzianum is one of the most invasive species in the Czech flora. The present study describes its flowering phenology and assess the effectiveness of protandry in preventing selfing in this self-compatible species, describes the timing of flowering in a heavily invaded area of Slavkovský les (Czech Republic) and estimates fruit set in a large sample of plants, which provides reliable data on the often exaggerated fecundity of this species. The study of flowering phenology revealed that protandry is always effective only within individual flowers, where male and female flowering phases are completely separated. In contrast, anther dehiscence in some flowers can occasionally overlap with stigma receptivity in other flowers in the same umbel, providing an opportunity for geitonogamous (i.e. between-flower) selfing. Nevertheless, the potential for selfing in H. mantegazzianum is determined mainly by an overlap in the male and female flowering phases between umbels on the same plant; at least a short overlap between some umbels was observed in 99% of the plants at the Slavkovský les. Although the degree of protandry in H. mantegazzianum favours outcrossing, the opportunity to self may be of crucial importance for an invasive plant, especially if a single plant colonizes a new location. At Slavkovský les, flowering started within one week (from 20 to 27 June 2002) at all 10 sites. The duration of flowering of an individual plantwas on average 36 days,with maximum of 60 days, and increased significantly with the number of umbels on a plant. In the second half of August, the majority of the fruits were ripe and had started to be shed. The beginning of flowering of a plant was significantly negatively correlated with the number of umbels it had – the earlier a plant started to flower the more umbels it had produced. A significant negative relationship was also found between basal diameter and beginning of flowering; plants with large basal diameters started to flower earlier. An average plant at Slavkovský les produced 20,671 fruits. Of these, 44.6% were produced by the terminal umbel, 29.3% by secondary umbels on satellites, 22.6% by secondary umbels on branches and only 3.5% by tertiary umbels. The estimated fruit number of the most fecund plant was 46,470 – compared to an average plant, the proportional contribution of tertiary umbels increased relative to the primary umbel. This study revealed a significant positive relationship between fecundity and plant basal diameter. Although the results of this study indicate that the fecundity of this species is often overestimated in the literature, the number of fruits produced by H. mantegazzianum provides this invasive species with an enormous reproductive capacity.
The distribution of four alien Reynoutria taxa (R. japonica var. japonica, R. japonica var. compacta, R. sachalinensis and R. ×bohemica), native to East Asia, and history of their introduction to and spread in the Czech Republic was studied. The most widely distributed representative of the genus, R. japonica var. japonica, was first recorded in 1883 by A. Weidmann in cultivation in S Bohemia. The first record outside cultivation is from N Bohemia in 1902. Up to 2000, it has been recorded in 1335 localities, most frequently in riparian and human-made habitats. The dwarf variety R. japonica var. compacta is of a limited distribution that depends on rare cultivation and subsequent escape. The first herbarium specimen was collected in 1948 and the first record out of cultivation is from 1995. R. sachalinensis was recorded in 261 localities. It was first collected in 1921 in Central Bohemia. A herbarium specimen of a plant cultivated in the Botanical Garden of the Charles University in Prague, collected in 1950, has been re-determined as R. ×bohemica, the hybrid between R. japonica var. japonica and R. sachalinensis, and represents the earliest record of the hybrid in the Czech Republic. Since then, this taxon was observed in 381 localities. Herbarium records were used to compare the rate of spread among the three common taxa in 1952–1995, i.e. since when the hybrid started to appear in herbaria. R. japonica var. japonica has been spreading significantly faster than R. sachalinensis and the hybrid exhibits twice the rate of invasion of its parents.
Two species of the North American genus Oenothera are reported as aliens in the Czech Republic. A population of O. coronifera consisting of ca. 30 plants at various phenological stages, from rosettes to flowering plants, was found in 2001 at the railway station in the town of Zliv, district of České Budějovice, S Bohemia. The species was probably introduced via the railway and is the first record of this species for the Czech Republic. A single plant of O. stricta, previously reported from the bank of the Vltava river in Prague, in 1825, was found as a weed in a private garden in the village of Vroutek, district of Louny, N Bohemia, in 2000. This is the second record of this species from the Czech Republic in 175 years. The seed of O. stricta was probably introduced to the site from abroad and the record suggests that the occurrence of casual alien plants is highly unpredictable. It is argued that botanists studying alien plants, given their special interest in sites where these plants occur, may directly contribute to the enrichment of checklists of national alien floras.
We investigated the effects of different temperature regimes and dry storage on germination of H. mantegazzianum (Apiaceae, native to Caucasus) seeds in the laboratory and linked the results with studies of seasonal seed bank depletion in a common garden experiment and under field conditions. Seeds were collected at seven sites in the Slavkovský les region, Czech Republic, cold-stratified for 2 months and germinated at seven temperature regimes. Under all temperature regimes, fresh seeds germinated to significantly higher percentages than older (1, 2, 3 years) seeds. For all storage lengths, seeds germinated best at alternating day/night temperatures of 20/5 °C. The length of the germination period had a significant effect only at low constant temperatures of 2 and 6 °C, where germination percentage increased between 2 and 6 months. Seasonal germination exhibited a distinct pattern, with rapid depletion of seed bank by the first spring after seed burial. Non-dormant seeds were present in the soil early in spring and late in autumn. The higher summer temperatures prevented dormancy breaking and another cold period of at least two months below 10 °C was needed to bring non-germinated seeds out of dormancy. The results suggest that (1) seed dormancy of H. mantegazzianum was not completely broken until the first spring, but that some seeds re-enter or retain dormancy during high summer temperatures and that (2) the threshold needed for breaking the dormancy was achieved gradually during the cold autumn and winter months. However, in a small fraction of seeds the dormancy breaking process took several years. Of seeds buried in 10 different regions of the Czech Republic, on average 8.8% survived 1 year, 2.7% 2 years and 1.2% remained viable and dormant after 3 years of burial. The ability of even small fraction of H. mantegazzianum seeds to survive for at least 3 years can result in re-invasion of this species into controlled sites.