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Evidence of invasion: land use influences the invasion of Urena lobata in the Guinea Savanna ecosystems of Nigeria

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Abstract

Urena lobata, a pan-African weed has been described as a noxious invader which has spread across several countries in the world. Its ability to grow in a variety of habitats has enabled its success as an invader. However, there is a paucity of data on its invasion ecology in relation to land use in invaded ranges of Nigeria. In this study, the cover of U. lobata along roadsides and in relation to the land use of adjacent lands in five sites across major cities in Nasarawa State, Nigeria was assessed. Its abundance and impacts on native plant diversity and species richness were investigated. U. lobata was discovered in 74.6% of the sampled sites along the roadsides in Nasarawa State. Land use of the adjacent land had a significant effect on the roadside cover of U. lobata in the study area. The density of U. lobata ranged from 9533 to 17,166 mature individual ha−1 across the State. This plant exhibited a negative impact on native plant diversity by reducing the species richness and diversity indices of the invaded sites. From this study, it is evident that land use plays a significant role in the spread and establishment of U. lobata across the guinea savanna vegetation of Nigeria.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge all who assisted us during the field sampling. Also, special thanks to the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia for the financial aid through the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme.

Funding

This project was funded by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia for the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) with Project Code: FRGS/1/2021/WAB11/USM/02/3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia

    Gbenga F. Akomolafe & Rusly Rosazlina

  2. Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Federal University of Lafia, Lafia, Nigeria

    Gbenga F. Akomolafe

Authors
  1. Gbenga F. Akomolafe
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  2. Rusly Rosazlina
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GFA conceived of the research idea, collected data and performed statistical analyses; RR supervised the research and edited the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Rusly Rosazlina.

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Akomolafe, G.F., Rosazlina, R. Evidence of invasion: land use influences the invasion of Urena lobata in the Guinea Savanna ecosystems of Nigeria. Biol Invasions 25, 2175–2184 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03030-6

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