Invasive native vines: risks and management gaps in Vietnam
Ms Truong Tuyet1
1Thai Nguyen University Of Agriculture And Forestry, Thai Nguyen, Vietnam, 2Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia
Invasive plants are a serious problem for global biodiversity. Infestations can lead to the extinction and endangerment of native species. Under global climate change and human disturbance, some native species have also become marauding invasive weeds. Recently, some native plant species have become problematic for Vietnam like Merremia boisiana which is invading thousands of hectares of forests in the centre of Vietnam. With a view to assessing the risk of invasive native plant species, the study used the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and empirical maximum entropy (MaxEnt) models to model the distribution of three of the most invasive native vine species in Vietnam (Merremia boisiana, Bauhinia touranensis, Pueraria montana). Spatial environmental variables used to map invasion risk included bioclimatic layers and recent representations of global land cover, vegetation productivity (GPP), and soil properties developed from Earth observation data. Also, management of invasive native species was assessed through the results of interviews with environmental managers at different levels. The results showed that large areas of Vietnam are at risk to invasive native vines. However, management for invasive native species is still limited, and ignored in many Vietnam National Parks. Lack of concern, proactive strategies and gaps in priorities on invasive native species management are the main constraints that need to be solved to deal with the future management of invasive native species. Options for addressing management and policy gaps on invasive native species in Vietnam will be discussed.
Biography:
Tuyet Truong is a PhD at Murdoch University, Western Australia. Her project is on predicting risk and impacts of invasive plant management in Vietnam. Her research interests are species distribution modeling and invasion ecology.