Environment & Ecology
Context: Weeding out the invasive tropical American shrub, Lantana camara, appears to alter the composition of bird species in a forest, according to a new study conducted in Central India.
About Lantana Camera:
- Lantana camara (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics.
- Lantanas arrived in India as a decorative shrub during British colonial period but quickly took over several ecosystems as an invasive plant.
- The shrub can spread on the forest ground, climb over trees a creeper and entangle with other native plants with ease.
- It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems.
- Once it has been introduced into a habitat it spreads rapidly between 45ºN and 45ºS and more than 1,400 metres (4,600 feet) in altitude.
MUST READ: Invasive Species
Source: DownToEarth
Previous Year Questions
Q.1) Among the following crops, which one is the most important anthropogenic source of both methane and nitrous oxide ? (2022)
- Cotton
- Rice
- Sugarcane
- Wheat
Q.2) If a particular plant species is placed under Schedule VI of The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, what is the implication? (2020)
- A licence is required to cultivate that plant
- Such a plant cannot be cultivated under any circumstances
- It is a Genetically Modified crop plant
- Such a plant is invasive and harmful to the ecosystem
