Analysis of the weed flora of the anthropogenically modified shorelines of the Danube-Tisa-Danube canal system

Abstract

Agricultural intensification has, over the last two centuries, led to an overall reduction in biodiversity and ecosystem funcionality of riparian areas in Europe. Knowing that such frequent and far-reaching anthropogenic disturbances affect native plant diversity and given the geographical position of the Danube-Tisa-Danube (DTD) canal system in the Vojvodina Province, as the main agricultural area of Serbia, the aim of this research was to analyze the weed flora along the shorelines of the DTD canals. Field studies were conducted in 2015 and 2016 at 33 field sites distributed along the six main canals of the DTD system. A total of 188 plant taxa, belonging to 137 genera and 48 families were recorded. The biological spectrum of the weed flora was shown to be of a hemicryptophyto-therophyte character, with 37% of hemicryptophytes and 30% of therophytes recorded. Phytogeographical analysis has highlighted a clear dominance of Eurasian species (44%), while high proportions of adventive and cosmopolitan species recorded are consistent with strong anthropogenic pressures characteristic of the shorelines of the DTD canal system. Among the adventive areal type, 19 species which are considered as invasive for the territory of Serbia have also been documented.