Invasive Alien Plant Species on Hiking Trails in Mount Prau, Indonesia

Abstract

Hiking tourism activities create habitats that support the introduction of non-native (alien) plant species and encourage their further spread in mountainous areas. Consequently, this will change the species composition of mountain plant communities. This research aims to investigate the richness of plant species and examine alien plant species that have the potential to be invasive on one of the mountains that is popular as a tourist destination, namely Mount Prau, Indonesia. Plant data collection was carried out using exploration methods according to hiking routes. PAST statistical software was used to carry out cluster analysis based on the composition of the plant community species and the composition of invasive alien species. The results of exploration on several hiking routes on Mount Prau found 192 species of plants. A total of 22 species are known to be invasive alien plants dominated by the Asteraceae family. Traditional hiking routes have a higher species richness value than commercial hiking routes for nature tourism. The research results also strengthen predictions that hiking routes for tourism activities have potentially increased the presence of invasive alien species of plants in mountainous areas.