Alien grasses (Poaceae) in the flora of the Eastern Alps: Contribution to an excursion flora of Austria and the Eastern Alps

This overview presents the recent knowledge on non-native (archaeophytic, neophytic
and regionally neophytic) grasses in Austria and the Eastern Alpine territory. In total, 220
taxa are discussed, 175 of them are neophytes, 19 are regional neophytes, 3 are subspontaneous
garden escapes and 23 are quoted as archaeophytes. By comparison with Walter & al. (2002) and
Fischer & al. (2008), the impact of neophytes in the recent past can be estimated for the Austrian
part of the territory, where 152 alien taxa are actually known, 32 (21 percent) were newly recorded
in the last decade, among them, 6 are invasive or suspectedly invasive.
Meanwhile, several species are naturalized, but the share of invasive and potentially invasive
taxa (44 species, 20 percent) is surprisingly low. They are subject of enhanced attention. Commonly,
invasive characteristics are considered only as a suppression of the native flora, but an impact is
also caused by introgression (via hybridization of aliens with closely related native taxa), and such
processes may remain undetected for a long time.
Increasing traffic, fitout of transport routes and their maintenance support the propagation of alien
species as well as globalized product flows in general, especially trading of ornamental plants, seeds
and horticultural accessories. Moreover, climatic change may facilitate a spread of species requiring
warmer environmental conditions. It will need some more legal regulations to control this trend.
Considering that, expertise of botanists, as well as of experienced horticulturists is indispensable.

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