Data from: Distribution, drivers, and restoration priorities of plant invasions in India

Biological invasions threaten biodiversity and human wellbeing, with
developing tropical countries being more vulnerable. Despite the urgency
to reduce impacts of invasions, management interventions are constrained
by unavailability of timely information on invasive species occurrence,
potential drivers, and restoration priorities. Generating this information
at biogeographic scales can be costly, unless integrated with
multi-objective biodiversity monitoring. Invasive plant monitoring is
integrated with India’s national-scale tiger population assessment,
wherein natural areas are sampled at 25 km2 scale to inventory plants. In
2018, a total of 158,979 plots were sampled covering ~358,550 km2. We used
206,393 locations of high concern invasive plants to model their
distribution using socio-ecological covariates and identify potential
drivers of invasions. Considering the invasion magnitude and financial
constraints in management, we further identified priority restorations
sites at national-scale to maximize biodiversity outcomes. High-concern
invasive plants were recorded from ~254,880 km2 (72% sampled area) and
modelled to invade in total ~750,905 km2 (66%) Indian natural systems.
While open and deciduous ecosystems were the highest invaded by woody
plants, areas with extreme climate and less anthropic pressure were least
invaded. Since managing invasions across their range seemed futile due to
costly (~13.5 billion USD for one-time management) and ineffective
strategies, restoration priority was assigned to least invaded areas (11%
protected areas, 23% multi-use) to maximize biodiversity returns.
Synthesis and applications: India implemented national-scale invasive
plant monitoring by integrating it with the umbrella project on tiger
assessment. Embarking on this big data, we show that two-thirds of India’s
natural areas are under multiple plant invasions, owing to the legacy of
anthropogenic modifications. Our study offers a restoration priority
model, empowering policymakers to devise adaptive strategies for restoring
invaded biomes and maximizing biodiversity returns.