Assessing the Status of Soil Seed Bank in Parthenium Hysterophorus - Invaded Land Use Types and Its Social Aspects In Lower Hare Watershed, Southern Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, Parthenium hysterophorus (P. hysterophorus) is an invasive alien plant affecting various ecosystems. P. hysterophorus displaces native plant species and causes a serious threat to biodiversity. With this background, we aimed to assess the soil seed bank of P. hysterophorus under major land use types and assess the perception of the community toward the effects of P. hysterophorus on social aspects in the lower Hare watershed. For this study, 210 soil samples were collected from 15 transect lines in grassland, cropland, and forest land use types. Statistical analysis using three-way factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the difference in density of P. hysterophorus among various land uses soil depths and sites (P < 0.05). For assessing the perception of local communities regarding the effects of P. hysterophorus, a total of 117 respondents were enrolled and semi-structured and close-ended questionnaires were used for data collection. It was found that all factors, that is, land use, site, and soil depth, significantly affected the soil seed bank density in the lower Hare watershed (P < 0.05). Results indicated that the mean density of seeds was the highest in croplands among the land use types. Meanwhile, the highest mean density of seeds was identified in 0–10 cm soil depth, but the lowest mean density of seeds was identified in 10–15 cm soil depth. The highest seeds were identified at Chano Cheliba, but the density of seeds the lowest in Kola Shera. Moreover, 38.5% of households in Kola Shera and 21.4% of households in Kola Cheliba, but 8.5% of households in Kola Doriga said that it had effects on ecosystem services such as crop yield and livestock production. There should be a need for increased awareness about the density of P. hysterophorus in various land uses and its impacts on native plant species. Seeking for possible solutions such as mechanical control methods in terms of abortion of its seed set and weeding in early vegetative period are among the local people, researchers, and extension workers can use for the management of its invasion, and appropriate control measures can be designed to combat its further invasion and impacts on different land uses of the region.