Cartographic analysis of plant colonization, a precious and indispensable tool for the management of the environment.

Abstract

At a time when public policies are being put in place to manage plant colonization by invasive introduced species in rivers, there was a lack of tools and practical recommendations to establish action plans on the scale of a management area. The Rhone Mediterranean Corsica agency (RMC) responded to these needs at the end of 2017. It proposes a highly original method that takes into account the need to implement a coherent and effective approach on the scale of the RMC basin, while responding to the specific local features of each territory. It prioritizes the species threatening the biodiversity of watercourses and wetlands in reference lists adapted to the major types of environment and the major geographical areas of the RMC basin. It also sets a common objective for everyone: first to fight against the spread of plants, whether natural or anthropogenic, before thinking about managing areas already colonized. Finally, it proposes cartographic inventory methods and practical interpretation tools, such as the invasive stage, in order to have a common reference of invasion levels and consequently set the ambition of local action plans.