Vol. 11, Special Issue 12 (2022)

Lantana camara L. is a woody straggling shrub native to tropical America, it is known as one of the 100 worst weeds in the World by the Invasive Species Specialist Group and has been introduced into other countries as an ornamental or hedge plant. It is a very hardy shrub, growing luxuriantly at elevations up to 2000 m in tropical, subtropical and temperate parts of the world. The Western Ghats in Southern India is one of the twelve mega biodiversity centres in the world and has rich biodiversity for its fauna and flora. Lantana has dispersed to tropical forests and created significant damage to forests by altering native plant diversity and nutrient cycling process. The present study was carried out to assess the effect of Lantana invasion on soil properties at two locations of Nagarahole Tiger, Karnataka, India. Four different levels of lantana infestation that is, highly infested, moderately infested, lantana uprooted areas and areas without lantana infestation were considered for the present study. 15 quadrates of 20 m ×20 m was laid randomly in each of these categories. Four soil samples were randomly collected at 0-15 cm and 15- 30 cm depths, and a composite sample was made and analyzed for different physicochemical properties. Maximum soil moisture content, bulk density, pH and electric conductivity were observed in highly infested areas but the percentage of organic carbon and organic matter was highest in non-infested areas. From the study, it is evident that soil in and around lantana infestation has an influence of adverse effect of lantana. The present investigation can be used as baseline data for future management of Lantana with essential details about infestation of the species.