1 week ago
Online Plant Trade Raises Invasive Species Risks in India
People in India can buy many ornamental plants online and have them delivered to their homes.
A new study found that most of the plants examined came from outside India.
Some of these plants are already known to spread aggressively and harm nature.
One example is Lantana camara, which now covers much of India’s tiger habitat.
Online sales can move seeds and plants to many new places quickly.
Not every foreign plant becomes harmful, but some can escape gardens and grow without human help.
Researchers want officials and sellers to check plants more carefully before they are sold.
They also suggest warning labels and more native plants for buyers.
A study found that more than 70% of 1,856 ornamental species sold online in India were alien plants.
Researchers identified 57 species already declared invasive in India, including Lantana camara and Parthenium hysterophorus.
The inventory included 327 species invasive elsewhere and 639 species naturalised outside their native ranges.
Researchers warned that nationwide online shipping may increase introductions because domestic courier shipments generally lack plant quarantine inspections.
The study recommends risk assessments, invasive-species blacklists, risk labels, native alternatives and stronger enforcement of quarantine rules.
- Who
- Researchers from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment studied plants sold by three major Indian online retailers.
- What
- The study found that online ornamental plant sales include many alien species, including species invasive in India or elsewhere.
- Where
- The research examined online plant retailers shipping across India.
- When
- The study was published in Environmental Conservation; the article does not provide a publication date.
- Why
- Researchers say online trade can increase the frequency and geographic spread of plant introductions while bypassing domestic quarantine checks.
Stronger Regulation
Caution and Regional Assessment
Online sales controls
Stronger Regulation
Researchers and some experts support measures such as blacklisting species known to be invasive in India, adding risk labels, promoting native alternatives and enforcing quarantine requirements more strictly.
Caution and Regional Assessment
The study authors acknowledge that the screening list is not a prediction, and the evidence shows availability for sale rather than a direct causal link to new invasions in India.
National versus regional risk
Stronger Regulation
A national screening list could help identify species for priority risk assessments and provide an early warning mechanism.
Caution and Regional Assessment
Anzar Khuroo cautioned that a plant posing a high risk in warmer tropical areas may not pose the same risk in colder temperate regions, so assessments should account for India’s diverse agroclimatic zones.
Key facts
- Species inventoried
- 1,856 ornamental plant species sold online
- Alien species
- 1,371 species, or more than 70% of the inventory
- Native species
- 480 species were listed as native
- Invasive elsewhere
- 327 species were invasive in other countries
- Naturalised elsewhere
- 639 species had naturalised outside their native ranges
- High-risk group
- 39 species were naturalised in India and invasive in other regions
- Moderate-risk group
- 239 species were invasive elsewhere but not yet naturalised or invasive in India
- Invasive species for sale
- 57 species already declared invasive in India were available online
Quotes
Kesang Bhutia
Lead author and graduate student at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment
“What was particularly alarming is that species already known to cause ecological harm in India are still easily purchasable and deliverable to homes; there’s practically no barrier between ‘known invasive’ species and adding them to your cart.”
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“The knowledge is there. How to merge that knowledge with regulations would be the next step.”
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Sources
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