Assam researchers find invasive plants are key nectar sources for butterflies
Researchers in Assam have discovered that invasive plant species like Lantana camara and Chromolaena odorata serve as essential nectar sources for butterflies in Raimona National Park. This finding challenges the purely negative view of these invasive plants in forest management.
Why it matters
It offers a nuanced perspective on ecological management, suggesting that invasive species can play unexpected roles in supporting local biodiversity.
Butterflies have revealed that some invasive plant species, disliked by conservationists and farmers, and avoided by herbivores, serve an ecological purpose.
Bishal Basumatary, a research scholar at Bodoland University, set out to document the butterflies and their nectar sources in Raimona National Park. The university is on the outskirts of Kokrajhar, the administrative headquarters of the Bodoland Territorial Region, about 220 km west of Guwahati.
The research was conducted under the supervision of Kushal Choudhury, an associate professor at the university’s Department of Zoology, between 2022 and 2025.
Their study documented 220 species of butterflies, 56 species of larval host plants, and 41 species of nectar plants in the 422 sq. km national park that forms a large transboundary conservation landscape with Bhutan’s Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary.
Chromolaena odorata. Photo: Special Arrangement
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