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In this paper, the researchers investigate the vegetative growth of Chromolaena odorata and the infl uence of light intensity on the understorey environment of Shorea robusta forest at Chitwan in south-central Terai, Nepal. C. odorata is a clonally growing shrub and typically consists of several clones with an underground "cormous organ" (a modifi ed stem to store food reserve; here after "corm") belonging to an identical genet. In C. odorata, the biomass of such corms varied across the light gradient. The number of shoot demonstrated a strong logarithmic relation with biomass of corm. Under open forest canopy environment, corm biomass was strongly correlated with the number of shoots and the corm's age. However, under dense forest canopy, there was no signifi cant relationship between corm biomass and its age. This result shows that corms of C. odorata were capable of maintaining their viability for a long period even under closed canopy environment. Any disturbances in forest canopy density would ultimately trigger its clonal growth capability. This plasticity of corms appeared to be a key strategy for invasion success of this species. Comparison of these results further indicates the importance of canopy density in determining invasion success of C. odorata.

In this study, we analyzed the distribution and the spatial pattern of species diversity of vascular plants in Nepal. The aim was to identify and evaluate the occurrence and status of species‐rich areas in Nepal using ecological and environmental drivers. We used 52,973 georeferenced herbarium specimen records, representing 2650 species collected from Nepal. Altogether, 41 environmental variables were used for model development and validation. We used MaxEnt to predict the distribution pattern. All the significant species distribution predictions were then used to develop a species richness and endemism pattern in Nepal. The High Mountain and Himalaya, particularly east and central Nepal, were found to be species diverse and endemically rich areas, whereas western Nepal had lower species richness. We observed that isothermality, slope, rugosity, potential evapotranspiration, precipitation of humid months, temperature annual range, mean diurnal range, and normalized difference in vegetation index of humid months were the most influential environmental and climatic variables. We observed that about 60% of the areas, which had highest richness and endemism values, are still not included in protected areas in Nepal. We quantitatively analyzed the species richness and endemicity patterns of Nepal and were able to identify 19 areas of high species diversity and endemicity, six of which are newly identified.