EVALUATION OF THE PRE (PLANT RISK EVALUATION) INSTRUMENT IN THE SCREENING OF ORNAMENTAL PLANT SPECIES FROM ROMANIA USED IN URBAN LANDSCAPING

Abstract

The aim of our study is to test the applicability of the PRE (Plant Risk Evaluation) tool under the conditions of the temperate continental climate in Romania. This tool can provide a promising basis for the evaluation of ornamental plants used in urban landscaping in Romania. For testing, we used 10 alien species of ornamental plants declared invasive in Romania and 10 alien non-invasive ornamental species. For each species, we created an evaluation sheet that includes the questions, answers, score, degree of confidence and bibliographic list. The final score obtained using the PRE varied between 20-22 points for invasive plants, indicating a high risk of invasiveness and between 3-9 points for non-invasive plants, indicating a low degree of invasiveness.