Climate modelling suggests a review of the legal status of Brazilian pepper Schinus terebinthifolia in South Africa is required:
- Authors: Martin, Grant D , Magengelele, Nwabisa L , Paterson, Iain D , Sutton, Guy F
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148606 , vital:38754 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2020.04.019
- Description: Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolia) is a tree native to subtropical South America that was introduced into South Africa in the early 1900s as an ornamental plant. The tree has since escaped cultivation and has invaded ruderal and pristine habitats along the eastern coast of South Africa. Brazilian Pepper is also one of the most problematic invasive alien plants in Florida, USA. We modelled the climatically suitable area for this species in South Africa using MaxEnt, with five distinct datasets: incorporating both the native and the invaded range of the species, as well as different backgrounds.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Genetic diversity and morphological variation in African boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum)–characterising the target weed for biological control
- Authors: McCulloch, Graham A , Mauda, Evans V , Chari, Lenin D , Martin, Grant D , Gurdasani, Komal , Morin, L , Walter, G H , Raghu, S
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/423474 , vital:72064 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2020.104206"
- Description: Lycium ferocissimum (African boxthorn) is a Weed of National Significance in Australia. Biological control may have potential to manage this weed, but taxonomic uncertainty needs to be addressed first to facilitate searches for potential agents. We sampled putative L. ferocissimum (i.e. tentatively identified morphologically in the field) across its native range in South Africa and introduced range in Australia. Morphometric and genetic analyses were conducted to confirm the species identity of these samples, and to assess morphological and genetic variation across both ranges. All samples collected in Australia were confirmed as L. ferocissimum, with no evidence of hybridisation with any other Lycium species. Nuclear and chloroplast genetic diversity within L. ferocissimum across both South Africa and Australia was low, with no evidence of genetic structure. One of the two common chloroplast haplotypes found across Australia was found at only two sites in South Africa, both near Cape Town, suggesting that the Australian lineage may have originated from this region. Ten samples from South Africa putatively identified in the field as L. ferocissimum were genetically characterised as different (unidentified) Lycium species. Our morphometric analyses across different Lycium species in South Africa did not identify any leaf or floral characteristics unique to L. ferocissimum, and thus morphological identification of the latter species in its native range may remain problematic. To ensure the correct Lycium species is surveyed for candidate biological control agents we suggest that individuals should be permanently tagged and putative morphological determinations supplemented with genetic analyses to confirm species identity.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Insect herbivores associated with Lycium ferocissimum (Solanaceae) in South Africa and their potential as biological control agents in Australia
- Authors: Chari, Lenin D , Mauda, EV , Martin, Grant D , Raghu, S
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/407035 , vital:70331 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-203b8dbc7b"
- Description: Lycium ferocissimum Miers (Solanaceae) is an indigenous shrub in South Africa but has become invasive in several countries including Australia, where chemical and mechanical control methods have proved costly and unsustainable. In Australia, biological control is being considered as a management option, but the herbivorous insects associated with the plant in its native range are not well known. The aim of this study was to survey the phytophagous insects associated with L. ferocissimum in South Africa and prioritise promising biological control agents. In South Africa, the plant occurs in two geographically distinct areas, the Eastern and Western Cape provinces. Surveys for phytophagous insects on L. ferocissimum were carried out repeatedly over a two-year period in these two regions. The number of insect species found in the Eastern Cape Province (55) was higher than that in the WesternCapeProvince (41), but insect diversity based on Shannon indices was highest in the Western Cape Province. Indicator species analysis revealed eight insect herbivore species driving the differences in the herbivore communities between the two provinces. Based on insect distribution, abundance, feeding preference and available literature, three species were prioritised as potential biological control agents. These include the leaf-chewing beetles Cassida distinguenda Spaeth (Chrysomelidae) and Cleta eckloni Mulsant (Coccinellidae) and the leaf-mining weevil Neoplatygaster serietuberculata Gyllenhal (Curculionidae).
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- Date Issued: 2020
Invasive alien aquatic plants in South African freshwater ecosystems:
- Authors: Hill, Martin P , Coetzee, Julie A , Martin, Grant D , Smith, Rosali , Strange, Emily F
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176271 , vital:42680 , ISBN 978-3-030-32394-3 , 10.1007/978-3-030-32394-3
- Description: South Africa has a long history of managing the establishment and spread of invasive fioating macrophytes. The past thirty years of research and the implementation of nation-wide biological and integrated control programmes has led to widespread control of these species in many degraded freshwater ecosystems. Such initiatives are aimed at restoring access to potable freshwater and maintaining native biodiversity.
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- Date Issued: 2020
More than a century of biological control against invasive alien plants in South Africa: a synoptic view of what has been accomplished
- Authors: Hill, Martin P , Moran, V Clifford , Hoffmann, John H , Neser, Stefan , Zimmermann, Helmuth G , Simelane, David O , Klein, Hildegard , Zachariades, Costas , Wood, Alan R , Byrne, Marcus J , Paterson, Iain D , Martin, Grant D , Coetzee, Julie A
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176260 , vital:42679 , ISBN 978-3-030-32394-3 , 10.1007/978-3-030-32394-3
- Description: Invasive alien plant species negatively affect agricultural production, degrade conservation areas, reduce water supplies, and increase the intensity of wild fires. Since 1913, biological control agents ie plant-feeding insects, mites, and fungal pathogens, have been deployed in South Africa to supplement other management practices (herbicides and mechanical controls) used against these invasive plant species. We do not describe the biological control agent species.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2020
The establishment and rapid spread of Sagittaria Platyphylla in South Africa:
- Authors: Ndlovu, Mpilonhle S , Coetzee, Julie A , Nxumalo, Menzi M , Lalla, Reshnee , Shabalala, Ntombifuthi , Martin, Grant D
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149788 , vital:38884 , https://doi.org/10.3390/w12051472
- Description: Sagittaria platyphylla Engelm. (Alismataceae) is a freshwater aquatic macrophyte that has become an important invasive weed in freshwater systems in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and recently China. In South Africa, due to its rapid increase in distribution and ineffective control options, it is recognised as one of the country’s worst invasive aquatic alien plants. In this paper, we investigate the spread of the plant since its first detection in 2008, and the management strategies currently carried out against it. Despite early detection and rapid response programmes, which included chemical and mechanical control measures, the plant was able to spread both within and between sites, increasing from just one site in 2008 to 72 by 2019. Once introduced into a lotic system, the plant was able to spread rapidly, in some cases up to 120 km within 6 years, with an average of 10 km per year. The plant was successfully extirpated at some sites, however, due to the failure of chemical and mechanical control, biological control is currently being considered as a potential control option.
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- Date Issued: 2020