Pippa Hudson spoke to the emeritus Professor at the Centre for Invasion Biology at Stellenbosch University – Brian van Wilgen about how to manage invasive plants.
An invasive alien species is a non-indigenous plant that overpopulates and harms the ecosystem.
An example of invasive plants in our country are pine trees, according to Wilgen.
All alien plant species are not necessarily invasive or problematic, but certain species if left unregulated can damage our environment.
Wilgen said that not all alien species would be removed, only the ones that would cause harm to their spaces.
There are many trees that are not indigenous to South Africa that are very useful, those are not being targeted. What is being targeted is the trees that do not stay where you put them, those tend to invade.
He said that many alien species – such as pine trees, were brought to South Africa intentionally to serve a purpose, and they went on to become invasive.
What happens in these cases is the alien plant will spread seeds, and this can cause a significant and damaging spread.
An example of this is pine trees, which Wilgen said can end up absorbing an extremely high level of the natural water supply in an area where they have become overgrown.
In addition to this, if they grow around fynbos they can lead to fires burning, which are hotter than the comfort level that the fynbos needs to grow.
He added that when you bring an alien plant into an environment, it often eliminates all of its natural biological controls which is why measures need to be put in place to manage them.
While there is some work being done, van Wilgen said the current measures are not enough to solve invasion issues that we are currently facing, but the introduction of biological controls could significantly improve the situation.
Listen to the audio above for more.
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