Naturalized and invasive plants in the Kruger National Park, South Africa

0576817 - BÚ 2024 RIV DE eng J - Journal Article
Foxcroft, L. C. - Moodley, Desika - Nichols, G. R. - Pyšek, Petr
Naturalized and invasive plants in the Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Biological Invasions. Roč. 25, č. 10 (2023), s. 3049-3064. ISSN 1387-3547. E-ISSN 1573-1464
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GX19-28807X; GA ČR GA22-23532S
Institutional support: RVO:67985939
Keywords : plant invasions * protected areas * Kruger National Park
OECD category: Ecology
Impact factor: 2.9, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03098-0

We provide an up-to-date inventory of alien plant species that occur in natural areas in Kruger National Park. South Africa (i.e., beyond tourist camps and other infrastructure) and thus represent a potential threat to the native species diversity in the park. We identified 146 such alien taxa, of which 30 are casuals, 58 are naturalized, 21 have become invasive, and for 37 species, the status remains to be determined. Twelve of the invasive species in KNP are globally widespread, occurring in more than 100 regions, and five (i.e., Pontederia crassipes, Lantana camara, Opuntia stricta, Chromolaena odorata and Mimosa pigra) are listed among 100 of the world’s worst invasive alien species. The alien flora in KNP comprises 41 families. Solanaceae (45.5%) and Asteraceae (26.1%) are over-represented among invasive species compared to non-invasive species. The alien flora of KNP mostly originates from North America and South America, and largely consists of perennials and herbaceous species. We found no significant results regarding the effect of origin and life span on invasion status. Despite a steady increase in the numbers of alien and naturalized plants since the 1980s, species we classified as invasive generally represent earlier introductions and have not increased substantially since the beginning of this century. Our paper highlights that carefully revised naturalized and invasive species lists reflecting the current situation in protected areas present a strong knowledge base for effective management strategies. In addition to addressing data gaps related to the distribution of alien species on a global scale, knowledge from large protected areas such as KNP contributes to understanding invasions in landscapes with varying and unique habitat types.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0348729