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South Africa:
Defending Against Invaders

Despite being the smallest of the Mediterranean regions, South Africa boasts the highest number of native plants per squaremile. South Africans recognized early the value of their Mediterranean habitats, the most extensive of which is known as “fynbos” (“fine bush”). These evergreen shrublands have adapted to nutrient-poor soil and wildfires. But invasive plants, imported mainly from other Mediterranean regions, are one hardship that even fynbos plants can’t endure.

Scientists have identified 30 significant invasive alien plant species that threaten the fynbos. Of these, 25 are trees or shrubs, such as the black wattle from Australia.

These invasive woody species disrupt the fynbos in several ways, says Brian van Wilgen, an ecologist with South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. “Many of these trees and shrubs usemore water than native vegetation,” he says. Invasive plants reduce the habitat available to native flora and fauna. And the newcomers can dramatically change the character of wildfires, creating conditions for high-intensity fires that damage the soil and increase erosion.

The government is tackling these threats by hiring people living in poverty to remove invasive species. Since 1995, the Working for Water program has cleared some 2.5 million acres of invasive plants while providing jobs and training to approximately 20,000 people from among the most marginalized sectors of society. The comprehensive programcould be amodel for other Mediterranean regions.

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Mediterranean Habitats: Lovely, Rare — and Endangered » 

Nature picture credits: Map © XNR Productions; Photo © Frans Lanting (King protea flowers (Protea cynaroides))