[APWG] Fwd: INVASIVE ALIEN PLANTS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT IN AFRICA

[De Angelis, Patricia]

See the link below to access a free download of the 2013 publication,
INVASIVE ALIEN PLANTS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT IN AFRICA, by Boy and Witt.

Though the title signifies an African focus, the book provides a large
amount of useful background information and global statistics, including
information from the United States, and provides insights that can be
applied just about anywhere.

Some excerpts:

P. 26: In the United States, alien plants are colonising wilderness areas
at the rate of roughly 700,000 hectares a year.  One invader – Lythrum
salicaria (‘Purple Loosestrife’), introduced from Eurasia – is spreading at
the rate of 115,000 hectares every year, despite the US$ 45 million that is
being lavished annually on efforts to control its spread.

(Apparently, this was the total as of 1997; I'm not sure what the total is
today).

P. 31: In the United States, annual losses ascribed to alien weed invasions
of croplands have been estimated at US$ 27.9 billion, while forage losses
are put at close to US$ 1 billion a year.

P. 41: The Paper Mulberry thrives under a broad range of climatic
conditions in many habitat types, ranging from humid tropical and
sub-tropical to temperate environments. It has been introduced into many
countries, including the United States, not for making paper or bark-cloth,
but simply as a fast-growing ornamental shade tree. In all these countries,
Broussonetia papyrifera has become a menacing invader. In the US, it has
colonised park lands, forest edges and plantation verges from Illinois to
Massachusetts, spreading south into Florida and west into Texas.

P. 72: Fires in conservation areas often create conditions that enable
colonising plants to gain a foothold. Fire-fighting crews and vehicles are,
while battling wild forest fires, often facilitators of invasions, bringing
in and dispersing the seeds of the invaders. In the United States,
‘cleaning stations’ are now an established part of firefighting drill in
wilderness areas.

Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife
Service-International Affairs
Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110
Arlington, VA  22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276

Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal plants.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>

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---------- Forwarded message ----------


"Invasive Alien Species (IAS) pose one of the most significant threats to
biodiversity, agriculture, sustainable economic development and human and
animal health on this planet, including increasingly in the African
continent. The following coffee table book has been produced as one of the
final outputs of the UNEP/GEF project 'Removing Barriers to Invasive Plant
Management in Africa' (RBIPMA), implemented in the four countries Ethiopia,
Ghana, Uganda and Zambia, between 2005 and 2010." A link to this nicely
written and compelling story is found in
http://www.cabi.org/Uploads/CABI/publishing/promotional-materials/african-invasives-book.pdf
.

More information can be obtained from its co-author Arne Witt
(A.Witt at cabi.org) or Max Zieren the project task manager
(max.zieren at unep.org).

Thank you!
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