invasive plant controllatest news & developments
Water hyacinths at the Hartebeersport dam. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

A 50-year seed bank and tiny hoppers: Hartbeespoort’s water hyacinth battle

Tiny biocontrol insects, released by the Centre for Biological Control, are preventing flowering and suppressing growth — a long-term solution to South Africa’s most problematic aquatic invasive plant

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
Brian van Wilgen, one of the authors of a new book on the ecology and management of one of Africa’s most destructive weeds, visited this heavily invaded area near Moshi in Tanzania in 2019. Prosopis trees form dense thickets to increase the difficulty that herbivorous mammals experience in gaining access to grazing or water or moving between different areas. Photo: Jano Barnard.

Prosopis invasions: Battle against Africa’s worst weed

In densely invaded areas, the trees can consume about 50% of the annual rainfall of the region, severely depleting groundwater

  • Sheree Bega
7 min read