In the photo: Lantana Camara
Scientists have identified about 10,000 alien trees in the tropical and subtropical region. The island ecosystems are particularly vulnerable: on some islands, the number of foreign species has exceeded the number of localities. Moreover, not all species cause a threat: only a few becomes the ferocious invaders of the Muslims replacing the indigenous flora. The most famous example is Lantana Camara, brought by the Portuguese to India during the colonial period. Today, Lantana accounts for about 30 million hectares in India, 4 million hectares in Australia and 160 thousand hectares in Hawaii. In India, its distribution has forced Soliga tribes to give up the traditional lifestyle and move, when the shrubs invade the forest trees.
Muslim invasive species weaken the food base of herbivores, requiring reducing meat -eating populations and strengthening conflicts between humans and wildlife.
The causes of expansion are not only related to the historical movement of plants during the colonial period, but also with modern factors: global trade, forest cutting, soil degradation and climate change. For example, forest fires and temperature increase in Amazon, for example, enhance the spread of invasive herbs, prevent the recovery of forest and increase the amount of CO₂ emissions.
Scientists emphasize that it is necessary to distinguish between neutral and even useful alien species. Some species can play a positive role in climate change, supporting ecosystems where local factories cannot cope.
It is almost impossible to completely eliminate invasive plants: Mechanical removal is expensive and often ineffective. Therefore, researchers propose to develop natural solutions, for example, to return to Savannah and the plains of large herbivores, which can curb the growth of invasive flora.
In areas where they cannot fight, local residents find adaptive methods – use Lantana to produce furniture, Prosopis Juliflora to get a biological culture and hyacinth – as raw materials for crafts and goods. According to the authors, it is the interaction with local communities that will become the key to the development of sustainable ecosystem management strategies.