Efforts towards engaging communities to promote the benefits of biological control research and implementation in South Africa
- Authors: Weaver, Kim N , Hill, Martin P , Byrne, Marcus J , Ivey, Philip J
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/414428 , vital:71146 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-ento_v29_n3_a23"
- Description: In the last decade, biological control in South Africa has evolved from a classical applied science, allied to an extension service, to a more community engagement-based activity. Therefore, capacity building is important for the sustainability of biological control research and its implementation. In South Africa, a broad approach has been taken to build capacity in weed biological control, starting at grass-roots level with primary and secondary school learner programmes, through to developing research capacity at the tertiary level and enhancing technical capacity through adult education. Non-specialists are empowered through access to knowledge. The dissemination of accurate information through the most appropriate outlets has become increasingly important, including non-traditional science communication through the internet and, more importantly, social media, which has the potential to reach a far wider audience. Public understanding of biological control has the potential to contribute significantly to the green and knowledge economies of South Africa, but relies on government support for the sustainability of this discipline.
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- Date Issued: 2021
More than a century of biological control against invasive alien plants in South Africa: a synoptic view of what has been accomplished
- Authors: Hill, Martin P , Moran, V Clifford , Hoffmann, John H , Neser, Stefan , Zimmermann, Helmuth G , Simelane, David O , Klein, Hildegard , Zachariades, Costas , Wood, Alan R , Byrne, Marcus J , Paterson, Iain D , Martin, Grant D , Coetzee, Julie A
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176260 , vital:42679 , ISBN 978-3-030-32394-3 , 10.1007/978-3-030-32394-3
- Description: Invasive alien plant species negatively affect agricultural production, degrade conservation areas, reduce water supplies, and increase the intensity of wild fires. Since 1913, biological control agents ie plant-feeding insects, mites, and fungal pathogens, have been deployed in South Africa to supplement other management practices (herbicides and mechanical controls) used against these invasive plant species. We do not describe the biological control agent species.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2020
Impacts of a sub-lethal dose of glyphosate on water hyacinth nutrients and its indirect effects on Neochetina weevils
- Authors: Katembo, Naweji , Hill, Martin P , Byrne, Marcus J
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/417726 , vital:71481 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2013.839982"
- Description: A sub-lethal dose of a herbicide under field conditions was applied to determine if it stimulates an increase in water hyacinth nutrients, thereby increasing feeding intensity by Neochetina spp. weevils used as biocontrol agents of the weed. Nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) were measured and compared between sprayed plants and control plants. At one site (Delta Park), N levels were lower in the sprayed plants compared to the control plants both in the leaves and the crown. At the second site (Farm Dam), leaf N was also lower in the sprayed plants than in the control plants, while no difference was found in crown N. Mean number of feeding scars per cm2 at Delta Park was significantly higher on the sprayed plants compared to the control plants, while no significant difference was found at Farm Dam. At Delta Park, there was no correlation, however, between the number of weevil feeding scars and leaf N or C:N ratio in sprayed plants. In conclusion, the sub-lethal dose of glyphosate did not directly result in an increase in weevil feeding intensity but it can be recommended in an integrated control system to retard water hyacinth growth while conserving the weevil population.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Nutrient-mediated effects on Cornops aquaticum Brüner (Orthoptera: Acrididae), a potential biological control agent of water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms (Pontederiaceae)
- Authors: Bownes, Angela , Hill, Martin P , Byrne, Marcus J
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406131 , vital:70241 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2013.07.023"
- Description: Environmental nutrient availability can drive and modify both plant responses to herbivory by phytophagous insects and insect feeding patterns which, in insect-weed systems, may ultimately determine whether biological control succeeds or fails. The impacts of insect biological control agents on the invasive aquatic weed, water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) vary with nutrient levels in the environment. It was therefore considered important to evaluate nutrient-specific responses of E. crassipes to a grasshopper herbivore, Cornops aquaticum, prior to its release in South Africa. Both plant productivity and the response of E. crassipes to herbivory by C. aquaticum were nutrient dependent. Increases in plant biomass and leaf and ramet production were correlated with increases in nutrients in the water and plant biomass accumulation was reduced by herbivory at all three nutrient levels tested (high = 67%; medium = 100%; low = 400%). C. aquaticum nymphs fed E. crassipes leaves with the lowest nitrogen levels produced the highest biomass of frass during their development, indicating compensatory consumption. The results suggest that environmental nutrient availability will influence efficacy of C. aquaticum. They also provide further evidence that E. crassipes problems are exacerbated by an over-abundance of nutrients in aquatic environments, and that biological control would be a highly effective management tool if aquatic systems in South Africa were less polluted. Additionally, the results also show how an understanding of the fundamental responses of E. crassipes and its insect biocontrol agents to their environment can assist in determining specific management strategies or interventions according to prevailing site-specific conditions.
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- Date Issued: 2013
The effect of herbivory by the mite Orthogalumna terebrantis on the growth and photosynthetic performance of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)
- Authors: Marlin, Danica , Hill, Martin P , Ripley, Bradford S , Strauss, Abram J , Byrne, Marcus J
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419411 , vital:71642 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2012.09.005"
- Description: Eutrophication of fresh water systems is one of the most important factors contributing to the invasion of fresh water bodies by water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes. The South American mite, Orthogalumna terebrantis, established on the weed in South Africa in the late 1980s, but the impact of mite herbivory on the weed has never been quantified. Water hyacinth was grown under low, medium and high nitrogen and phosphorus nutrient conditions and the effect of mite herbivory on the weed's growth was examined. Additionally, the impact of different mite herbivory intensities on the weed's photosynthetic performance was examined because herbivory may have more subtle effects on the plant than can be seen from changes in plant growth parameters. Water nutrient content had a great impact on plant growth, but growth was unaffected by mite herbivory in all levels of nutrients tested. Photosynthetic performance of water hyacinth leaves exposed to varying levels of mite herbivory was assessed by measuring net photosynthetic rate (A), leaf conductance (gl), transpiration rate (E) and intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), and by measuring specific fluorescence parameters including maximal fluorescence (Fm), efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) and certain JIP-test parameters. Photosynthesis decreased as mite herbivory increased, but there was a positive correlation between gl, E and Ci, and the amount of leaf tissue damaged through mite feeding. The efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) decreased as mite herbivory increased, as seen in the altered fluorescence emission of mite-damaged plants, but this was not the consequence of decreased chlorophyll content. Feeding by O. terebrantis thus decreased water hyacinth photosynthetic rate and the light reaction performance, even at relatively low mite densities. These results show that the impact of a biological control agent on its host plant may not be obvious at a plant growth level, but may nonetheless affect the plant at a physiological level.
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- Date Issued: 2013
A review of the biological control programmes on Eichhornia crassipes (C. mart.) solms (Pontederiaceae), Salvinia molesta DS Mitch.(Salviniaceae), Pistia stratiotes L.(Araceae), Myriophyllum aquaticum (vell.) verdc.(Haloragaceae) and Azolla filiculoides Lam.(Azollaceae) in South Africa
- Authors: Coetzee, Julie A , Hill, Martin P , Byrne, Marcus J
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/451285 , vital:75036 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC32900
- Description: Biological control against water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes (C. Mart.) Solms (Pontederiaceae), salvinia, Salvinia molesta D.S. Mitch. (Salviniaceae), water lettuce, Pistia stratiotes L. (Araceae), parrot's feather, Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc. (Haloragaceae), and red water fern, Azolla filiculoides Lam. (Azollaceae) has been ongoing in South Africa since the release of the first biological control agent on water hyacinth in 1974. This review provides an account of progress for the period from 1999. Post-release evaluations over the last three years have shown that, with the exception of water hyacinth, all of these problematic aquatic plants have been suppressed effectively using classical biological control. In eutrophic water bodies at high elevations that experience cold winters, an integrated approach, that includes herbicide application and augmentive biological control, is required against water hyacinth. The grasshopper Cornops aquaticum (Brüner) (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Leptysminae) has recently been released as a new agent for water hyacinth, and Megamelus scutellaris Berg (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) and Taosa longula Remes Lenicov (Hemiptera: Dictyopharidae) are being considered for release on water hyacinth. The longterm management of alien aquatic plants in South Africa relies on the prevention of new introductions of aquatic plant species that could replace those that have been controlled, and, more importantly, on a reduction in nutrient levels in South Africa's aquatic ecosystems.
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- Date Issued: 2011
Impact of nutrients and herbivory by Eccritotarsus catarinensis on the biological control of water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes
- Authors: Coetzee, Julie A , Byrne, Marcus J , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6945 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011973 , https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0579-5298
- Description: Many water hyacinth infestations in South Africa are the symptom of eutrophication, and as a result, biological control of this weed is variable. This study examined the effects of herbivory by the mirid, Eccritotarsus catarinensis, on water hyacinth grown at high, medium and low nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) nutrient concentrations. Water nutrient concentration appears to be the overriding factor affecting plant growth parameters of water hyacinth plants—at high nutrient concentrations, leaf and daughter plant production were more than double than at low nutrient concentrations, while stem length was twice as great at high nutrient concentrations compared to low concentrations. Chlorophyll content was also twice as high at high nutrient concentrations than low concentrations. Conversely, flower production at high nutrient concentrations was less than half that at low concentrations. Herbivory by E. catarinensis did not have as great an effect on water hyacinth vigour as nutrient concentration did, although it significantly reduced the production of daughter plants by 23 ± 9%, the length of the second petiole by 13 ± 5%, and chlorophyll content of water hyacinth leaves by 15 ± 6%. In terms of insect numbers, mirids performed better on plants grown under medium nutrient conditions (99 ± 28 S.E.), compared to high nutrient concentrations (52 ± 27 S.E.), and low nutrient concentrations (25 ± 30 S.E.). Thus, these results suggest that the fastest and most significant reduction in water hyacinth proliferation would be reached by lowering the water nutrient concentrations, and herbivory by E. catarinensis alone is not sufficient to reduce all aspects of water hyacinth vigour, especially at very high nutrient concentrations.
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- Date Issued: 2007