Biological Invasions in South Africa: An Overview

Abstract

South Africa has much to offer as a location for the study of biological invasions. It is an ecologically diverse country comprised of nine distinct terrestrial biomes, four recognised marine ecoregions, and two sub-Antarctic Islands. The country has a rich and chequered socio-political history, and a similarly varied history of species introductions. There has been a long tradition of large-scale conservation in the country, and efforts to manage and regulate invasions began in the nineteenth century, with some notable successes, but many setbacks. With the advent of democracy in the early 1990s, South Africa established large alien species control programmes to meet the dual demands of poverty alleviation and conservation, and has since pioneered regulatory approaches to address invasions. In terms of research, South Africa has played an important role in the development of invasion science globally. It continues to have one of the most active communities anywhere in the world, with strengths in theoretical and applied invasion science, and world-leading expertise in specific sub-disciplines (e.g. the classical biological control of invasive plants). In this introductory chapter to the book "Biological Invasions in South Africa", we highlight key events that have affected biological invasions, their management, and the research conducted over the past two centuries. In so doing, we build on earlier reviews-from a national situational review of the state of knowledge in

Biotic Interactions as Mediators of Biological Invasions: Insights from South Africa

“…symbiont) interactions and their roles in facilitating establishment and invasion (Richardson et al 2000a). South Africa provides an ideal natural laboratory to fill some of these gaps (van Wilgen et al 2020). A large number of good 'model systems' have been identified in South Africa, and in many instances their invader-mutualist/parasite interactions have been well-studied, providing ideal situations to address some of the issues outlined above.…”

South Africa as a Donor of Alien Animals

“…26), South Africa is clearly a net receiver of alien animals. A total of 629 alien animal species are recorded as established in South Africa (van Wilgen et al 2020, Chap. 1, Table 1.1), but only 34 native South African species are established in other countries (see Table 27.1).…”

Ecophysiological models for global invaders: Is Europe a big playground for the African clawed frog?

“…Southern Africa occupies a wide variety of biomes and bioregions from deserts, xeric shrubland, grasslands, Mediterranean forests to (sub‐)tropical moist broadleaf forests (Rutherford et al, 2006; van Wilgen et al, 2020). The major parts of the distribution of the south‐western Cape clade where most of the European populations were derived (De Busschere et al, 2016) is characterized by a Mediterranean climate (Measey et al, 2012): hot dry summers and cold wet winters.…”