NEED OF CONTROLLING LANTANA CAMARA INVASION IN AFRICA.

Lantana camara is an indigenous plant of South America. [1] The species was introduced in most of the country as ornamental plant. It has been declared invasive in most part of the world. The invasiveness of lantana camara has also been recognized in African continent. The invasion of lantana camara in Africa need attention as it has economic and social impact, which is influencing poverty in the continent.

The Lantana camara grows as weed in a thicket forming shrub that can spread to various environment. The leaves of Lantana camara are rough and hairy with aromatic smell when grind. [4] It flower grows in on the axils near the stem. [4]The flowers have various colours, it starts to bear flower with pale colour and change to orange when they are old. The fruits of lantana camara look like berry, the fruit contain one seeds. [4] In some parts of the world, lantana camara fruits are eaten and it is palatable to some animal especial goat.

The Lantana camara grows in high rainfall areas, in areas with tropical temperature. The species grow in organic soil, this tend to make it easy to invade sub Sahara regions. The species invade disturbed area like cultivated area. Its habitant of lantana camara includes range land, waste place and near the fence. In most of the African continent, the species was introduced for ornamental purpose and it then spread. [4]

The lantana camara spread more easily, through vegetative reproduction. [4] Where stem sends shoots it o the soil, allowing it to form dense stand and spread. [4] It also spread through pollination where birds and other animals carry seeds for long distance. [4] The ability of lantana camara to colonise area easily is because it can release chemicals in it surrounding that can prevent germination and growth of other plant species around.[2]

In African continent, the management of lantana camara need to be taken into consideration. It brings confusion in the context of alien species, this because it cannot be considered invasion in the country side of Africa. Some animal and people ate its fruits and it cannot be seen as alien invasion in the country side of African continent. In India, it has been used as herbal medicine; it can also be used as fuel wood. [3]

The invasion of the lantana camara has social and economic impact, which needs to be controlled mostly in Africa. It invades cultivated land, in which it releases chemicals to make it difficult for the growth of other plant. [2] This tends to reduce the crop production in Africa. This is because the herbicide control is expensive, the disadvantage group cannot afford to use it to control the spread of lantana in their farms. [2]

The use of other alternative method to control lantana camara can also have impact on our biodiversity. [2] Methods such as fire and physical control can influence the introduction of other alien species. fire burn the species and allows regeneration, whichmake it easy of invasion of new species. [2] This method need to be used with more attention of its advantage of introducing new species.

In general, the invasion of lantana camara in Africa has influence on reducing crop production. It also affect the animals stock, this because lantana camara have toxic chemicals that can affect animals. [4]

Reference:
1. Global invasive species program, 2003. Africa Invaded: Lantana [Internet] Cited 2006 Jan 24 Available from:
http://www.gisp.org/casestudies/showcasestudy.asp?id=57&MyMenuItem=casestudies&worldmap=&country=

2. Verbenaceae L. 2007. Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER): Lantana camara
[Internet] Cited 2006 Jan 24 Available from:
http://www.hear.org/Pier/species/lantana_camara.htm

3. Global invasive species Database, 2006. Lantana camara (shrub) [Internet] Cited 2006 Jan 24 Available from: http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=56&fr=1&sts=

4. Weeds of National Significance: Weed Management GuideDepartment of the Environment and Heritage and the CRC for Australian Weed Management, 200. Lantana (Lantana camara) [Internet] Cited 2006 Jan 24 Available from:http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/l-camara.html


Mr Elelwani Muanalo
CSIR Pretoria
NISL- Ecological Informatics
Email: emuanalo@csir.co.za
Blogger url: http://muanalo.blogspot.com/