Author:Mugwedi, LF; Rouget, M; Egoh, Benis N; Sershen; Ramdhani, S; Slotow, RDate:Jul 2017The restoration of degraded forests to enhance biodiversity, ecosystem services, as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation is now a major priority in cities around the world. This study evaluated the success of the Buffelsdraai ...Read more
Author:Stafford, William HLDate:Aug 2010There is a growing recognition of the carrying capacity of natural systems and how these limits impact economic growth and development. As fossil fuels are being depleted, the era of cheap fossil fuels is ending and societies are more willing ...Read more
Author:Marais, R; Van Wilgen, BW; Stevens, DDate:Jan 2004This paper provides estimates of the costs of clearing important species of invasive alien plants, as well as of progress made with clearing, based on data from a recently developed GIS-based project information system. Before the deployment ...Read more
Author:Van Wilgen, BW; De Lange, Willem JDate:Aug 2011This paper provides a brief review of the environmental and economic costs of invasive alien plants in South Africa as a background to assessments of returns on investment in weed biological control. The understanding of impacts and their ...Read more
Author:De Lange, Willem J; Van Wilgen, BWDate:Jul 2010This study is a first attempt at a holistic economic evaluation of South African endeavours to manage invasive alien plants using biological control. The author’s focus was on the delivery of ecosystem services from habitats that are invaded ...Read more
Author:Van Wilgen, BDate:2012The Table Mountain National Park is a 265 km2 protected area embedded within a city of 3.5 million people. The park contains an extremely diverse flora with many endemic species, and has been granted World Heritage Site status in recognition ...Read more
Author:Van Wilgen, BWDate:Sep 2009The history and development of fire and invasive alien plant management policies in fynbos during the 20th century are reviewed. Fire was initially condemned outright as a destructive force, but as its vital role became better understood, ...Read more
Author:van Wilgen, BW; Forsyth, GG; de Klerk, H; Das, Sonali; Khuluse, S; Schmitz, PDate:2010The authors used a spatial data base of fires within 10 protected areas covering >720 000 ha to examine the frequency, seasonality, size and cause of fires over four decades. Their study covered five fire climate zones and a range of mountain ...Read more
Author:Le Maitre, David C; Görgens, A; Howard, G; Walker, NDate:Oct 2019A key motivation for managing invasive alien plant (IAP) species is their impacts on streamflows, which, for the wetter half of South Africa, are about 970 m3·ha-1·a-1 or 1 444 mill. m3·a-1 (2.9% of naturalised mean annual runoff), comparable ...Read more
Author:Le Maitre, David C; Gush, Mark B; Dzikiti, SebinasiDate:May 2015There have been many studies of the diverse impacts of invasions by alien plants but few have assessed impacts on water resources. We reviewed the information on the impacts of invasions on surface runoff and groundwater resources at stand ...Read more
Author:Chamier, J; Schachtschneider, K; Le Maitre, David C; Ashton, PJ; Van Wilgen, BWDate:Apr 2012We review the current state of knowledge of quantified impacts of invasive alien plants on water quality, with a focus on South Africa. In South Africa, over 200 introduced plant species are regarded as invasive. Many of these species are ...Read more
Author:De Lange, Willem J; Stafford, William HL; Forsyth, GG; Le Maitre, David CDate:May 2012Invasive alien plants (IAPs) impose significant social costs on the population of the Agulhas Plain region in South Africa due to their adverse impacts on ecosystem goods and services (decreased water supply and increased fire risk). While ...Read more
Author:Van Wilgen, BW; Nel, JL; Rouget, MDate:2007Parallel initiatives in South Africa have been addressing the prioritisation and management of invasive alien plant species, the prioritisation of rivers for the conservation of biodiversity, and broad-scale planning for water resource ...Read more
Author:Gorgens, AHM; Van Wilgen, BWDate:Jan 2004Predictions that invasive alien Plants would use significant amounts of water were a major factor in the establishment of South Africa's Working for Water programme, which aims to protect water resources by clearing these plants. The predictions ...Read more
Author:Richardson, DM; Van Wilgen, BWDate:Jan 2004This paper examines the evidence for the effects of invasive alien plants in natural and semi-natural ecosystems in South Africa. Invasive alien plants are concentrated in the Western Cape, along the eastern seaboard, and into the eastern ...Read more