Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wzw2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-28T11:25:39.793Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of Alien Plant Invasions on Native Vegetation Remnants on La Réunion (Mascarene Islands, Indian Ocean)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Ian A.W. Macdonald ,
Christophe Thébaud ,
Wendy A. Strahm  and
Dominique Strasberg
Ian A.W. Macdonald
Affiliation:
Senior Research Officer, Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7700, South Africa
Christophe Thébaud
Affiliation:
Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive Louis Emberger, CNRS, BP 5051, F-34033 Montpellier Cedex, France
Wendy A. Strahm
Affiliation:
WWF/IUCN, Project Leader, Forestry Quarters, Black River, Mauritius
Dominique Strasberg
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Biologie Végétale, Université de La Réunion, F-97490 Ste Clotilde, Ile de La Réunion, France.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Although most of the lowland endemic forests of the mountainous Indian Ocean island of La Réunion have been converted by Man to other land-uses, relatively intact ecosystems still survive at higher elevations. Given the particular conservational value of these remnants of primary forest, detailed knowledge of the threats faced by these native ecosystems was urgently needed. Accordingly we conducted field surveys through the various plant communities on the island in order to answer particular questions regarding the vulnerability of native vegetation remnants to invasive, introduced plant species.

Our results indicated that most invaders colonize human-disturbed sites most successfully. However, such alien plants are also frequent in the Réunion primary forest remnants, with at least 62 species penetrating into areas which have experienced no or little human disturbance. Nevertheless, the forest remnants were still mainly dominated by indigenous or endemic plant species and maintain what is, presumably, their original vegetational structure.

The most threatening plant invaders are the trees Psidium cattleianum and Ligustrum robustwn, the bramble Rubus alceifolius, the shrubs Fuchsia magellanica and Lantana camara, and the herbaceous Hedychium gardnerianum, Boehmeria macrophylla, and Boehmeria penduliflora.

We found the early stages of primary succession on young volcanic sites to be dominated by aggressively expanding populations of alien species. It appears very unlikely that native species will replace the invaders as the succession proceeds, and furthermore the survival of many indigenous species probably hinges on the active control of alien species.

In order for alien plant management efforts to be successful, we propose a priority ranking based on the current and potential future extent of specific infestation, the rate of spread, the difficulty with which a species can be controlled, and its ecological impact on the areas invaded.

Finally, the long-term survival of the Réunion ecosystems depends largely upon the drawing up and implementation of an adequate overall conservation policy regarding human-caused invasions by alien plants in the native vegetation.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , Spring 1991 , pp. 51 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barre, N. & Barau, A. (1982). Oiseaux de La Réunion. Cazal, St-Denis, La Réunion: 196 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Bosser, J., Cadet, T., Gueho, J. & Marais, W. (Eds) (1976–1987 and in prep.) Flore des Mascareignes; La Réunion, Maurice, Rodrigues. MSIRI, Mauritius, ORSTOM, Paris, France & Royal Botanical Garden, Kew, England, UK: 1017 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Brockie, R.E., Loope, L.L., Usher, M.B. & Hamann, O. (1988). Biological invasions of island nature reserves. Biological Conservation, 44, pp. 9–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cadet, T. (1974). Etude sur la végétation des Hautes Altitudes de l'Ile de La Réunion (Océan Indien). Vegetatio, 29, pp. 121–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cadet, T. (1980). La Végétation de l'Ile de La Réunion: Etude Phytoécologique et Phytosociologique. (PhD thesis, Université d'Aix-Marseille.) Imprimerie Cazal, St.-Denis, La Réunion, France: 312 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Cadet, T. & Figier, J. (1985). La Réserve de Mare Longue, Etude Floristique et Ecologique. (Unpubl. Report.) Université de La Réunion, St-Denis, La Réunion, France: 38 pp. + 2 appendices, illustr. (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Cheke, A.S. (1987 a). An ecological history of the Mascarene Islands, with particular reference to extinctions and introductions of land vertebrates. Pp. 5–89 in Studies of Mascarene Island Birds (Ed. Diamond, A.W.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, UK: 458 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheke, A.S. (1987 b). The ecology of the surviving native landbirds of Réunion. Pp. 301–58 in Studies of Mascarene Island Birds (Ed. Diamond, A.W.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, UK: 458 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doumenge, C. & Renard, Y. (1989). La Conservation des Ecosystèmes forestiers de l'Ile de La Réunion. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, England, UK: viii + 95 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Dupont, J., Girard, J.C. & Guinet, M. (1989). Flore en Détresse: le Livre Rouge des Plantes Indigènes Menacées à La Réunion. SREPEN, St-Denis, La Réunion, France: 133 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Knight, R.S. (1986). A comparative analysis of fleshy fruit displays in alien and indigenous plants. Pp. 171–8 in The Ecology and Management of Biological Invasions in Southern Africa (Eds Macdonald, I.A.W., Kruger, F.J. & Ferrar, A.A.). Oxford University Press, Cape Town, South Africa: 324 pp.Google Scholar
Lavergne, R. (1978). Les pestes végétales de l'Ile de La Réunion. Info-Nature Ile de La Réunion, 16, pp. 9–60, illustr.Google Scholar
Lorence, D.H. & Sussman, R.W. (1986). Exotic species invasion into Mauritius wet forest remnants. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 2, pp. 147–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macdonald, I.A.W. (1983). Alien trees, shrubs and creepers invading indigenous vegetation in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserves Complex in Natal. Bothalia, 14, pp. 949–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macdonald, I.A.W. (1989). Stratégic de Recherche et de Gestion pour le Contrôle à Long-terme des Pestes Végétales à La Réunion. Unpubl. Report to the Conseil Régional de La Réunion, 16 pp. + 2 appendices (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Macdonald, I.A.W. & Jarman, M.L. (Ed.) (1984). Invasive Alien Organisms in the Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Fynbos Biome, South Africa. South African National Scientific Programmes Report 85, CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa: 72 pp.Google Scholar
Macdonald, I.A.W. & Jarman, M.L. (Eds) (1985). Invasive Alien Plants in the Terrestrial Ecosystems of Natal, South Africa. South African National Scientific Programmes Report 118, CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa: 88 pp.Google Scholar
Macdonald, I.A.W. & Nott, T.B. (1987). Invasive alien organisms in central South West Africa/Namibia: Results of a reconnaissance survey conducted in November 1984. Madoqua, 15, pp. 21–34.Google Scholar
Macdonald, I.A.W. & Richardson, D.M. (1986). Alien species in terrestrial ecosystems of the Fynbos biome. Pp. 77–91 in The Ecology and Management of Biological Invasions in Southern Africa (Ed. Macdonald, I.A.W., Kruger, F.J. & Ferrar, A.A.). Oxford University Press, Cape Town, South Africa: 324 pp.Google Scholar
Macdonald, I.A.W., Ortiz, L., Lawesson, J.E. & Nowak, J.B. (1988 a). The invasion of highlands in Galápagos by the Red Quinine-tree Cinchona succirubra. Environmental Conservation, 15, pp. 215–20, illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macdonald, I.A.W., Cabanilla, G., Calvopiña, L., Carvajal, F., Cruz, F., Escobar, J., Fosberg, F.R., Gordillo, J., Motooka, P., Ochoa, H., Ortiz, L., Salgado, F., Samaniego, A., Sivinta, B., Smith, C., Stone, C., Tupiza, A. & Vries, T. De (1988 b). Introduced organisms. Pp. 64–90 in Summary Report of the International Workshop on Botanical Research and Management in Galapagos, 1987. Galápagos National Park Service and Charles Darwin Research Station, Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, Ecuador: 105 pp.Google Scholar
Miguet, J.M. (1980). Régénération et reconstitution de forêts naturelles à l'Ile de La Réunion. Revue d'Ecologie (Terre et Vie), 34, pp. 3–22.Google Scholar
Moors, P.J. (Ed.) (1985). Conservation of Island Birds: Case Studies for the Management of Threatened Island Species. International Council for Bird Preservation, Cambridge, England, UK: 271 pp.Google Scholar
Perry, R. (Ed.) (1984). Key Environments: Galápagos. Pergamon Press, Oxford, England, UK: 321 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Rutherford, M.C., Pressinger, F.M. & Musil, C.F. (1986). Standing crops, growth rates and resource use efficiency in alien plant invaded ecosystems. Pp. 189–99 in The Ecology and Management of Biological Invasions in Southern Africa (Eds Macdonald, I.A.W., Kruger, F.J. & Ferrar, A.A.). Oxford University Press, Cape Town, South Africa: 324 pp.Google Scholar
Saint-Vincent, J.B.G.M. Bory de (1804). Voyage Dans les Quatre Principales Iles des Mers Australes d'Afrique fait par Ordre du Gouvernement Pendant les Années Neuf et Dix de la République (1801 et 1802), avec l'Histoire de la Traversée du Capitaine Baudin jusqu'au Port-Louis de l'Ile Maurice. F. Buisson, Paris, France: vol. I, xii + 408 pp.; vol. II, 431 pp.; vol III, 473 pp.; Atlas, 58 plates, illustr.Google Scholar
Schofield, E.K. (1989). Effects of introduced plants and animals on island vegetation: examples from the Galápagos Archipelago. Conservation Biology, 3, pp. 227–38, illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, C.W. (1985). Impact of alien plants on Hawaii's native biota. Pp. 180–225 in Stone & Scott (op. cit.).Google Scholar
Stone, C.P. & Scott, J.M. (Eds) (1985). Hawaii's Terrestrial Ecosystems: Preservation and Management. Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA: xxviii + 584 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Strahm, W.A. (in press). Conservation of the Mascarene flora with some notes on Aldabra. In The Conservation of Island Floras (Ed. D. Bramwell).Google Scholar
Thébaud, C. (1989). Contribution à l'Etude des Plantes Etrangères Envahissantes à l'Ile de La Réunion. Unpub. Report to the Conseil Régional de La Réunion, 49 pp. (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Usher, M.B., Kruger, F.J., Macdonald, I.A.W., Loope, L.L. & Brockie, R.E. (1988). Ecology of biological invasions into nature reserves: An introduction. Biological Conservation, 44, pp. 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vitousek, P.M. (1988). Diversity and biological invasions of oceanic islands. Pp. 181–9 in Biodiversity (Ed. Wilson, E.O.). National Academy Press, Washington, DC, USA: xiii + 521 pp., Illustr.Google Scholar