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1 - Biological control of weeds in the tropics and sustainability
- Edited by Rangaswamy Muniappan, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Gadi V. P. Reddy, University of Guam, Anantanarayanan Raman, Charles Sturt University, Orange, New South Wales
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- Book:
- Biological Control of Tropical Weeds Using Arthropods
- Published online:
- 04 August 2010
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- 05 March 2009, pp 1-16
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Summary
Introduction
Efforts to manage weeds using biological control have been gaining momentum throughout the world, especially in the recent past (Delfosse, 2004). Developed countries, which are principally distributed in the temperate regions, have been practicing classical biological control efficiently, whereas developing countries, most of which are distributed in the tropical regions and have more limited resources, have not adopted deliberate measures for biological control of invasive plants to the same extent as developed nations. The first documented case of biological control of weeds in the tropics was in 1795 and involved the invasive plant Opuntia monacantha (Wildenow) Haworth (Cactaceae), which was controlled serendipitously in India due to the inadvertent introduction of Dactylopius ceylonicus (Green) (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) from Brazil in mistaken identity for Dactylopius coccus Costa (Hemiptera: Dactylopidae) (Rabindra and Bhumannavar, this volume; Zimmerman et al., this volume). Thereafter, it took more than a century for biological control of weeds to be rigorously adopted (e.g. biological control of lantana in Hawaii in 1902; biological control of cactus in Australia in 1912; Julien et al., 2007) and for invasive weed species to be recognized as an international problem (Harris, 1979).
Since the early 1900s, work has been predominantly carried out on weeds of the temperate regions in countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and the USA. The USA, Australia, and South Africa, which include tropical segments (e.g. states of Florida, Hawaii, Queensland, Northern Territory, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpuma Langa, Limpopo) have developed programs on biological control of tropical weeds.
4 - Ageratina adenophora (Sprengel) King and Robinson (Asteraceae)
- Edited by Rangaswamy Muniappan, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Gadi V. P. Reddy, University of Guam, Anantanarayanan Raman, Charles Sturt University, Orange, New South Wales
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- Book:
- Biological Control of Tropical Weeds Using Arthropods
- Published online:
- 04 August 2010
- Print publication:
- 05 March 2009, pp 63-73
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Summary
Introduction
Ageratina adenophora (Sprengel) King and Robinson (=Eupatorium adenophorum, E. glandulosum, E. pasadense) (Asterales: Asteraceae) is popularly known as the Crofton weed; other common names are eupatory, sticky snakeroot, cat weed, hemp agrimony, sticky agrimony, Mexican devil, and sticky eupatorium in different parts of the world (Hoshovsky and Lichti, 2007). In Hawaii it is known as Maui pāmakani and pāmakani haole and in Nepal as banmara (killer of the forests). Usually, it grows into an erect herb (occasionally into a subshrub) of one to three meters in height, with trailing purplish to chocolate-brown branches that strike roots upon contact with soil, resulting in dense thickets (Bess and Haramoto, 1958). The base of the plant is woody and densely clothed with stalked glandular hairs. Leaves are dark green, opposite, deltoid-ovate, serrate, and purple underneath, and each grows to about 10 cm in length. Flowers are white and borne terminally in compound clusters in spring and summer. The seed is an achene, varying from elliptic to oblanceolate, often gibbous, 1.5–2 mm long, 0.3–0.5 mm wide; with five prominent ribs and five to 40 pappi with slender scabrous bristles (Hickman, 1993). Dispersal occurs by wind-borne seeds and each plant produces about 100,000 seeds per season. Seeds are also spread by water, as contaminants of agricultural produce, via sand and gravel used in road preparation, via soil sticking to animals, machinery, and vehicles, and by adhering to footwear or clothing of farm workers (Parsons, 1992).
8 - Chromolaena odorata (L.) King and Robinson (Asteraceae)
- Edited by Rangaswamy Muniappan, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Gadi V. P. Reddy, University of Guam, Anantanarayanan Raman, Charles Sturt University, Orange, New South Wales
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- Book:
- Biological Control of Tropical Weeds Using Arthropods
- Published online:
- 04 August 2010
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- 05 March 2009, pp 130-162
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Summary
Introduction
Chromolaena odorata (L.) King and Robinson (Asteraceae), formerly known as Eupatorium odoratum L., is a weedy pioneering shrub native to the Americas from southern USA to northern Argentina (Gautier, 1992). Chromolaena odorata has become one of the worst terrestrial invasive plants in the humid tropics and subtropics of the Old World over the past century (Holm et al., 1977; Gautier, 1992). From its original point of introduction as an ornamental plant in northeastern India in the mid nineteenth century, it has spread throughout Southeast Asia, into parts of Oceania (Muniappan and Marutani, 1988; McFadyen, 1989;Waterhouse, 1994a), and into West and Central Africa (Gautier, 1992; Prasad et al., 1996). A different form of C. odorata (see below), first recorded as naturalized in the 1940s (Hilliard, 1977), has invaded a large part of the subtropics of southern Africa (Goodall and Erasmus, 1996).
Individual C. odorata plants are easily controlled by chemical and/or mechanical means. However, as it is a weed mainly of the tropics and subtropics, many of the countries in which it is a problem do not have the resources to implement comprehensive control programs using conventional methods. Consequently, biological control has become an important management tool (Goodall and Erasmus, 1996; McFadyen, 1996a).
10 - Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt (Cucurbitaceae)
- Edited by Rangaswamy Muniappan, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Gadi V. P. Reddy, University of Guam, Anantanarayanan Raman, Charles Sturt University, Orange, New South Wales
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- Book:
- Biological Control of Tropical Weeds Using Arthropods
- Published online:
- 04 August 2010
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- 05 March 2009, pp 175-182
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Summary
Introduction
Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt (= C. indica Wight et Arnold, Coccinia cordifolia (Auct.)) (Cucurbitaceae, Violales) commonly known as ivy gourd, scarlet gourd, tindori, tindola, or kovai kai, is native to north-central East Africa (Chun, 2001), but it is also found wild in the Indo-Malayan region (Singh, 1990). Coccinia includes 29 additional species and they are found only in tropical Africa (Singh, 1990). Coccinia grandis was introduced by humans mostly as a food crop to several countries in Asia Australia, Pacific Islands, the Caribbean, and southern United States (Jeffrey, 1967; Linney, 1986; Nagata, 1988; Singh, 1990; Telford, 1990). It has become naturalized in these parts of the world because it is capable of thriving well in warm, humid, tropical regions. In Fiji, it occurs as a naturalized weed in degraded land, cane fields, and road sides (Smith, 1981). Of these introductions, only in Hawaii (Murai et al., 1998) and the Mariana Islands (McConnell and Muniappan, 1991) did it become invasive in the 1980s.
Coccinia grandis is a dioecious, perennial, and herbaceous climber, with glabrous stems, tuberous roots, and axillary tendrils. Leaves are alternate and simple. Fruit is a smooth, bright red, ovoid to ellipsoid berry 2.5–6 cm (Whistler, 1995). It is a smothering, aggressive vine, with an extensive tuberous root system. In Hawaii, C. grandis is highly naturalized and spreads rapidly in disturbed sites, 0–245 m in elevation (Wagner et al., 1999).