Langa, SDF, Hill, MP and Compton, SG orcid.org/0000-0002-1247-8058 (2020) Agents sans frontiers: cross-border aquatic weed biological control in the rivers of southern Mozambique. African Journal of Aquatic Science, 45 (3). pp. 329-335. ISSN 1608-5914
Abstract
Biological control is an effective ways of controlling aquatic plants, especially in South Africa. Release of biological control agents has been limited to Mozambique, where water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms-Laubach (Pontederiaceae)), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes L. (Araceae)), red water ferns (Azolla spp. (Azollaceae)) and salvinia (Salvinia molesta DS Mitch. (Salviniaceae)) are significant weeds in the south of the country. In 2009, we assessed the status of these weeds in seven rivers across southern Mozambique and recorded whether any biocontrol agents were present. The weevils Neochetina eichhorniae Warner (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and N. bruchi Hustache (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) were on water hyacinth, along with the pathogen Acremonium zonatum (Sawada) W. Gams (Hypocreales) and the mite Orthogalumna terebrantis Wallwork (Acarina: Sarcoptiformes: Galumnidae). Pistia stratiotes supported small numbers of the weevil Neohydronomus affinis Hustache (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). The red water fern in the rivers was A. cristata Kaulfuss (Azollaceae) not the more widely recorded A. filiculoides Lam. (Azollaceae), and it supported small numbers of the weevil Stenopelmus rufinasus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). No agents were present on S. molesta. Most of these agents are likely to have dispersed from South Africa, and the rivers of southern Mozambique are likely to be benefitting from the transnational dispersal of these agents.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © NISC (Pty) Ltd. African Journal of Aquatic Science is co-published by NISC (Pty) Ltd and Informa UK Limited (trading as Taylor & Francis Group). This is an author produced version of a journal article published in the African Journal of Aquatic Science. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Azolla, Eichhornia, Pistia, Salvinia, transnational dispersal |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > School of Biology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 17 Jun 2020 11:17 |
Last Modified: | 17 Nov 2022 16:24 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Identification Number: | 10.2989/16085914.2020.1749551 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:161877 |