East Usambaras - Invasive Plants
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East Usambaras
The majority of the introduced species spreading into the East Usambaras are shrubs and trees although other groups, such as earthworms, are also invading. The spread of Maesopsis eminii, Lantana camara and Clidemia hirta was recorded as early as the 1930s but it is only in the past 20 years, that the threat these introduced species cause to the local biodiversity, has been fully appreciated. Species are regularly identified as new threats and lately include Pyrostegia venusta, Selaginella sp., Castilla elastica and Arenga pinnata. A short article reporting the spread of these species has been published in Aliens.
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 Pyrostegia venusta (Ker-Gawler) Miers (Bignonaceae) flowers. |
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Pyrostegia venusta (Ker-Gawler)
Miers (Bignonaceae)
Left: climbing up the stem of Maesopsis eminii. Right: smothering the canopy of a Maesopsis eminii at the forest edge.
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Selaginella sp. monotypic stand in a forest gap (6'2.5" tall American ecotourist gives scale) |  |
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