The role of eutrophication in the biological control of water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, in South Africa

Coetzee, Julie A; Hill, Martin P

Title: The role of eutrophication in the biological control of water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, in South Africa
Creator: Coetzee, Julie A
Creator: Hill, Martin P
Date Issued: 2011
Date: 2011
Type: text
Type: article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/69263
Identifier: vital:29474
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-011-9426-y
Description: South Africa has some of the most eutrophic aquatic systems in the world, as a result of the adoption of an unnecessarily high 1 mg l-1 phosphorus (P) standard for all water treatment works in the 1970 s. The floating aquatic macrophyte, water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms (Pontederiaceae), has taken advantage of these nutrient rich systems, becoming highly invasive and damaging. Despite the implementation of a biological control programme in South Africa, water hyacinth remains the worst aquatic weed. A meta-analysis of published and unpublished laboratory studies that investigated the combined effect of P and nitrogen (N) water nutrient concentration and control agent herbivory showed that water nutrient status was more important than herbivory in water hyacinth growth. Analysis of long-term field data collected monthly from 14 sites around South Africa between 2004 and 2005 supported these findings. Therefore, the first step in any water hyacinth control programme should be to reduce the nutrient status of the water body.
Format: 15 pages
Format: pdf
Language: English
Relation: BioControl
Relation: Coetzee, J.A. and Hill, M.P., 2012. The role of eutrophication in the biological control of water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, in South Africa. BioControl, 57(2), pp.247-261.
Relation: BioControl 57 2 number 1 247 261 November 2011 1386-6141
Rights: Publisher or author
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike" License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/)

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Hill, Martin Patrick (Distinguished Professor)

Coetzee, Julie A (Prof)

RU Department of Botany

RU Department of Zoology and Entomology

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