The Ecology and Management of Invasive Prosopis Trees in Eastern Africa

by Urs Schaffner, Ketema Bekele, Albrecht Ehrensperger, Brian W. van Wilgen

Description

This book synthesises information on an important environmental problem - the invasion of natural ecosystems in Africa by alien Prosopis trees, and how they should be managed. It addresses how the problem came about, what we know about how it works, and how it can potentially be managed at different scales. The book has a focus on eastern Africa but includes studies from elsewhere. Prosopis trees were originally introduced to Africa as early as 1880 (in South Africa), and later to eastern Africa in 1917 (in Sudan). They are difficult to manage due to their ecological features, such as their ability to produce copious amounts of seed, and to compete successfully with native species for resources, but also because they have both beneficial uses and negative impacts, making them conflict species, where people disagree on goals for management and how they should be achieved. In eastern Africa, Prosopis juliflora invades rangeland, cropland, settlements and riparian ecosystems, causing negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services that rural communities depend on. This book considers the perceptions and conflicting interests of different stakeholder groups, and how engagement can be used to co-design management strategies and implement concrete control measures. The book is therefore not only of interest to those working with this invasive tree species, but also to persons involved in policy development and management of other invasive species, or in the wider field of sustainable environmental management.

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Author Biography

Urs Schaffner is Head of the 'Ecosystems Management' section at the CABI Switzerland Centre and affiliate assistant professor at the University of Idaho, USA. His research focuses on soil-plant-herbivore interactions, with particular emphasis on biological invasions, biological control of weeds and grassland restoration. He has 30 years of experience in weed biological control and has worked on aspects such as the ecology and evolutionary ecology of host-specificity of weed biological control agents, pre-release impact assessment, demographic modelling of biological control agents and post-release impact evaluation. He is the coordinator of the 'Woody Weeds' project, a multi-partner project on assessing the environmental and socio-economic effects of invasive trees in Eastern Africa and implementing integrated management strategies, including biological control, that mitigate their negative impacts. Urs participated in more than 10 research projects, (co)authored more than 100 articles

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CABI (CAB International)

CABI (CAB International)

CABI (CAB International) is an international, non-profit body improving lives by providing information & scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture & the environment.

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Bibliographic Information

  • Publisher/Imprint CABI / CAB International
  • Publication Date February 2025
  • Orginal LanguageEnglish
  • ISBN/Identifier 9781800623620 / 1800623623
  • Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
  • FormatHardback
  • Primary Price 115 GBP
  • Pages272
  • ReadershipCollege/higher education; Professional and scholarly
  • Publish StatusPublished
  • Dimensions244 X 172 mm
  • SeriesCABI Invasives Series
  • Reference Code5890

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