Sebataolo Rahlao

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife · Conservation Research and Assessment

Invasive alien species (IAS) pose a key threat to biodiversity, the economy and human well-being, and continue to increase in abundance and impact worldwide. Legislation and policy currently dominate the global agenda for IAS, although translation to localised success may be limited. This calls for a wider range of responses to transform IAS manage...

The management of biological invasions, which pose a growing threat to natural resources and human well-being, is critical for reducing associated negative impacts. As part of the process of developing a strategy for the management of biological invasions in the South African National Biodiversity Institute’s (SANBI) gardens, we collated a list of...

Riparian invasive alien plants are known to compete with native plant species for water, space, daylight, and different other resources by decreasing structural diversity of native vegetation and subsequently changing the functioning of the ecosystem. The aim of this study was to investigate the rate of native plant species recolonization after the...

Invasive alien species (IAS) are known to pose a serious threat to biodiversity, and reduce the ability of ecosystems to provide benefits to humans. In recognition of this threat and to address the impacts of IAS, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted Aichi Biodiversity Target 9, which is dedicated to the control or eradic...

Biological invasion is one type of environmental change that can, at least to some degree, be effectively managed. This includes the identity, number and invasion status of invasive alien species, and additionally the drivers and pathways of invasive alien species introduction. Twenty four Permanent plots of 10 square meters each were constructed....

Full text: https://rdcu.be/bVy8H | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0412-1 | doi: 10.1038/s41893-019-0412-1 | Regional and global assessments periodically update what we know, and highlight what remains to be known, about the linkages between people and nature that both define and depend upon the state of the environment. To guide resear...

African populations share a close relationship with, and are highly dependent on, biodiversity and ecosystem services. A major challenge lies in managing and governing this human-environment relationship for Africa’s transformation towards sustainability and resilience (high agreement, robust evidence). A wide variety of governance options exist in...

A major challenge for the management of biological invasions is to ensure that data and information from basic inventories and ecological research are used alongside data from the monitoring and evaluation of interventions to trigger and improve policy and management responses. To address this issue, South Africa has committed to report on the stat...

Within the generic scope for the Regional Assessments of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the African assessment focusses on thematic priorities, including the food-energy-water-livelihood nexus; land degradation, including climate-related risks such as desertification and silting; catchment to coast; biodiversity conservation and sustainable u...

In many countries around the world the most damaging invasive plant species are grasses. However, the group has received little attention in South Africa. In response to this information deficiency on a group with high invasion potential we established a National Working Group on Alien Grasses in 2013. One of the main goals of the group so far h...

Disturbance by fire in the Succulent Karoo is rare but fire events could increase as a result of an increase in grassiness (alien and indigenous species). This study assessed the effects of fire eight years after an experimentally induced burn in Succulent Karoo vegetation. Post-fire monitoring was conducted using the line intercept method and spec...

Agriculture is key to rural livelihoods and economic development in many developing countries in Africa and South America. Unfortunately, it is also a substantial source of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in many of these countries. This paper examines the socio-economic importance of the agriculture sector in six emerging economies (Argentina, Br...

The knowledge of relative performance of plants across environmental gradients is critical for their effective management and for understanding future range expansion. Pennisetum setaceum is an invasive perennial grass found along roadsides and other disturbed sites in South Africa. The performance of this grass in response to competition, habitat...

Rahlao SJ, Milton SJ, Esler KJ & Barnard P (2010). The distribution of invasive Pennisetum setaceum along roadsides in western South Africa: the role of corridor interchanges. Weed Research 50, 537–543.SummaryRoads and rivers may be dispersal corridors for invasive alien grass seeds that fly and float. These two systems interact at bridge interchan...

We conducted a greenhouse study to examine the effects of different habitat conditions and environmental resources on the growth rates of crimson fountaingrass, an invasive, alien, perennial grass in South Africa. To help understand the factors promoting the spread of this emergent alien grass, we investigated the effects of temperature regimes, nu...

ENGLISH SUMMARY: Climate change and biological invasions are major components of global change induced by human activity and are considered major drivers of global biodiversity decline in terrestrial ecosystems. These drivers interact synergistically and render ecosystems vulnerable to invasion by invasive alien species. Grasses are a group of inva...

Arid shrublands in the Karoo (South Africa) seldom accumulate sufficient combustible fuel to support fire. However, as a result of invasion by an alien perennial grass (Pennisetum setaceum), they could become flammable. This paper reports on an experiment to assess the effects of fire following invasion by P. setaceum. We established 10 plots (5 ×...

Changes in species richness and vegetation composition in the diverse semi-arid Succulent Karoo vegetation of South Africa were investigated after 67 (1937–2004) years of rest from livestock grazing at the Worcester Veld Reserve (WVR). This 72ha reserve lies in the Worcester-Robertson Valley, 140km east of Cape Town, South Africa (33°39′S and 19°27...

We report the development of rootless plantlets in inflorescences of Pennisetum setaceum (Fountain grass) invasive in the Gamka River in the Karoo National Park, South Africa. The pseudo-vivipary appeared to have been induced by inundation of immature inflorescences when the river flooded. Plantlet production may facilitate the spread of this speci...

The Tygerberg hills, situated in the south-western part of the Western Cape Province, South Africa, are currently subject to widespread and rapid land use change in terms of agriculture and urbanisation. These undulating hills fall within the winter rainfall region of South Africa and have been subject to intense, mainly agricultural land use, for...