plants. Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the South African coastline was likely
visited by boats from different seafaring trading nations, including Phoenicians,
Egyptians, Greeks, Arabs, Chinese and Indians. Infrequent visitors, such as the
Portuguese maritime explorer Bartolomeu Dias, built structures on land (padrãos,
circa 1490), and their visits almost certainly facilitated unintended invasions of
vermin. Their ships also carried dry ballast, and with it organisms from their ports
of origin.
The first permanent European settlement was in 1652, when the Dutch
established a presence in what is now Cape Town. Even then, invasive species
were recognised as a problem, and European settlers were sometimes mindful of not
introducing some species because they might have become problematic. For example, the first Dutch administrator at the Cape, Jan van Riebeeck, deliberately avoided
introducing European Rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, to the mainland, and passed
this advice onto his successor (Measey et al. 2020a, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.2). Nevertheless, the early years of colonisation saw many deliberate introductions of both plants
and animals that later became and remain major invasive species (and ironically
rabbits seem incapable of naturalising).
Under Dutch rule, slaves were brought from South East Asia (the Dutch East
Indies in particular) in the latter half of the seventeenth century, and there were
various waves of immigration from Europe (in part to escape religious intolerance).
The British took over from the Dutch as colonisers in 1806. Under British colonial
rule, over 150,000 indentured labourers from India arrived in Natal from 1860 to
1911 (when the system of indentured labour was stopped). Other colonisers came
from all over the globe as traders, miners, and for various opportunities (some of
which were temporary). These diverse groups of people have introduced, deliberately and accidentally, species from all taxonomic groups to South Africa in various
complex waves of introductions (Fig. 1.1c). Alien species have been vital to feed,
clothe, nurture, employ, and enrich the growing human population, but some alien
species have spread and in some instances caused undesirable environmental and
socio-economic impacts.
From the mid-nineteenth century onwards, people deliberately introduced and
promoted a wide range of alien species to South Africa, for a range of purposes, and
many went on to become prominent invaders (Fig. 1.4). In 1847, active and
widespread planting of Australian Acacia species (wattles) as a means of stabilising
dunes along the coast began. Plantings continued to the 1940s, and the large areas
planted resulted in substantial invasions (Shaughnessy 1986). In 1864, Acacia
mearnsii (Black Wattle) was introduced and planted to produce tannins from bark
(Stubbings and Schönau 1983). Black wattles have subsequently become one of the
most widespread invasive alien trees in South Africa (Nel et al. 2004). In 1889, Cecil
John Rhodes introduced Fallow Deer (Dama dama), Grey Squirrels (Sciurus
carolinensis), Chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) and Common Starlings (Sturnus
vulgaris) to the Cape (Measey et al. 2020a, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.2). Common Starlings
subsequently became one of the most widespread invasive birds in South Africa
(Measey et al. 2020a, Chap. 5, Box 5.1; Picker and Griffiths 2011). Rainbow Trout
(Onchorhynchus mykiss) were introduced to South Africa in 1897 (Weyl et al. 2020,
1 Biological Invasions in South Africa: An Overview
9
visited by boats from different seafaring trading nations, including Phoenicians,
Egyptians, Greeks, Arabs, Chinese and Indians. Infrequent visitors, such as the
Portuguese maritime explorer Bartolomeu Dias, built structures on land (padrãos,
circa 1490), and their visits almost certainly facilitated unintended invasions of
vermin. Their ships also carried dry ballast, and with it organisms from their ports
of origin.
The first permanent European settlement was in 1652, when the Dutch
established a presence in what is now Cape Town. Even then, invasive species
were recognised as a problem, and European settlers were sometimes mindful of not
introducing some species because they might have become problematic. For example, the first Dutch administrator at the Cape, Jan van Riebeeck, deliberately avoided
introducing European Rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, to the mainland, and passed
this advice onto his successor (Measey et al. 2020a, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.2). Nevertheless, the early years of colonisation saw many deliberate introductions of both plants
and animals that later became and remain major invasive species (and ironically
rabbits seem incapable of naturalising).
Under Dutch rule, slaves were brought from South East Asia (the Dutch East
Indies in particular) in the latter half of the seventeenth century, and there were
various waves of immigration from Europe (in part to escape religious intolerance).
The British took over from the Dutch as colonisers in 1806. Under British colonial
rule, over 150,000 indentured labourers from India arrived in Natal from 1860 to
1911 (when the system of indentured labour was stopped). Other colonisers came
from all over the globe as traders, miners, and for various opportunities (some of
which were temporary). These diverse groups of people have introduced, deliberately and accidentally, species from all taxonomic groups to South Africa in various
complex waves of introductions (Fig. 1.1c). Alien species have been vital to feed,
clothe, nurture, employ, and enrich the growing human population, but some alien
species have spread and in some instances caused undesirable environmental and
socio-economic impacts.
From the mid-nineteenth century onwards, people deliberately introduced and
promoted a wide range of alien species to South Africa, for a range of purposes, and
many went on to become prominent invaders (Fig. 1.4). In 1847, active and
widespread planting of Australian Acacia species (wattles) as a means of stabilising
dunes along the coast began. Plantings continued to the 1940s, and the large areas
planted resulted in substantial invasions (Shaughnessy 1986). In 1864, Acacia
mearnsii (Black Wattle) was introduced and planted to produce tannins from bark
(Stubbings and Schönau 1983). Black wattles have subsequently become one of the
most widespread invasive alien trees in South Africa (Nel et al. 2004). In 1889, Cecil
John Rhodes introduced Fallow Deer (Dama dama), Grey Squirrels (Sciurus
carolinensis), Chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) and Common Starlings (Sturnus
vulgaris) to the Cape (Measey et al. 2020a, Chap. 5, Sect. 5.2). Common Starlings
subsequently became one of the most widespread invasive birds in South Africa
(Measey et al. 2020a, Chap. 5, Box 5.1; Picker and Griffiths 2011). Rainbow Trout
(Onchorhynchus mykiss) were introduced to South Africa in 1897 (Weyl et al. 2020,
1 Biological Invasions in South Africa: An Overview
9