35 years. Finally, the plots were surveyed again by Slingsby et al. (2017), who
documented a significant decline in the diversity of the vegetation driven by increasingly severe post-fire summer weather events as well as the legacy effects of
historical woody alien plant invasions 30 years after clearing. These insights are
extremely informative, and it is to be regretted that there are not more examples of
long-term monitoring sites. In fact, the absence of rigorous monitoring of alien
species has emerged as a serious weakness in South Africa’s alien species control
measures (van Wilgen and Wilson 2018; van Wilgen et al. 2020b, Chap. 21).
2.5 The Scope Project on the Ecology of Biological
Invasions (1980–1989)
In 1980, a group of South African and international scientists were involved in a
workshop that followed the Third International Conference on Mediterranean Ecosystems held in South Africa. The workshop took place in the coastal town of
Hermanus, where alien trees were clearly invading natural ecosystems on the
mountain slopes above the workshop venue. Fred Kruger and Prof. Harold
A. (Hal) Mooney (of Stanford University in the USA) discussed this unexpected
phenomenon one evening while walking to dinner. The discussion sowed the seeds
that were to lead to the formation of the international SCOPE programme on
biological invasions (Simberloff et al. 2017), in which South Africa was a prominent
participant (Ferrar and Kruger 1983). An important contributor in this project was Dr
Ian A.W. Macdonald who was based at the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute for African
Ornithology at the University of Cape Town, where he was registered as a PhD
student (Fig. 2.8). Macdonald gathered an impressive volume of baseline data on
alien plant invasions in South Africa (see, for example, Macdonald and Jarman
1984; Macdonald and Jarman 1985; Brown et al. 1985; Macdonald et al. 1985).
Macdonald, along with A.A. (Tony) Ferrar from the CSIR (see below), arranged a
series of symposia and workshops that culminated in South Africa’s contribution to
the SCOPE project, a multi-author book published in 1986 (Macdonald et al. 1986).
The SCOPE project brought together scientists from a range of disciplines in
academia and government and resulted in productive research collaborations. The
book edited by Macdonald, Kruger and Ferrar contained 25 chapters involving
52 authors, and covered historical aspects, accounts of invasion by plants and
animals in terrestrial biomes and offshore islands, current ecological understanding,
impacts, and management. The SCOPE project on biological invasions concluded
with a global synthesis in 1989 (Drake et al. 1989), with four of the 22 chapters
(on invasive plant pathogens, aquatic plants, Mediterranean-climate regions, and
protected areas) being written by South African authors. Through their participation
in the SCOPE project, South African invasion scientists established themselves as
important contributors to the field. Ian Macdonald’s doctoral study on the conservation implications of biological invasions in southern Africa, together with the
44
B. W. van Wilgen
documented a significant decline in the diversity of the vegetation driven by increasingly severe post-fire summer weather events as well as the legacy effects of
historical woody alien plant invasions 30 years after clearing. These insights are
extremely informative, and it is to be regretted that there are not more examples of
long-term monitoring sites. In fact, the absence of rigorous monitoring of alien
species has emerged as a serious weakness in South Africa’s alien species control
measures (van Wilgen and Wilson 2018; van Wilgen et al. 2020b, Chap. 21).
2.5 The Scope Project on the Ecology of Biological
Invasions (1980–1989)
In 1980, a group of South African and international scientists were involved in a
workshop that followed the Third International Conference on Mediterranean Ecosystems held in South Africa. The workshop took place in the coastal town of
Hermanus, where alien trees were clearly invading natural ecosystems on the
mountain slopes above the workshop venue. Fred Kruger and Prof. Harold
A. (Hal) Mooney (of Stanford University in the USA) discussed this unexpected
phenomenon one evening while walking to dinner. The discussion sowed the seeds
that were to lead to the formation of the international SCOPE programme on
biological invasions (Simberloff et al. 2017), in which South Africa was a prominent
participant (Ferrar and Kruger 1983). An important contributor in this project was Dr
Ian A.W. Macdonald who was based at the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute for African
Ornithology at the University of Cape Town, where he was registered as a PhD
student (Fig. 2.8). Macdonald gathered an impressive volume of baseline data on
alien plant invasions in South Africa (see, for example, Macdonald and Jarman
1984; Macdonald and Jarman 1985; Brown et al. 1985; Macdonald et al. 1985).
Macdonald, along with A.A. (Tony) Ferrar from the CSIR (see below), arranged a
series of symposia and workshops that culminated in South Africa’s contribution to
the SCOPE project, a multi-author book published in 1986 (Macdonald et al. 1986).
The SCOPE project brought together scientists from a range of disciplines in
academia and government and resulted in productive research collaborations. The
book edited by Macdonald, Kruger and Ferrar contained 25 chapters involving
52 authors, and covered historical aspects, accounts of invasion by plants and
animals in terrestrial biomes and offshore islands, current ecological understanding,
impacts, and management. The SCOPE project on biological invasions concluded
with a global synthesis in 1989 (Drake et al. 1989), with four of the 22 chapters
(on invasive plant pathogens, aquatic plants, Mediterranean-climate regions, and
protected areas) being written by South African authors. Through their participation
in the SCOPE project, South African invasion scientists established themselves as
important contributors to the field. Ian Macdonald’s doctoral study on the conservation implications of biological invasions in southern Africa, together with the
44
B. W. van Wilgen