Box 3.2 (continued)
Many of the alien plants in South African national parks are a legacy
of either horticultural plantings or were present on the land before it was
incorporated into the park system. The richness (and distinctiveness) of the
alien flora of Kruger is partly due to the legacy of gardens in tourist camps
(Foxcroft et al. 2008). Garden Route NP and Table Mountain NP also have
substantial alien floras that are unique to those parks, and there are low
numbers of shared families between these three parks (second figure
below). Plant families with the most even representation across parks are
Cactaceae (19 parks; 98 park by taxon records) Fabaceae (16; 168),
Asteraceae (16; 126) and Poaceae (15; 160).
Dendrogram showing levels of similarity of South African national parks on the basis of
shared alien plant taxa
The policy of South African National Parks is to phase out all alien
plants in staff and tourist facilities, in favour of native (and ideally local)
species (Cole et al. 2018). This will take time, and will require not only
systematic management programmes to clear existing invasive populations,
but also interventions to manage pathways of introduction (Foxcroft et al.
2019), and the establishment of buffer zones around the park (Foxcroft et al.
2011).
3 The Biogeography of South African Terrestrial Plant Invasions
83
Many of the alien plants in South African national parks are a legacy
of either horticultural plantings or were present on the land before it was
incorporated into the park system. The richness (and distinctiveness) of the
alien flora of Kruger is partly due to the legacy of gardens in tourist camps
(Foxcroft et al. 2008). Garden Route NP and Table Mountain NP also have
substantial alien floras that are unique to those parks, and there are low
numbers of shared families between these three parks (second figure
below). Plant families with the most even representation across parks are
Cactaceae (19 parks; 98 park by taxon records) Fabaceae (16; 168),
Asteraceae (16; 126) and Poaceae (15; 160).
Dendrogram showing levels of similarity of South African national parks on the basis of
shared alien plant taxa
The policy of South African National Parks is to phase out all alien
plants in staff and tourist facilities, in favour of native (and ideally local)
species (Cole et al. 2018). This will take time, and will require not only
systematic management programmes to clear existing invasive populations,
but also interventions to manage pathways of introduction (Foxcroft et al.
2019), and the establishment of buffer zones around the park (Foxcroft et al.
2011).
3 The Biogeography of South African Terrestrial Plant Invasions
83