invasive species and their ecological and socioeconomic imacts

Invasive Species and their Ecological and Socioeconomic

Impacts

Training Programme on Biodiversity Conservation for Sustainable Livelihoods

24-29 August 2020

Ankila J Hiremath

Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment

• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

- One of the greatest threats to biodiversity, affecting nearly all ecosystems on earth

- Tremendous economic damage

- Affect human health

Invasive Alien Species

Effects of invasive alien species – ecological

• Suppress native biodiversity

• Change habitat structure

• Affect ecosystem processes

• Dynamics

• Species interactions

Effects of invasive alien species – socio-economic

• Affect livelihoods of forest-dependent people

• Affect supply of ecosystem goods and services

• Cause losses to agriculture and forestry

(estimate for India: $ 116 billion per year)

Eichhornia

crassipesLantana

camara

Chromolaena

odorata

Mikania

micrantha

Parthenium

hysterophorus

“Page 3 species”

7

85

(APFISN Report, 2005)

88

6

38

173

(Sudhakar Reddy et al, 2008)

359

(Khuroo et al, 2012)

How well do we know our invasive species?

Invasion - Process

(Hobbs & Humphries, 1995)

Lantana camara

(Verbenaceae)

•

Kolkata Botanical Gardens 1809

Multiple other introductions, early 19th century

onward

•

Earliest reports of invasiveness ~1860s

Common hedge plant in cities ~1970s

Lantana in India: Initial spread

received different material from Europe. But once

established at these nodes Lantana spread across the

country.

We attempted to trace the spread of Lantana

following the various Gazetteers, especially the

Imperial Gazetteer of India Vol. 1–25 and Gazetteer

of Bombay Vol. 1–25and Gazetteer of other provinces

in India, and Indian Foresters Journal 1885–1950.

However, there was very little reference on Lantana

spread in theGazetteers. Lewis Rice mentioned in the

Gazetteer of Mysore (1897) that Lantana grew with

the rankness of a weed; another reference in the

Imperial Gazetteer (1908) mentioned that Lantana

was spreading in Bangalore as early as the 1900s.

Spread into the wild in India

A number of references to Lantana were found as

early as 1894 in the Indian Forester. Most of these

articles highlighted the different management prac-

tices such as manual removal and bio-control of

Lantana. In Coorg, Karnataka, for example, Lantana

wasbeing managed mechanically by measuressuch as

Fig. 2 Herbarium records of Lantana species in India

Fig. 3 Probable Lantana introduction and spread pathways from the British cantonments and botanical gardens. (British India Map

Source: Wikimedia commons)

R. Kannan et al.

123

Author's personal copy

(Kannan et al. 2013)

Lantana in India: Distribution in the W Ghats

(Kannan et al., 2013)

Wisdom in Hindsight!

Kathgodam, 1905

(Hakimuddin 1929)

Berar

(Anon 1895)

Kolkata (1809)

Savantavadi, 1907

(Pereira 1919)

Coorg (Anon.1895,

Tireman 1916)

North Salem 1917

(Anon. 1942)

Punjab

(Kohli et al. 2006)

Corbett (Babu et al.

2009, Love et al. 2009)

Mudumalai

(Ramaswami &

Sukumar 2012)

Vindhyas (Sharma &

Raghubanshi 2009,

2010)

Bandipur (Prasad

2009, 2010, 2011)

BR Hills (Sundaram

2011, 2012, 2016)

Estimated area of Lantana:

~43% of total forest area

(Rastogi, 2020)

Outline

• Ecological Impacts of Lantana

• Lantana and livelihoods

• Lantana removal and restoration

Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve, Karnataka

Lantana in India: Distribution in BRT

(survey of 400m2 plots – 2 x 2 km grid)

(Murali & Setty 2001, Sundaram 2011, Aravind et al. unpublished)

Lantana in India: Distribution in BRT(survey of 400m2 plots – 2 x 2 km grid)

(Aravind et al. unpublished)

Lantana - Impacts on native species

1997 2008 2018

Other stems 15349 (~95%) 10191 (~64%) 8374 (~51%)

Lantana stems 797 (~5%) 5722(~36%) 7987 (~49%)

Total stems 16146 15913 16361


Lantana - Impacts on native species


Outline




Direct and indirect effects on amlaregeneration

▪ Direct = competition/suppression

▪ Indirect = increased herbivory

Impacts on people due to increased human-wildlife conflict

(Ticktin et al. 2012,

Sundarama et al. 2012)

Lantana - Impacts on livelihoods

Lantana as resource:

Product Evolution

~2005 2020

Current Challenges

Capacity: • Correct operating model: cottage industry vs cooperative ?

Operational issues:● Inconsistent product demand → artisan drop-off/unreliability● Quality control, finish for furniture● Transport and packaging● Resource availability – differing interpretations of WLPA

Market Issues:● Understanding what furniture will sell, and at what price point● Marketing – Distributors? Platforms? ● Design input

Product Development

Lantana craft – Impacts on Livelihoods

3 Lantana Craft Centers (LCC)

20 master craftsmen

300 people trained onsite (40 % women)

600 artisans in 23 forests areas across 5 states 130

Household incomes increased by 42%

Lantana craft –Impacts on Conservation?

Outline




(Babu et al. 2009)

Lantana removal: The cut-rootstock technique

Effect of Lantana camara removal on native plant diversity: implications for weed management in BRT Tiger Reserve-

Collaboration with KFD

Effect of Lantana removal on native plant diversity

Lantana uprooted area:

• Sapling, Seedling density is relatively high

• The percent of grass cover is relatively high

• The animal (mammals) encounter rate is also relatively high

Ecological barriers to restoration

Some learnings from past work

(Hiremath et al. 2019)

Lantana cut-and-burnt

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1 3 5 7 9 11 13

Lantana

0

5

10

1520

25

30

35

1 3 5 7 9 11 13

Cu

mu

lati

ve s

eed

ling

eme

rgen

ce

weeks

Lantana Shrubs & lianas Trees

Lantana - Change in disturbance regime

(Sundaram et al. 2012)

Lantana - Change in disturbance regime

(Sundaram et al. 2012)

Remove Lantana, restore grassy understory

Lessons?

1. Uprooting encourages Lantana regeneration from seeds

2. Fires appear to kill Lantana seeds in the soil

3. Lantana continues to regenerate for several years, following removal

4. May need to seed with grasses that can provide forage and withstand grazing.

Economic barriers to restoration

Costs of Lantana removal (Cut root stock method, Corbett) Rs. 5-10 Cr for 5 km2 ~ Rs. 1-2 lakh/ha

Other costs

• Assisted regeneration• Seeding - grass• Continued monitoring and removal• Other interventions

…Lessons?

5. Need for a market mechanisms that can help pay for removal and restoration OR Subsidize costs of removal and monitoring

Estimates based on low value markets (fuel, briquettes):

Estimated Lantana biomass between 30-50 tons/ha (MM Hills, BRT)

Assuming Lantana biomass: 30 tons / ha @ Rs. 1.5/kg, => Rs. 45,000/- per ha

(Uma Shaanker et al. 2010, adapted from Hobbs & Humphries 1995)

Culti-

vatedCasual Naturalised Invasive

All the while the cycle repeats…

Acknowledgements

People and organisations

• Karnataka Forest Department• HESCO, Dehradun • The Shola Trust, Gudalur• Soliga Lantana artisans (MM Hills, BRT)• Ramesh Kannan• Siddappa Setty R • R. Uma Shaanker• Gladwin Joseph• Harisha R P• Bharath Sundaram• Aravind PS• Subhrajit Goswami• Tamara Ticktin• R Ganesan• Paramesh Gowda

Donors

• Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India

• Department of Biotechnology, Govt of India

• The Development Market Place, World Bank, Washingto

• Bluemoon Foundation, USA• The Rainforest Concern, UK• Rhodes University, Grahamstown,

South Africa• The Asia Pacific Federation of

Environment and Development, Japan• USAID

invasive species and their ecological and socioeconomic imacts

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