Journal article

The distribution of woody invasive alien species in wards in relation to land use within Maun Village, northern Botswana


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Author list: Keotshephile Kashe, Benson Rukavo, Gaolathe Tsheboeng,Keamogetse Motsage and Mmusi Mmusi

Publication year: 2024



The impacts of biological invasions on natural ecosystems and human livelihoods are well documented. Metropolitan areas are the main source of invasions due to various environmental disturbances and high propagule pressure. To minimize the impacts of invasive species, information is needed on their prevalence and distribution. However, there is a paucity of data both nationally and locally on the prevalence and distribution of woody invasive alien species (IAS) in a village setting. Eight woody IAS were surveyed on publicly accessible roads in six wards within the village of Maun. The abundance of all IAS was recorded every 50m of road. Across the six wards and eight IAS, 14,673 individuals were recorded, with the highest number found in four dry woodland wards. About half (54.6%) of the IAS were encountered in residential areas; public space (13.3%) and roadside (13.6%) recorded similar numbers. This pattern was evident in industrial (8.7%) and institutional (9.7%) areas. Ailanthus altissima was the most abundant woody IAS across the six wards as a whole (8023 individuals). The second most abundant species was L. leucocephala (4201 individuals), and the least was L. camara (47 individuals). Furthermore, there were some differences in the general distribution of the seven species across the land-use types, with A. altissima (56.1%), L. leucocephala (62.4%), J. curcas (46.1%), and L. camara (72.3%) concentrated in residential areas, while Eucalyptus spp. (47.6%) was dominant in institutional areas. Ricinus communis was more or less equally distributed across residential, public space, roadside and industrial areas. Similarly, M. azedarach was more or less equally distributed between the residential and institutional areas. This study yields insight into the distribution of IAS in Maun village. The IAS are not uniformly distributed between wards and land-use types and therefore call for continuous monitoring and management to prevent economic and ecological harm to ecosystems.


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Last updated on 2025-28-02 at 09:51