The cactus, Opuntia ficus-indica Mill. has become an increasingly important crop in some arid parts of Africa, particularly the Mediterranean region of North Africa. The cochineal insect Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockrell) has become a serious pest of this crop. In the Mediterranean region, biocontrol, ...

Ecological restoration should be regarded as a public health service. Unfortunately, the lack of quantitative linkages between environmental and human health has limited recognition of this principle. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic provides the impetus for further discussion. We propose...

Background: Invasive alien species (IAS) cause significant economic losses in all parts of the world. Although IAS are widespread in Africa and cause serious negative impacts on livelihoods as a result of yield losses and increased labour costs associated with IAS management, few data on the...

This chapter provides a summary of the biological control efforts on the African continent and some of its offshore islands, with a focus on successes and ways in which the establishment and impact of biological control agents can be enhanced.

Background: Mimosa diplotricha is an emerging or established weed in many parts of the world, including many countries in Africa, where it is impacting on biodiversity, crop and pasture production, and driving socio-ecological change. Objectives: To establish the current distribution of M....

This is the first assessment of naturalised, invasive and potentially invasive alien plant species present in Laikipia County, Kenya, which hosts the highest populations of endangered large mammals in the country. We undertook broad-scale roadside surveys in Laikipia, recording all naturalised and...

The semiaquatic weed Mimosa pigra has negative impacts on biodiversity, fishing, crop and livestock production, and tourism in most places where it has been introduced, established and proliferated. Many of the ecological impacts are well known, but its impacts on rural livelihoods are less well...

Significant progress has been made in providing guidelines and recommendations for assessing the ecological niche, stage of invasion, and probability of invasive alien plant species (IAPS) potential distribution in space and time. We followed these recommendations by developing and comparing...