Figure 1.
Spatial distribution of Lantana records from Australia, India and South Africa based on historical reports of its spread, management and control.
A total of 42 points records are mapped from (a) Australia, 23 from (b) India and 10 from (c) South Africa. Records from South Africa between 1990–1999 come from one source [97]. Early records suggest spread of Lantana around towns and cities where it was first introduced. Later records indicate its spread in the wider countryside despite management. Most Indian records come from Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve where a more regional analysis of Lantana invasion was carried out.
Figure 2.
Invasion trajectories of Lantana in Australia, India and South Africa.
(a) Historical records of Lantana spread, control and management are scored on a scale of 1–7: (1) first introduced; (2) present, but not a problem; (3) considered weed, invasive or noxious plant; (4) management intensified; (5) management reported effective in some areas; (6) continuation of same management strategy; (7) Lantana seen to be spreading in spite of management. (b) Rate of change is calculated as increase per year in the state of invasion, measured on the seven-point scale.
Figure 3.
Methods used for control, management and eradication of Lantana during the 20th century.
A variety of methods are reported in historical records: fire, mechanical removal, chemical and biological control and a combination of these four measures. A total of 84 reports on control measures are available from Australia, 31 from South Africa and 24 from India. For parity in comparison across the three countries, frequencies of reports are expressed as percentages.
Figure 4.
Bioclimatic niche model of Lantana camara based on point data stored in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and generated by automated openModeller algorithm.
The point data are derived by searching the Global Biodiversity Information Facility [90] for Lantana camara, which has the following recognised synonyms: Lantana aculeata, Lantana tiliifolia, Lantana camara var. nivea, Lantana camara var. mista, Lantana camara var. mutabilis, Lantana camara var. hybrida, Lantana camara var. flava, Lantana camara var. aculeata, Lantana camara var. sanguinea. The openModeller niche model uses WorldClim global climate layers (climate grids) with a spatial resolution of one square kilometre [91].