The Bluff National Park Golf Club has over the years fought an endless battle with invasive species that have taken a grip on our beautiful golf course. The worst of which is the water hyacinth and Mexican water lilies. These have for years caused blockages in the waterways that run through the golf course.
“After diligent research, we believe that we may have found a sustainable solution to our problems with the invasive species, and we are excited to share the good news with the Bluff community,” said Nicolet Day of the Bluff Golf Club, sharing that the club has sought assistance from the Rhodes University.
The pond at 1st hole on the greens, where water hyacinth and Mexican water lilies have for years caused blockages in the waterways that run through the Bluff golf course.
Professor Julie Coetzee and her team from university’s Centre for Biological Control have been working diligently for many years on the issue of invasive species and in particular those that thrive in waterways. With the assistance of Coetzee and her team, the Bluff Golf Club have introduced weevils and plant hoppers, which are natural enemies to the water hyacinth into the waterways to assist in controlling the water hyacinth.
“Unfortunately there is no biological control species for the Mexican water lily yet. We pride ourselves in having found an alternative control method that will not expose our delicate environment to poisons and other harmful pesticides,” said Nicolet.
The Bluff National Park Golf Club presides over a pristine piece of land that serves not only as a recreational facility to our members and visitors, but more importantly is a vital green lung for our Bluff community. “The Bluff National Park Golf Club would like to take this opportunity to thank our members and the community at large for the continued support that we have received and trust that everyone can continue to enjoy the benefits that we offer.”
Bluff Golf Club member Dr Andre Whitehorn with some of the the weevils and plant hoppers, which are natural enemies to the water hyacinth into the waterways.
About water hyacinth and Mexican water lily and the use of biological control.
According to a study by the Rhode’s University invasive aquatic weeds, both floating and submerged, pose a threat to the integrity of South African aquatic ecosystems and the quantity and quality of potable water. Biological control, the use of natural enemies from the invasive species’ region of origin, offers a sustainable mitigating intervention for aquatic weeds, if appropriately implemented and integrated with other methods, most importantly pollution control. Biological control has been used in over 130 countries to control the spread of alien invasive plant species.
In South Africa, several alien invasive plants, including invasive aquatic plants, cacti, shrubs and Acacia species, have been targeted successfully over a century of implementation. Floating aquatic invasive species were targeted for biological control in South Africa from the 1970s.
The Centre for Biological Control (CBC) at Rhodes University is the lead agent responsible for biological control research and implementation against aquatic invasives, and is supported by the National Government’s Department of Environmental Forestry and Fisheries. The plant has been spread around the world because of it beautiful purple flowers. Each plant can reproduce vegetatively through daughter plant production, and through prolific seed production. Water hyacinth has been difficult to control in South Africa as it does extremely well in high nutrient waters and due to pollution and infrastructure failure, many of South Africa’s water systems fit this profile.
Four aquatic invasive species have been successfully controlled in South Africa using biological control alone, namely Kariba weed, water lettuce, parrot’s feather and red water fern. Water hyacinth, on the other hand, is considered the world’s worst aquatic weed and remains a problem in many of our water bodies.
These aquatic invasive species out-compete native vegetation and clog up waterways, so investing in biological control offers long-term benefits and attractive returns of investment. Biological control should be considered in all management strategies when trying to control invasive species.
Contact the CBC at cbcinfo@ru.ac.za for information on your invasive species and possible biological control options.
