Mistletoe-infected trees facilitate invasion of the alien shrub Lantana camara in a semi-arid African savanna
| dc.contributor.author | Mlambo, D. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mundava, J. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-06-23T13:32:30Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-06-23T13:32:30Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-07-18 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The co-occurrence of mistletoes and Lantana camara (hereafter, lantana) is common in southern Africa, yet little is known about how they interact. To fill this gap, we investigated whether mistletoe-infected trees facilitate lantana invasion in a semi-arid southern African savanna. We compared invasibility, native woody plant diversity and soil parameters beneath mistletoe-infected and non-infected trees. We trapped bird droppings beneath mistletoe-infected and non-infected trees and conducted germination experiments to check if they contained viable lantana seeds. Regardless of whether trees were legumes or non-legumes, the subcanopy environments of mistletoe-infected trees had significantly higher invasibility than non-infected trees. The probability of lantana invasion beneath trees increased with mistletoe-infection levels. Soil nutrient concentrations were higher beneath mistletoe-infected trees than non-infected trees. Subcanopy invasibility was positively correlated with soil nutrient concentrations and negatively with native woody plant diversity. We found viable lantana seeds in bird droppings beneath mistletoe-infected trees. Put together, our findings indicate that mistletoes indirectly facilitate lantana invasion by enriching soil nutrients and attracting lantana seed dispersers. Our work provides a rationale for the necessity to simultaneously manage mistletoes and lantana where they cooccur to reduce invasion of the latter. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Mlambo, D. and Mundava, J., 2024. Mistletoe-infected trees facilitate invasion of the alien shrub Lantana camara in a semi-arid African savanna. Journal of Arid Environments, 224, p.105227. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://196.220.97.103:4000/handle/123456789/844 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Elsevier | |
| dc.title | Mistletoe-infected trees facilitate invasion of the alien shrub Lantana camara in a semi-arid African savanna | |
| dc.type | Article |