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AN INVESTIGATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRADITIONAL MEDICINE TRADE AS AN INTRODUCTION PATHWAY FOR ALIEN PLANTS INTO SOUTH AFRICA Amy Burness 1775106 Supervisors: Prof. Marcus J. Byrne Dr. Vivienne L. Williams A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2019 Declaration I declare that this dissertation is my own, unaided work. It is being submitted for the Degree of Master of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination at any other University. _________________________________ (Signature of candidate) 12th day of August 2019 at the University of the Witwatersrand i Abstract Pathways of alien species introduction are important in the assessment of biological invasions in South Africa. Although viable alien plants are used as traditional medicine (TM) in South Africa, the international traditional health industry has largely not been explored as an introduction pathway. Semi-quantitative interviews and ethnobotanical free listing methods are used to explore the alien plants introduced by immigrant traders from China (138 sp.), the Democratic Republic of Congo (25 sp.), Eritrea (21 sp.), Ethiopia (20 sp.), Ghana (9 sp.), India (35 sp.), Nigeria (25 sp.), and Somalia (11 sp.). Two hundred and fourteen TM species were introduced from multiple sources, through different routes, using human mediated transport vectors (sea, road and air). One hundred and one species were introduced as propagules, 19 of which were viable. Zingiber officinale, Nigella sativa and Moringa oleifera pose a threat as invasive species introduced through the TM pathway. Ethnobotanical analysis shows that different immigrant groups use a large range and diversity of species for a variety of uses. The sub-Saharan African countries used 66 alien medicinal plant species to treat of 55 medical conditions, including diabetes, back pain, influenza, acne, and sexual dysfunction. A Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) franchise used over 100 alien plant and fungi species, including Glycyrrhiza glabra (38), Angelica sinensis (30), Wolfiporia extensa (29) and Panax ginseng (23) to create 71 medicinal remedies used to treat a wide variety of conditions. Thus, the traditional health industry appears to be a functioning and concerning introduction pathway for alien plant species into South Africa. ii Acknowledgements I’d like to thank the South African Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) for funding this research project. Thank you to my supervisors for financial support in the first year of this project and all the advice throughout this research. Marcus, thank you always having an open door and calming influence and to Vivienne, thank you for your wealth of ethnobotanical knowledge and enthusiasm for this work. A special thank you to my family Mom, Dad, Sara and Alex for understanding and helping me through the ups and down of this research process. To Darren Ternent my beloved fiancé, thank you for assisting in keeping me safe and being an emotional support in the process of data collection and writing up this dissertation. In the process of collecting data there were innumerable people to whom I am grateful as field assistants and translators. A big thank you to all my friends in the invasion biology lab for helping me with interviews and plant specimen collection. Lastly, I am deeply grateful to the different traders who welcomed my research party in to their stalls and shops and shared their time and substantial knowledge. Without them this project would not have been possible. iii Table of Contents Declaration ................................................................................................................................................ i Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................ vii List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................... ix List of Appendices .................................................................................................................................. xi Glossary ................................................................................................................................................ xiii CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 1.1 Research Rationale and Significance ............................................................................................. 1 1.1.2 Invasion biology context, rationale and significance .............................................................. 1 1.1.3 Ethnobotanical context of this study ....................................................................................... 4 1.2 The South African Context ............................................................................................................ 6 1.2.1 Historical immigration and the introduction of medicinal plants ........................................... 6 1.2.2 Current immigration and settlement patterns in South Africa ................................................ 8 1.3 Aims and Key Questions................................................................................................................ 9 1.4 Dissertation Structure and Overview ........................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2: MEDICINAL PLANT SPECIES USED BY SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS IN JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA ............................................................ 12 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 12 2.1.1 Sub-Saharan African immigration and medicinal plant introduction ................................... 13 2.2 Methods ....................................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1 Survey and data capture ........................................................................................................ 14 2.2.2 Species richness and diversity analysis ................................................................................. 16 2.2.3 Similarity analysis between immigrant groups use of species .............................................. 17 2.2.4 Plant use analysis .................................................................................................................. 18 2.3 Results .......................................................................................................................................... 18 2.3.1 Species richness and diversity .............................................................................................. 18 2.3.2 Similarity analysis ................................................................................................................. 24 2.3.3 Medicinal plant species and their uses .................................................................................. 27 2.4 Discussion .................................................................................................................................... 32 2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 3: TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE (TCM) IN SOUTH AFRICA: ASSESSING INGREDIENT USE IN CATALOGUED HERBAL REMEDIES .................................................. 37 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 37 3.1.1 A short history of Chinese immigration and TCM plant introduction .................................. 37 3.1.2 TCM and immigrant urban ethnobotany .............................................................................. 39 iv 3.2 Methods ....................................................................................................................................... 41 3.2.1 Data collection ...................................................................................................................... 41 3.2.2 Species richness, diversity and similarity analysis methods ................................................. 42 3.3 Results .......................................................................................................................................... 43 3.3.1 Species richness and observations ........................................................................................ 43 3.3.2 Species diversity of ingredients in TCM remedies ............................................................... 47 3.3.3 Remedy species ingredient and use similarities ...................................................................