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A Kudzu Alert in Galapagos

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A Kudzu Alert in Galapagos 22 NOTICIAS DE GALÁP AGOS No. 57 A KUDZU ALERT IN GALÁPAGOS: THE URGENT NEED FOR QUARANTINE By: André Mauchamp and María Luisa Muñoz To some people, it sounded strange, impossible, we fixation. This improves the quality of the soils and pro- were probably wrong, or it was a joke. We must admit vides good fodder for domestic livestock. that we made an error in asking for information about The problem species of kudzu in the southeastern kudzu on the first of April! People thought it was a joke, United States is P. labata (or mantana). According to the and abad one: "What do you know of this species? Is it description given by H. Van der Werff (Missouri Botani- a potential problem? We have theimpression thatitcould cal Garden, pers. comm.), this was not w hatwe had found. possibly be a future pest." Future?! Dr. Suquilanda, a well known agronomist from Ecuador, Well, we have never lived in the USA and we are not confirmed the aggressive character ofP.phasealaides (pers. specialists on invasions. We had never heard of kudzu, comm.). Agripac confirmed that the species they sell is P. Pueraria sp. to botanists. And when we began to talk of it, phasealaides which according to O. Hamann (University of people who knew the plant jumped out of their chairs as Copenhagen, Denmark), is abad weed in Panama and if they were sitting on a fire ants' nest. The issue was other tropical American countries. Van der Maesen (Re- serious. vision of the genus Pueraria, with some notes on Teyleria, A few examples of their reactions: "The scourge of the 1985, Agricultural University of Wageningen) drops the south" (D. Simberloff, UniversityofFlorida, Tallahassee). following note, "as for kudzu [P. labata], care has to be "The state of Florida officially lists kudzu (P. mantana =P. taken not to overgraze the canopy"! This means a lot if labata) as a Category 1Invasive Species" (S. Herman, Tall you read between the words. Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, Florida). "There Regardless of the species, for us, there is no doubt that is nothing more important now than the complete de- we cannot take the risk. It may not be aggressive on the structionofthis plant" (H. Snell, UniversityofNew Mexico, continent, but it has close relatives which are very dan- Albuquerque). Kudzu is known as the worstpestplant of gerous. The plot and the seeds of kudzu are scheduled to the southeastern United States. It builds up dense, im- be destroyed. Fortunately, the owner of the property penetrable thickets, climbs on trees and makes them fall, understood the "potential weed" argument and was rap- and is extremely expensive to control. idly convinced. This understanding is possibly due to the But, why was it a problem for us in Galápagos? We fact that, although well managed, his property is invaded had spent a morning in late March working in the agricul- by 'cascarilla', Cinchana succirubra, a tree introduced for tural zone, spraying blackberry (Rubus niveus, another quinine cultivation in Galapagos in the 1940s. He knows pest) with gliphosate (Round-Up, donated by Monsanto what a pest is! for the control of pest plants), and we were discussing This episode, which could have been a catastrophe for with the farmer who owned the land the new species he Galápagos, clearly demonstrates the importance of estab- had planted for his cattle. We found a new location with lishing, at long last, an effective quarantine programo A Leucaena leucacephala, which should be cut one day, and studywas completed (Whelan 1994), the reports are in the anothernew species for the list of cultivated plants, agrass files (ours, those of the Galapagos National Park Service, (Brachiaria decumbens). The farmer also showed us a small and the files of the Ministry of Agriculture). There are test plot of a legume recentiy sown as a nitrogen- rich cattle national and local committees for quarantine, and yet not fodder in the middle of a pasture. This plant looked, to the even the most basic enforcement! The permanent sur- eye of a plant ecologist, like a good aggressive creeping veys, which allowed us to find kudzu in time, are an pesto The 5-pound seed bag from Agripac said "Kudzu, important stage of the program, but certainly not the only Pueraria", with no species name given. one. A verification in "The Plant Book" (Mabberley 1993), At present, seeds and plants are introduced to our bible in the herbarium, confirmed the existence of Galápagos almost freely by people. There is no control at that Asian genus, and indicated that P. mantana is a fast- the entrances to Galápagos, not even a sign, just a mes- growing species. That was the first step in the search for sage given in Spanish and English by TAME Airlines 10 information on "kudzu; newly arrived to Galápagos." On minutes before the plane lands at the Baltra airport, and the continent, P. phasealaides varojavanicais the only com- heard by whoever is listening. The message reminds mercialized species. In the agronomy books we checked, passengers that it is strictiy forbidden to introduce any this species is called tropical kudzu and is considered plant or animal to the Islands. This double lack of com- good for agriculture because of its high rate of nitrogen munication and control is the origin of such problems. An education and communication program for quarantine is August 1996 NOTICIAS DE GALÁP AGOS 23 about to start at the CDRS, financed by the Fondo LITERA TURE CITED Ecuatoriano Canadiense para el Desarrollo (Ecuadorian- Canadian Development Fund). Concern is growing in Mabberley, D. J. 1993. The Plant Book. A Portable the DPA (Dirección Provincial Agropecuaria/ Provincial Dictionary of the Higher Plants. Cambridge University Land & Livestock Administration). For example, the Press: 1-707. Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture recently Van der Maesen, L. J. G. 1985. Revision of the genus prohibited the introduction of a new grass for the soccer Pueravaria,with some notes on Teyleria. Agricultural stadium of Puerto Ayora. The beginning is very slow but University Wageningen Papers 85 (1): 1-132. itis all we ha ve for the momen t. Unfortuna tely, this is just Whelan, P. 1994. Diagnóstico para el Establecimiento like a drop of water in the ocean. de un Sistema de Inspección y Cuarentena para las islas There is an urgent need for a broad-scale program and Galápagos. Fundación Charles Darwin, Quito, Ecuador: financial support for it. Too many international agencies 1-81. are interested in "development" projects for Galapagos André Mauchamp, Head of the Botany Department, and quarantine must be fully supported by those agen- Charles Darwin Research Station, Isla Santa Cruz, cies promoting it. If we can't work out a solution Galápagos, Eduador and María Luisa Muñoz, Agrono- immediately, these agencies are directly responsible for mist, Dirección Provincial Agropecuaria, Puerto Ayora, the rapid acceleration in the destruction of the "natural Isla Santa Cruz, Galápagos, Eduador. Galápagos". Quarantine is a system of regulations that must move parallel to the development, and it must be supported. WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE AVIFAUNA OF SAN CRISTÓBAL? by: Hernán Vargas The island of San Cristóbal has produced various en- places in the various upper and lower zones of the island. demic taxa of birds, perhaps due to geographic isolation Unfortunately, some of the species, common in the past and its relatively old age. The Chatham mockingbird were not observed at all on this trip while other bird spe- (Nesomimus melanotis), is an endemic species and other cies are apparently less abundant than ever before. For birds like the vermilion flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus), example,I did notsee the vermilion flycatcher (P. rubinus) large-billed flycatcher (Myarchus magnirostris), wood- , the large tree finch (Camarhynchus psittacula), the pecker finch (Camarhynchus pallidus), small tree finch Galápagos rail (Laterallusspilonotus) or the Galápagos dove (Camarhynchus parvulus), cactus finch (Geospiza scandens), (Zenaida galapagoensis). Perhaps the situation is most criti- warbler finch (Certhidea olivacea) and the lava heron cal for the vermilion flycatcher, whose presence was last (Butorides sundevalli) ha ve developed subspecific charac- noted 9 years ago during 1987 in the are a of the highland teristics which appear distinct from the populations on lake, El Junco (J. Gordillo, pers. com.). other islands. The Chatham mockingbird, Hawaiian petrel and the The first recorded observations of the birds of San cactus finch are among the species whose populations Cristóbal were made by Charles Darwin in 1835. It was in apparently have suffered alarmingreductions. Iobserved 1832 when the Ecuadorian government initiated coloni- a few mockingbirds on various parts of the island but zation of Galápagos, and humans began to influence the their numbers seemed greatly reduced in areas such as natural populations of the island. Horses, cattle, burros, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. The Hawaiian petrel goats, pigs, dogs, cats, chickens and plants such as coffee (pterodroma phaeopygia) still survives in low numbers (10 and sugarcane were part of the colonization process as - 20 pairs have been found) but these nest in only in a few were the accidental arrivals of rats and mice. In the years gullies of the humid zone. The cactus finch was found in which followed the flow ofexotic introductions increased only one place, an isolated forest of Opuntia cactus (Opun- and some species like guayaba, oranges, blackberry grew tia megasperma). This site consists of no more than 20 well and they soon became plagues. hectares of cactus on the south-west side of the island near During April of this year, 1made a trip to observe the another area called Veinte Varas (20 Staffs). birds on San Cristóbal with the idea of determining their These observations and others, indicate the avifauna actual status.
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