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Invasive alien species as drivers in socio-ecological systems: local adaptations towards use of Lantana in Southern India

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Abstract

Lantana camara. L (hereafter Lantana) was first introduced by the British into India in 1807 as an ornamental plant. Since then the species has spread across the length and breadth of the country. Attempts to control Lantana in India have not been successful. In this study, we analysed the use of Lantana by local communities in southern India and identified the possible causes and consequences of its use through the use of a household survey of the socio-economic profile of the user and nonuser households and an analysis of the ecological history of the communities. Communities have been using Lantana for over 25–30 years and apparently such use was not prompted by external agencies. The characteristics of user and nonuser households were similar, except that Lantana users were more literate and had a greater number of occupations per household than nonusers. Per capita income was similar between user and nonuser groups. For nonuser groups, their main income sources were from trading (44 %), wage labour (32 %) and forest resources (23 %). In contrast, the Lantana user groups substituted their loss of income from forest resources (7 %) by income from Lantana (46 %). The ecological history revealed that Lantana was adopted as a resource at a time when it was increasing in the landscape and traditional bamboo resources were in decline because of overuse by commercial enterprises and mast flowering. This change in ecological resource availability prompted a major shift in livelihoods for some in the area.

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Acknowledgments

Dr Ramesh Kannan tragically passed away in early November 2013 not log after the the final version of this work was accepted for publication. We are thankful to Mr. P. Saravanan, Covenant Centre for Development, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, and Ms. Sunantha, MASS, Palmanare, Andhra Pradesh, for their generous help during the field survey of the local communities in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, and Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, respectively. We are also thankful to Mr. Narayanan, ATREE, for his assistance during the field work at MM Hills, Chamarajanagar. We thank Dr. Seema Purushothaman, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, for her valuable inputs on socio-economic analysis. Dr. Ramesh Kannan and Prof. Charlie Shackleton participated in this research with the help of funding from Jamshedji Tata Trust, Mumbai, Department of Biotechnology, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Government of India, Rainforest Concern, UK, Bluemoon Fund, USA, and National Research Foundation, South Africa.

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  1. Department of Environmental Science, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

    Ramesh Kannan & Charlie M. Shackleton

  2. Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore, 560064, India

    Ramesh Kannan & R. Uma Shaanker

  3. Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bangalore, 560065, India

    R. Uma Shaanker

  4. School of Ecology and Conservation, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bangalore, 560065, India

    R. Uma Shaanker

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Kannan, R., Shackleton, C.M. & Shaanker, R.U. Invasive alien species as drivers in socio-ecological systems: local adaptations towards use of Lantana in Southern India. Environ Dev Sustain 16, 649–669 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-013-9500-y

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