[Reproduced from NEW SCIENTIST]
They may be the cutest World Cup mascots ever. But three-banded armadillos (Tolypeutes tricinctus) from Caatinga in north-east Brazil are being crowded out of their habitat by an invasive weed. The armadillo was today described as "vulnerable" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which has updated its Red List of endangered species.
The rubbervine weed (Cryptostegia madagascariensis), also known as devil's claw, was originally imported from Madagascar as an ornamental plant. It has swept through the armadillo's shrub-land home, killing native trees and smothering vast areas. Control of the weeds is doubly difficult because it rapidly forms dense thickets of vegetation, and exudes toxic sap.
The IUCN says the armadillo has declined by more than a third over the past 10 to 15 years, because its shrub-land habitat has shrunk by 50 per cent.
To combat the weed, a research group called CABI based in Wallingford, UK, has joined forces with Brazilian partners to develop a biological programme to control the weed, possibly using a fungus. In a similar project in Queensland, Australia, CABI successfully controlled a closely related rubbervine weed using a rust fungus.
Dick Shaw of CABI says that the Brazilian invasion has not yet reached its full extent, so there is still time to act. "If no action is taken, a valuable resource and unique ecosystem will be lost to Brazil and the world," he says.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário