Guangzhou Municipal Forestry Bureau has announced that an early warning and inspection system to protect against invasive species will be established in Guangdong Province, according to China Daily today.
Zhong Tiankui, the bureau's director, said the system will be set up soon to tackle the increasing number of non-native organisms in the province, introduced intentionally or otherwise, that threaten local ecosystems.
Under the new system, alien species should be discovered earlier on farms and in forests to help avoid problems developing, said Zhong.
The bureau said it will also establish a research institute with an investment of 150,000 yuan (US$18,000) this year to cope with the most aggressive plant species that have invaded the province.
At the end of last year, Merremia boisiana, a species of morning glory called Jinzhongteng in Chinese, was identified as seriously threatening trees in Longdong farm in Guangzhou's Tianhe District.
On May 31, the Nanfang Daily reported that it had spread to other forests and occupied an area of around 67 hectares.
"Its fast growth gives rise to a green and dense canopy which blankets native shrubs, even high trees, until they are suffocated," said Zhong.
Local scientists said it probably came from the tropical areas of Hainan Province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
"The plant first settled on the farm in the 1990s. It is one of the most aggressive plant species to have invaded Guangdong," said Cao Hongling, a South China Botanical Garden researcher. "We have found no effective measures to cope with it so far."
In the past 10 years, farm workers have used herbicides to try to get rid of it, but in vain, Cao said, and manual felling does not work as it is difficult to uproot.
"As there are no more effective methods available, we simply have to cut off its stems and dig up its roots," he said.
Cao recommended the introduction of the species' natural enemies to prevent it from spreading.
Guangdong has the most invasive species in China; around 150 plants, over 40 animals and 11 single-celled organisms, thought to result in severe economic losses.
The early warning system has undergone initial research and preliminary measures have been formulated, according to Zhong.
(China Daily, China.org.cn June 6, 2005)
