Biofuel crops `can invade tropical ecosystems`
Source: SciDev.net
May 7, 2009

Biofuel crops are more likely than other plants to become invasive in tropical
and subtropical ecosystems worldwide, scientists have found.

They say that a weed risk assessment (WRA) â€" which examines a plant's biology,
geographic origin, known pest status and behaviour â€" can be used to predict
whether a species of biofuel crop will become invasive, enabling countries to
avoid environmental and economic losses.

In the first quantitative study of the invasiveness of terrestrial biofuel
crops, researchers at the US-based University of Hawaii used a WRA adapted for
screening potentially invasive species on both biofuel crops proposed for Hawaii
and non-biofuel plant species, to quantify actual, relative or potential
invasiveness.

They found that biofuel crops are two to four times more likely to be invasive
or to establish wild populations than a random sample of other plants introduced
to Hawaii.

The team concludes that extensive planting â€" a scenario expected with
large-scale biofuel crop cultivation â€" will aggravate invasions.

They claim these results are valid for all areas with tropical and subtropical
ecosystems. The WRA used in the study is now an internationally accepted means
of determining risk of crop invasiveness.

Lead author Christopher Buddenhagen told SciDev.Net that some of the key
potential or actual invasive species include gorse, jatropha and kudzu.
Non-invasive examples include macadamia and sugarcane.

'Planting of potentially invasive species near important natural areas with high
biodiversity should be discouraged,' Buddenhagen said.

'If a crop species has a high risk of being invasive, the likelihood of it
becoming invasive is worsened by planting it on a large scale,' he added.

Governments should give priority to non-invasive or less invasive species before
granting funds or approval for biofuel planting programmes, said Buddenhagen.

Julio Ugarte, the Peruvian coordinator of the World Agroforestry Centre, told
SciDev.Net that in particularly biodiverse areas it is better to act cautiously
and find alternative sources of biofuel than to import crops that could put
those resources at risk.

The research is published in the 22 April edition of PLoS ONE.

http://www.environmental-expert.com/resultEachPressRelease.aspx?cid=33596&codi=5\
0059&lr=1

[Jatropha has already entered in biodiversity rich spots in India and becoming
curse for native flora as well as fauna.-Moderator]