The Biology of Balochistan weeds: Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) DC

Authors

  • A. Hameed Baloch (1) Professor at Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal Balochistan Pakistan.
  • Haneef-ur Rehman Faculty of Agriculture, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal Balochistan Pakistan.
  • Saeed Ahmed Faculty of Agriculture, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal Balochistan Pakistan.
  • M. Aslam Buzdar Faculty of Agriculture, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal Balochistan Pakistan.

Keywords:

Prosopis juliflora, mesquite, allelopathy, weed biology, native plant species

Abstract

Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) DC, belongs to leguminous family of Mimosaceae, is one of the most controversial exotic plant species that infests field crops, small grains, grasslands, and a variety of other habitats in central and southern Pakistan. P. juliflora is amongst the most invasive species in hot semiarid and arid regions of Pakistan, which showed negative impacts on local flora of Pakistan. At the same time it is also regarded as an economically and ecologically important tree species of arid zone, where it is used as fuel wood, timber, fodder (especially legume) for livestock including goats, sheep, and cattle. Similarly it can be used as shade in hot climates, as well as for stabilisation of sand dunes in the coastal areas. P. juliflora is a perennial thorny shrub which under favorable conditions also reached a height of 5m tall but occasionally up to 12m. It is mostly grow through seeds which exhibited a high level of seed dormancy due to a hard seed coat that usually requires damage to germinate. High seed production, a persistent seed bank, an endozoochory seed-dispersing mechanism, and the ability to tolerate different mechanical, chemical and biological control methods contribute to the success of P. juliflora in these habitats. Similarly P. juliflora also exhibited allelochemical activities which negatively affect the growth and germination of competing native flora. 

References

Akobundu I.O. (1987) Weed Science in the Tropics: Principles and Practices. John Wiley and Sons Ltd., London.

Al Humaid, A.I. and Warrag, M.O.A. (1998). Allelopathic effects of mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) foliage on seed germination and seedling growth of Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon). Journal of Arid Environment, 38(2): pp. 237–243.

Belton, T. (2008) Management Strategy for Mexican Thorn (Prosopis juliflora) on Ascension Island: An assessment of this species, and recommendations for management. SAIS Project, RSPB.

Bristow S. (1996): The use of Prosopis juliflora for irrigated shelterbelts in arid conditions in Northern Sudan. In Felker P. & Moss J. eds., Prosopis: Semi-Arid Fuelwood and Forage Tree, Building Consensus for the Disenfrunchised. the US National Academy of Sciences. pp. 2-63.

Callaway, R.M. & Aschehoug, E.T. (2000). Invasive plants versus their new and old neighbors: a mechanism for exotic invasion. Science, 290(5491): pp. 521-523.

De Candolle, A.P. (1832). Physiologie Vegetale. Bechet Jeune, Paris, France.

Elfadle, M.A., and Luukkanen, O. (2006) Field studies on ecological strategies of Prosopis juliflora in a dry land ecosystem, Journal of Arid Environment. 66(1) pp. 1-15.

El-Sharkawi, H. M., K. A. Farghali and Sayed, S. A. (1997) Trifactorial interactive effects of nutrients, water potential and temperature on carbohydrate allocation to the embryonic axis of desert plant seeds. Journal of Arid Environments 35: pp. 655-664.

Ffolliot, P. F. and Thames, J. L. (1983) Collection, Handling, Storage and Pre-treatment of Prosopis Seeds in Latin America. FAO, Rome, Italy.

Gallaber T., and Merlin M. (2010): Biology and impacts of Pacific Island invasive species. 6. Prosopis pallida and Prosopis juliflora (Algarroba, Mesquite, Kiawe) (Fabaceae). Pacific Science, 64: 489-526.

Garg, V. K. (1999) Leguminous trees for the rehabilitation of sodic wasteland in northern India. Restoration Ecology. 7(3): pp. 281-287.

Getachew, S. Demissew, S. and Woldemariam, T. (2012) Allelopathic effects of the invasive Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC. on selected native plant species in Middle Awash, Southern Afar Rift of Ethiopia. Management of Biological Invasions 3(2): pp. 105–114

Hultine K.R., Scott R.L., Cable W.L., Goodrich D.C.,Williams D.G. (2004). Hydraulic redistribution by a dominant, warm- desert phreatophyte: seasonal patterns and response to precipitation pulses. Functional Ecology, 18: 530-538.

Iqbal, M. Z. and Shafiq, M. (1997) Seedling performance of two desert plant species

(Prosopis juliflora and Blepharis sindica) grown under uniform edaphic conditions. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 9(4): pp. 458-464.

Jenkins M.B., Virginia R.A., Jarrell W.M. (1987): Rhizobial ecology of the woody legume mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) in the Sonoran Desert. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 53: 36-40.

Kaur, R., Gonzales, W.L., Llambi, L.D., Soriano, P.J., Callaway, R.M., Rout, M.E., Gallaher, T.J. and Inderjit (2012). Community Impacts of Prosopis juliflora Invasion:

Biogeographic and Congeneric Comparisons. Plos One, 7(9) pp. 1-13

Khan, D. (1987) Phytosociological survey of Pakistan Coast with special reference to pasture and forest development through biosaline technique. Ph. D. Thesis, Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan p. 275.

Kumar, A., Shivkumar, Rai, P. A. M. RAI and Banerjee A. C. (1998) Genetic improvement of Prosopis juliflora. pp. 79-81. In: Prosopis Species in the Arid and Semi-Arid Zones of India. (Eds.) J. C. Tewari, N. M. Pasiecznik, L. N. Harsh and P. J. C. Harris. Prosopis Society of India and the Henry Doubleday Research Association, Coventry, UK.

Lee, S. G., Russell, E. J., Bingham R. L., and Felker P. (1992) Discovery of thornless, non-browsed, erect tropical Prosopis in 3-year-old Haitian progeny trials. Forest Ecology and Management 48:1-13.

Luna, R. K. (1996) Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) DC. In: Plantation Trees. International Book Distributors, Delhi, India.

Maldonado, L. J. (1990) Prosopis in Mexico. pp. 153-161. In: The Current State of Knowledge on Prosopis juliflora. (Eds.) M. A. Habit and J. C. Saavedra. FAO, Rome, Italy.

Molisch, H. (1937). Der Eingfluss einer Pflanze auf die andere- Allelopathie (Fischer, Jena).

Online Flora of Pakistan: http://www.efloras.org/ florataxon.aspx?flora_id / =5&taxon_id=242341387 (Accessed July 6th 2014)

Pasiecznik, N.M., and Felker, P., (1992) Mechanical cleaning of Prosopis seed. Nitrogen Fixing Tree Research Reports 10: pp. 186-188.

Pasiecznik, N.M., Felker, P., Harris, P.J.C., Harsh, L.N., Cruz, G., Tewari, J.C., Cadoret, K. and Maldonado, L.J. (2001) The Prosopis juliflora - Prosopis pallida Complex: A Monograph. HDRA, Coventry, UK. pp.172.

Pasiecznick N.M., Vall A.O.M., Nourissier-Mountou S., Danthu, P., Murch J., Mchugh M.J., Harris P.J.C. (2006): Discovery of a life history shift: precocious flowering in an introduced population of Prosopis. Biological Invasions, 8: 1681-1687.

Raizda, M.B. & Chatterji, R.N. (1954). A diagnostic key to the various forms of introduced Mesquite (Prosopis juliflora DC). Indian Forester 80: pp. 675-680.

Raven, P. H., Evert, R., Eichhorn F. and Susan E. (2005) “Chapter 24”. Biology of plants (7th edition). New York, USA. Freeman, pp. 528-546

Reddy, C.V.K. (1978). Prosopis juliflora, the precocious child of the plant world. Indian Forester. 104: pp. 14-18.

Reed, C.F. (1970) Selected weeds of the United States. Ag. Handbook 366. USDA, Washington, DC.

Rhodes, D. and Felker, P. (1988) Mass screening of Prosopis (mesquite) seedlings for growth at seawater salinity concentrations. Forest Ecology and Management 24: pp. 169-176.

Sharma, R. and Dakshini K. M. M. (1998) Integration of plant and soil characteristics and the ecological success of two Prosopis species. Plant Ecology 139(1): pp. 63-69.

Shiferaw, H. (2004) Prosopis juliflora: The Paradox of the Dryland Ecosystems, Afar Region, Ethiopia. Addis Abeba, Ethiopia/Wageningen, Netherlands

Singh, G., Gill, H.S., Abrol, I.P. and Singh, N.T., (1990) Agroforestry for improvement and management of salt-affected soils. In: Proceedings Int. Symp. on Water Erosion. Sedimentation and Resources Conservation, C.S.W.C.R. and T.I., Dehradun, India. pp. 420-428.

Singh, G. and Singh N. T. (1993) Mesquite for the revegetation of salt lands. Bulletin No.18. Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana, India.

Yadav, J.S.P. and Singh, K. (1970) Tolerance of certain forest species to varying degrees of salinity and alkali. Indian Forester, 96: pp. 587-599.

Yoda, K., Elbasit M.A., Hoshino, B., Nawata, H. and Yasuda, H. (2012) Root System Development of Prosopis Seedlings under Different Soil Moisture Conditions. Journal of Arid Land Studies. 22(1): pp 13 -16.

The Biology of Balochistan weeds: Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) DC

Downloads

Published

2014-12-20

How to Cite

Baloch, A. H., Rehman , . H.- ur, Ahmed, S. ., & Buzdar, M. A. (2014). The Biology of Balochistan weeds: Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) DC. Hanken, 6(1), 1–18. Retrieved from http://pscjournal.uob.edu.pk/journal/index.php/hanken/article/view/123

Issue

Section

Articles