Perceptions, Knowledge, and Invasion Extent of Lantana camara on Household Yards in Rural Communities in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Figures & data

Figure 1. Location of the six study villages in Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, Limpopo Province of South Africa.

Table 1. Demographics of the sampled population in six villages located in Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, Limpopo Province of South Africa.

	Duthuni	Tshakhuma	Murunwa	Matshavhawe	Ha Mutsha	Ha Maelula	Mean
Mean number of people per hh	6	6	7	9	8	7	7
Gender (% of adult females)	52	68	78	88	62	72	70
Racial group (% of black)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Age range (% of respondents)
21–30	3	4	4	1	3	1	3
31–40	2	10	5	6	4	4	5
41–50	13	4	7	7	4	6	7
51–60	9	5	15	13	11	13	11
61–70	8	11	14	11	19	13	13
Above 71	18	16	5	12	8	13	12
Level of education (% of respondents)
University education	6	12	6	4	4	0	5
Matric level	22	22	14	8	28	14	17
High school	10	18	18	16	10	14	14
Primary education	44	8	40	52	32	38	36
No formal education	18	40	22	20	26	34	27
Income (% of respondents)
Social grant	27	22	22	21	18	29	23
Formally employed	8	20	21	20	18	15	17
Self employed	10	5	3	4	6	6	7
Pension	0	1	0	3	2	0	1

Figure 2. Community responses to questions related to Lantana camara occurrence on household properties located in Vhembe Biosphere Reserve. Bars are average percentages of respondents and n = 50 per village.

Table 2. Respondents’ responses to questions relating to knowledge and perceptions of Lantana camara across the six villages in Vhembe Biosphere Reserve.

	Duthuni	Tshakhuma	Murunwa	Matshavhawe	Ha Mutsha	Ha Maelula	Mean	χ^2
Do you know L. camara (% yes)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	–
Do you have it on your property? (% Yes)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	–
Did you plant L. camara on your property? (% Yes)	4	0	2	0	0	2	1	23.1ns
Is it spreading on your property? (% Yes)	29	18	24	12	42	30	26	20.0ns
Is it spreading in the area? (% Yes)	30	64	54	42	56	30	46	47.4***
Are you aware it is an invasive alien species (% Yes)	29	40	20	64	20	36	35	29.7***

Data are average percentages of respondents and n = 50 per village.

*** p < 0.001, ^nsnot significant at p > 0.5.

Figure 3. Community responses to questions related to Lantana camara impacts in Vhembe Biosphere Reserve. Bars are average percentages of respondents and n = 50 per village.

Table 3. Respondent’s views of the benefits and negative impacts of Lantana camara across the six villages in Vhembe Biosphere Reserve.

	Duthuni	Tshakhuma	Murunwa	Matshavhawe	Ha Mutsha	Ha Maelula	Mean	χ^2
Benefits
Medicinal	6	8	4	8	2	0	6	11.9*
Fruit consumption	8	6	8	12	0	0	9	21.6***
Fence/Hedge	4	2	0	0	4	2	3	8.2ns
Ornamental	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	10.0ns
Mosquito repellent	0	0	0	2	2	0	2	8.1ns
Preservative	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	10.0ns
Negative impacts
Pricking thorns	6	8	14	6	12	22	11	18.8**
Causes itchiness to skin	0	0	4	4	0	14	7	41.7***
Toxic to livestock	4	0	8	20	8	12	11	21.9***
Bad odor	0	0	2	0	4	4	3	11.8*
Grows as a weed everywhere	2	2	2	0	2	8	3	14.4**
Extracts water from soils	4	10	0	0	0	0	7	36.6***
Harbours snakes	4	8	0	0	2	2	4	17.5**
Outcompetes native vegetation for resources	20	12	0	0	4	6	11	46.9***

Data are average percentages of respondents and n = 50 per village.

* p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ^nsnot significant at p > 0.5.

Table 4. Perceptions on management of lantana camara across the six villages in Vhembe Biosphere Reserve.

	Duthuni	Tshakhuma	Murunwa	Matshavhawe	Ha Mutsha	Ha Maelula	Mean	χ^2
Would you be happy if L. camara decreased in your area? (% yes)	76	68	86	62	81	84	76	18.5ns
Do you manage the plant on your property? (% yes)	92	96	67	70	65	80	78	25.8***
Do you receive any information regarding management of IAP? (% yes)	4	18	4	0	4	2	5	20.1***
Do you receive assistance from government in managing the plant? (% yes)	0	10	6	0	2	6	4	10.3ns
Would you like the government to assist you in managing L. camara? (% yes)	72	64	61	70	65	72	67	7.3ns

Data are average percentages of respondents and n = 50 per village.

*** p < 0.001, ^nsnot significant at p > 0.5.

Table 5. Multiple regression results showing the influence of social responses on ecological data, namely Lantana camara abundance, height, diameter, and cover.

	L. camara abundance			L. camara height			L. camara diameter			L. camara cover
	Beta (β)	SE	t-Value	Beta (β)	SE	t-Value	Beta (β)	SE	t-Value	Beta (β)	SE	t-Value
Age of respondent	–0.081	0.078	–1.032ns	–0.070	0.081	–0.863ns	–0.074	0.080	–0.926ns	–0.167	0.080	–2.081*
Gender of respondent	0.023	0.060	0.377ns	0.032	0.062	0.525ns	–0.012	0.061	–0.193ns	0.092	0.061	1.498ns
Education level	0.116	0.076	1.535ns	0.059	0.078	0.749ns	0.064	0.078	0.830ns	0.019	0.078	0.241ns
Household income	–0.215	0.065	–3.291***	–0.120	0.068	–1.768ns	–0.164	0.067	–2.446**	–0.160	0.067	–2.377*
Occurrence levels	–0.139	0.062	–2.258*	–0.070	0.064	–1.102ns	–0.148	0.063	–2.335*	–0.063	0.063	–0.991ns
Impact levels	–0.137	0.060	–2.287*	–0.143	0.062	–2.314*	–0.066	0.061	–1.081ns	–0.106	0.061	–1.733ns
Spread at household	0.018	0.061	0.300ns	–0.041	0.064	–0.647ns	–0.126	0.063	–1.993*	–0.111	0.063	–1.753ns
Spread in the area	–0.091	0.059	–1.548ns	–0.080	0.061	–1.320ns	–0.024	0.060	–0.402ns	–0.072	0.060	–1.196ns
Management	–0.093	0.058	–1.606ns	–0.049	0.060	–0.822ns	0.044	0.060	0.739ns	0.034	0.060	0.567ns
R^2			0.112			0.052			0.062			0.064
R^2 adjusted			0.083			0.020			0.031			0.033
F value			3.800			1.647			1.991			2.056
p-Value			<0.001			0.102			0.040			0.034
SEE			0.387			0.928			0.719			1.178

SE: standard error.

Bold values indicate significant differences at p < 0.05.

Notes:

Age = 21–30 (1), 31–40 (2), 41–50 (3), 51–60 (4), 61–70 (5), >71 (6).

Gender = Male (0), Female (1).

Education level = No formal education (1), Primary (2), High school (3), Matric (4), University (5).

Household income = Social grant (1), formally employed (2), self-employed (3), pension (4).

Occurrence level = Very common (1), common (2), moderate (3), scarce (4), very scarce (5).

Impact levels = Beneficial (1), harmful (2), no impact (3), both beneficial and harmful (4).

Spread at household = No (0), yes (1), don’t know (2).

Spread in the area = Decrease (0), increase (1), stay the same (2), don’t know (3).

Management = No (0), yes (1).

Data Availability Statement

The data that support our research findings are available from the corresponding author on request.