INVASIVE ALIENS
Three further plants to look out for
... and eradicate
T
he Plant Protection
Research Institute of
the ARC has highlighted the fact that this
summer's late rains and
record high temperatures are
From page 16
called photosynthesis,
whereby the plant, using
daylight as a stimulus, absorbs
carbon dioxide (CO2) through
its leaves. It then separates
the carbon atom from the
two oxygen atoms in the
molecule, releases the oxygen
atoms back into the atmosphere and “sequesters,” or
uses, the carbon to grow.
Trees are, after all, mostly
comprised of carbon.
If one hectare of spekboom
can sequestrate 4,2 tons of
carbon annually, one square
metre can sequester 20kg of
exacerbating the negative
impacts of invasive alien
plants, particularly in water
CO2. That's roughly the
amount of c \