Mesquite; a sharp impact

 By: Amerith Flores

Figure 1: Visual graph of the eventual spread of P.juliflora according to the 2 predicted outcomes used by the study. Figure taken from Sintayehu et al. 2020. 

Prosopis juliflora, also known as mesquite, has been spread throughout the world as an invasive species. This was serious as it outcompeted species native to the area. Sintayehu and colleagues studied the effects of mesquite in Ethiopia as climate change has enabled it to be widespread. Being able to predict the spread of this P. juliflora and protect the native habitats as well as the livelihood and livestock of the people who live there was an important element of this study. Mesquite had been introduced in the 1970s to provide firewood as an economic source and to battle desertification. It was soon found out that it overcrowded the native species from chemicals in the P.juliflora, allowed a hiding place for lions, and damaged native and domestic animals even leading to some deaths. In general, the mesquite was more of a sharp thorn in the side of the Ethiopians. Sintayehu and colleagues designed the study to be able to see how far the invasive species would spread by 2050 and in 2070 by basing it upon 2 models. One was where the best predicted climate change scenario where the climate stabilized and there were very little pollutants and a second region where there was high greenhouse gas and pollutants. As shown in figure 1, if climate change worsens, mesquite has a higher chance of spreading and so, there should be more measures to slow the spread. This study highlighted the importance of managing invasive species to prevent bigger problems and to protect a nations environment and economy.

Sintayehu, Dejene W.,Gemedo Dalle, Arbo F. Bobasa. Impacts of climate change on current and future invasion of Prosopis juliflora in Ethiopia: environmental and socio-economic implications. Heliyon 2020;6(8) DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04596