Page 3 - LaMantia_alii_2013

The recent spread of the invasive woody alien plant Melia azedarach 507

tiveness of the invasive process achieved by M. azedarach is strongly influ-
enced by the abundance and the variety of disseminators which feed on its
fleshy drupes, i.e. small mammals for short distances, or birds and bats for
longer distances (BATCHER, 2000; VOIGT et al., 2011). Thank to its ability to
re-sprout both from damaged stumps and roots, M. azedarach is able to form
dense and extensive clonal stands in very short times, thus preventing the
entry of native woody species (LANGELAND & BURKS, 1998; TOURN et al.,
1999), and making difficult its mechanical control (BATCHER, 2000). Due to
its invasive behavior, M. azedarach has been included in the Global Invasive
Species Database (GISD, 2006), managed by the group of specialists working
within the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In its secondary distribution range, M.
azedarach has successfully invaded both open natural habitats like S African
savannahs, the Pampas of Argentina and disturbed environments, such as
roadsides, but also riparian and forest ecosystems subject to anthropogenic
disturbance (LANGELAND & BURKS, 1998; HOOD & NAIMAN, 2000; VAN
WILGEN et al., 2001; GHERSA et al., 2002; HENDERSON, 2007). Especially in S
Africa, the widespread occurrence of this Asian tree has reached particularly
worrying dimensions, so that huge costs will have to be incurred in order to
contain its rising spread and the negative ecological impacts (MARAIS et al.,
2004; HENDERSON, 2007). In U.S.A., M. azedarach has been recently listed
among the 14 non-native target species for which the development of focused
programs of biological control exploiting the numerous phytophagous ene-
mies which live in its native range is regarded as a priority (DING et al., 2006).

MELIA AZEDARACH IN EUROPE AND IN ITALY
Naturalized in France and former Yugoslavia since half a century
(TUTIN, 1968), more recently M. azedarach also spread in Iberian Peninsula
(NAVARRO ARANDA & MUÑOZ GARMENDIA, 2008), on Canarian islands and
Croatia as well as in other Mediterranean countries such as Balearic islands,
Cyprus, Israel, Jordan and Malta, while its status is doubtful in Anatolia
(Turkey) and Crete (JURY, 2009).
After boiling the fruits, the seeds of Persian lilac, which bear a natural
perforation through the centre, were used to make rosaries. Although this
popular use is disappearing, in Italy M. azedarach is still called “albero dei
rosari” or “albero dei paternostri”. Despite being included since long time in
the category of naturalized plants (BÉGUINOT & MAZZA, 1916; VIEGI et al.,
1974), PIGNATTI (1982) treated it only as a casual. Moreover, CELESTI-
GRAPOW et al. (2010) report it as fully naturalized for Sicily only and as a ca-