Homestead hedges as potential sources of alien invasive and poisonous plants in rural and urban communities, South Africa

Hedges provide multiple benefits to rural and urban communities globally, such as property boundaries, aesthetics and safety. However, few studies have assessed the prevalence of hedges at a household level, which is vital for quantifying the benefits and ecosystem disservices of hedges. Two ecosystem disservices of interest were the potential negative impacts resulting from invasive alien species (IAS) as well as poisonous species. This study assessed the prevalence of hedges in three rural and three urban communities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, using street surveys and household interviews to determine the prevalence of hedges, species composition and respondents’ knowledge of whether their hedge had native, alien or invasive species. Additionally, the prevalence of species toxic to humans, livestock or pets was ascertained. Almost half (44%) of urban households had a hedge compared to one-quarter (23%) in the rural ones. Seventy-nine hedge species were documented across the six sites, of which 35% were native species, 24% were IAS and 41% were alien, but not invasive. One-third of the species were poisonous (of which 48% were IAS, 33% alien and 19% native) and 77% of households had poisonous species in their hedge. Overall, urban areas had more IAS and poisonous species per household. However, knowledge levels amongst respondents regarding the presence of IAS or poisonous species in hedges were low in both contexts (9% urban and 13% rural). Thus, there is clearly a need for targeted awareness programmes considering these ecosystem disservices from hedges along with promotion of native and non-poisonous species.