Svetimžemiais vadinami iš kitų kraštų kilę ir dėl žmonių veiklos į teritorijas, kuriose jie anksčiau neaugo, patekę augalai. Vienas iš tokių adventyvinių augalų yra varpinė medlieva (Amelanchier spicata) Taigi adventyvinių augalų skverbimasis yra nenutrūkstantis, su žmogaus veikla susijęs procesas, todėl galima teigti, jog tokių augalų šalyje ir toliau daugės. Varpinės medlievos (Amelanchier spicata) tyrimai buvo atliekami 2007-2008 m. liepos – rugsėjo mėn. keturiose skirtingose vietovėse, t.y. Antaviliuose, Aukštuosiuose Paneriuose, Žemojoje Veržuvoje ir Antakalnyje. Kiekvienoje vietovėje buvo pasirinktas 10000 m2 plotas. Plotas suskirstytas į 16 laukelių, o vienas laukelis sudarė 625 m2. Šiose vietovėse vertinant antžeminių dalių morfologinius parametrus buvo matuojamas stiebų aukštis, aukštis iki pirmos šakos, skersmuo, nustatomas stiebų brandos amžius bei absoliutus amžius. Tyrimų metu nustatyta, kad tankiausia buvo Antavilių populiacija. Pagal brandos amžiaus grupes visose tirtose populiacijose vyravo vegetatyviniai stiebai. Pagal morfologinius stiebų požymius visos keturios populiacijos skiriasi nedaug. Pagal absoliutųjį amžių daugiausia populiacijose buvo rasta antrų, trečių ir ketvirtų metų amžiaus stiebų, o mažiausiai septyniolikos, aštuoniolikos, devyniolikos ir dvidešimties metų amžiaus stiebų. Tirtose populiacijose morfologinių požymių kitimai priklauso tiek nuo amžiaus, tiek nuo populiacijos tankumo, tiek nuo konkurencijos bei skirtingų aplinkos sąlygų buveinėse... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Exotic are the plants originating from the lands and coming due to the human activity to the areas where they never grow before. One of these adventive plants is thicket shadbush (Amelanchier spicata). So, penetration of adventive plants is a continuous process associated with human activities, therefore it can be argued that the number of such plants in the country will continue to grow. Research of thicket shadbush (Amelanchier spicata) was carried out in July - September 2007-2008 in four different areas, namely Antaviliai, Aukštieji Paneriai, Žemoji Veržuva and Antakalnis. The area of 10000 m2 was chosen in each location. The area was then divided into 16 squares, and one square constituted 625 m2. When evaluating the morphological parameters of the ground parts of the plants, the height of stalks, the height to the first branch, the diameter was measured, and the absolute age and maturity age of stalks was determined. It was determined during the research that the densest was Antaviliai population. According to the maturity age groups the vegetative stalks were dominating in all analysed populations. According to morphological stalk features all for populations differ very little. By absolute age, the highest number of plants in the populations was with the second, third and fourth year stalks, and the least number was with stalks of seventeen, eighteen, nineteen and twenty year old. Changes of morphological features in analysed populations depend on age, on the density... [to full text]

MSc (Zoology) / Department of Zoology / See the attached abstract below

MSc (Botany) / Department of Botany / Invasive alien plants (IAPs) are non-native species that have spread beyond the introduction site; become abundant to an extent that they serve as agents of change that also threaten native biological diversity (Garcia-Berthou, 2007). IAPs have medicinal applications for the treatment of various aliments in humans (Jäger et al., 1996). In this study, an ethnomedicinal survey was conducted on medicinal uses of invasive alien plant species in order to identify and investigate the various disease treatment methods employed by Bapedi traditional health practitioners within Capricorn District. Six traditional health practitioners were randomly selected, via the snowball method from each of the five local municipalities namely: Aganang, Blouberg, Lepelle-Nkupi, Molomole and Polokwane. The whole survey included 30 traditional health practitioners. A semi structured questionnaire was administered to document information about the medicinal uses of IAPs from participants. The collected data from the questionnaire was captured in Microsoft Excel 2010 and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study recorded 22 IAPs belonging to 14 plant families. Records or data collected show invasive alien plants species to have been used for treatment of different alignments amongst Bapedi traditional health practitioners. Plant families with the most recorded species include: Solanaceae and Myrtaceae with 18.2% for both of them. The plant parts most frequently used in descending order were as follows: roots vii (40%), followed by the leaves (39%), fruits (7%), thorns (6%), bark (4%), seeds (2%) and lastly stems (2%). Decoction was recorded as the most dominant method used during medicinal preparations (n = 176) and flu was recorded as the most treated ailment amongst traditional health practitioners (n = 29). Apart from clearing IAPs as part of management strategy by South African government, there are other alternative innovative ways that can be employed to ensure that the number of IAPs introduced does not exceed beyond measure.This could be achieved by encouraging local people to use them as either medicinal sources or by incorporating them into any other local ethnobotanical use. The new innovative ways (such as traditional health practitioners utilizing the IAPs instead of endangered plants or indigenous plants species) can bring in some form of relief to the already declining indigenous species populations. Research scholars from different research institutes and higher education research centres can regard IAPs used medicinally as source of new pharmaceutical leads to create new medications. With such attention turned to alien invasive species, their survival as well as their spread will be kept on check at the same time creating a control measure to their spread with little effort. Further laboratory-based studies are needed to determine efficiency and safety of the IAPs used by traditional health practitioners in this study. / NRF