Regional response of Odonata to river systems impacted by and cleared of invasive alien trees

Invasive alien organisms are a major threat to indigenous biodiversity. Invasive alien trees (IATs) are a component of this threat to South African ©donates. IATs shade out the habitat of the sun-loving odonate species. A national programme to remove IATs from river systems has been initiated in South Africa. Results from widely-separated sites show that the impacts of IATs are the same in different physiognomic areas. In turn, removal of the IATs is beneficial to a range of species from narrow endemics to widespread generalists. Indications are that this nation-wide lAT-removal programme is beneficial across a wide geographical area, leading to rapid and significant odonate assemblage recovery. The lAT-removal programme must also consider removal of alien seedlings so as not to reverse the recovery programme.