Stakeholder awareness of plant invasions and perceptions of ornamental invasive plants in Southern Africa

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U. Wilson, Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6178950/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 29 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Biological Invasions → Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Invasive plants have costs and benefits that change over time and space, as do the views on management. Often, successful management requires broader societal buy-in. Hence, unpacking the perceptions of invasive plants from those impacted is important to facilitate management. Targeting a sector with a long history of introductions and invasions —the ornamental industry— we focus on Southern Africa, where studies describing conflicts in managing invasive ornamental plants concentrate in South Africa. We explore how the stakeholders involved in the interplay between the sector and environmental management understand plant invasions and perceive invasive ornamental plants across the sub-region. We generated qualitative data from 78 environmental specialists, 38 ornamental industry staff, and 72 ornamental gardeners from Botswana (104), Namibia (50), Zimbabwe (18), South Africa (13), and Zambia (3). We found that all stakeholder groups understand invasion broadly in the same way as in academia and policymaking. Non-specialists showed they are often aware of ecological processes but do not necessarily use "scientific" terms to describe them. Participants differed in how they perceived specific plants due to specific interests that professions, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, and personal experiences shape. In turn, these factors are influenced by broad socio-ecological and geopolitical dynamics. Differences hinted at conflicts of interest. Nonetheless, stakeholders could agree through relational, balanced, and regular communication, where capacities and knowledge from all sides are valued and respected. Such spaces would need to address the racial and classist segregations shaping mutual power dynamics and perceptions and their relations with invasive plants and landscapes. Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 29 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Biological Invasions → Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 12 May, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Mar, 2025 Editor invited by journal 16 Mar, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 11 Mar, 2025 First submitted to journal 10 Mar, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6178950","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":430740846,"identity":"48763681-e540-406b-a0f5-6779849031d0","order_by":0,"name":"Diana Rodríguez-Cala","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4319-2978","institution":"Coventry University Group: Coventry University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Diana","middleName":"","lastName":"Rodríguez-Cala","suffix":""},{"id":430740847,"identity":"95b1b154-f1aa-4162-a513-19ba14961a0e","order_by":1,"name":"Jana Fried","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Coventry University Group: Coventry University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jana","middleName":"","lastName":"Fried","suffix":""},{"id":430740848,"identity":"e14e291f-99f2-4925-913b-01ff8b14c958","order_by":2,"name":"John R. 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