A study of the ecological history, vegetation and conservation management of Ile aux Aigrettes, Mauritius

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ABSTRACT

Much of the unique native vegetation of Mauritius has been destroyed. Coastal ebony ( Diospyros egrettarumI.B.K. Richardson) forest forms an extreme type of Mauritian lowland forest which no longer exists on mainland Mauritius and only survives on one offshore islet, Ile aux Aigrettes. Undisturbed D. egrettarumforest is resistant to invasion by exotic plants, which have now invaded most relict patches of native lowland vegetation in Mauritius. Human disturbance however, has allowed many exotics (particularly Flacourtia indica(Burm. fil.) Merrill) to invade and form new vegetation types. Much of the disturbance was caused by illegal woodcutting up to 1985, prompted by an acute fuelwood shortage in Mauritius. On the basis of 132 4 X 4 m quadrats, we recognize 10 types of natural, semi-natural and exotic vegeta-tion. The conservation of the remaining natural ebony woodland vegetation requires the total cessation of woodcutting and the eradication of Tabebuia pallida(Lindl.) Miers (potentially the most damaging exotic species).

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Studies on the Vegetation of Mauritius: I. A Preliminary Survey of the Plant Communities

R. Vaughan, P. O. Wiehe (1937)

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Exotic species invasion into Mauritius wet forest remnants

Robert W. Sussman, David Lorence (1986)

Two stands of mature evergreen wet forest in Mauritius (Mascarene Islands) were sampled for floristic composition to assess the extent of invasion by weedy exotic phanerogams (Brise Fer, 550 m alt.; Bon Courage, 200–260 m alt.). All individuals ≥ 2.5 cm dbh were recor ded in 50×2 m transects totalling 0.1 ha at each site, and 2×2 m seedling plots totalling 40 m were also sampled at each site. Both forests showed a high degree of invasion. Although exotics constituted only 5% of woody species ≥ 2.5 cm dbh at Brise Fer and 14.5% at Bon Courage, they comprised 34.8% and 20.8% of the individuals, respectively. Seedling plots at both sites were dominated by exotics, which comprised 20.6% of the species and 97.4% of the individuals at Brise Fer, and 22.2% of the species and 73.9% of the individuals at Bon Courage. Comparisons are made with Macabé forest, sampled nearly 50 years ago. These data suggest that unless steps are taken to check the spread of exotics, floristic composition at these sites will shift towards total invasion and degradation as has occurred elsewhere on Mauritius.