Vanua Levu, the second largest island of Fiji, is being overrun by vines in a dramatic display of nature's power. Reports show that every contour of the island drips with green as its landscape becomes impossibly lush and verdant due to the vines that are taking over almost the entire island.
The culprits of this uncontrollable vine invasion are the invasive species the US troops introduced in World War II, Futurism reports. The problem is exacerbated by other challenging species and climate change that worsened natural disasters hitting the island nation and choking out competing flora.
Invasive Species Engulfing Entire Tree Canopies
Kudzu vines are considered invasive species that engulfed entire tree canopies over several miles. The vine comes from the morning glory family and can spread like wildfire, growing up to 60 feet in just one season, according to the report of Green Matters.
That means it can grow up to 1 foot per day, strangling and smothering all native trees and plant species in its way and preventing them to absorb sunlight and carbon dioxide.
These notorious strangler vines originated in Asia and are known to be a nuisance to native plants. Although they were initially planted to control soil erosion and create much-needed shade, it has completely destroyed the island's entire ecosystems.
Due to that, local residents are struggling to clear the paths of vines and save those that are being covered with the Kudzu vines. The invasiveness of the vines has made it harder for locals to cultivate other plants as they compete for nutrients.
On the other hand, they also found a silver lining to the trend. Villagers have learned to use one of the vine species as a string to bundle taro roots together at the market.
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How Does Climate Change Exacerbate the Issue of Vanua Levu?
Environmentalists and other experts have predicted that climate change would cause more intense tropical cyclones. According to NASA, hurricanes and storms in the past few years have become stronger than the past storms and it cannot be simply explained due to natural variation, which suggests that climate change is the culprit.
The issue of invasive vines in Vanua Levu island is just another example of the planetary imbalance that resulted from nature going haywire, as per Futurism. The dramatic demonstration of the consequences of climate change is a reminder that rising tides are not the only thing that the world is facing from the natural threat.
Kudzu vines inhibit the island's ability to fight climate change as they prevent the soil from absorbing carbon, which is important for plant health. Since soil, as well as trees, are Earth's greatest carbon-sequestering resources, the vines create a major roadblock in fighting climate change.
More so, outcompete most plant species during droughts as they require more water and nitrogen, making climate change a favorable condition for them. (edited already)
But aside from Kudzu vines, some plants have also become invasive species on the island. Merremia peltata is also found in the Pacific region for hundreds of years, but it only became an invasive species over the past couple of years due to tropical cycles that made it grow in intensity.
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