The Invasive Shrub Piper aduncum and Rural Livelihoods in the Finschhafen Area of Papua New Guinea

Abstract

In Papua New Guinea the shrub Piper aduncum (L) has invaded the humid lowlands and locally dominates the fallow vegetation, mainly in Morobe and Madang Provinces. It is not known when or how Piper aduncum arrived in Papua New Guinea, but it is likely that seeds were introduced by accident from Papua (Irian Jaya) or perhaps from Fiji, where it was introduced in the 1920s (Hartemink, 2001). The botanist Mary Clemens first observed Piper aduncum (hereafter referred to as piper) in 1935 near the Heldsbach mission station near Finschhafen in Morobe Province. It was not very widespread by the early 1970s and is not listed in the standard text