The environmental, socio-economic, and health effects of invasive alien plants: Review on Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray in Asteraceae

Abstract

Invasive alien plants (IAPs) are recognized as major threats to the environmental and ecological systems with great potential to disrupt global biodiversity, forestry, livelihood, and human health. Nevertheless, ecological and socio-economic investigations of IAPs to facilitate restoration strategies are insufficient in many species. The potential risks posed by Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray, an emerging Asteraceae IAP has scantily been addressed in terms of its nature and/or impacts (e.g., phytochemistry, allelo/aroma-chemicals, chemical ecology, livelihood, and human well-being). This review aims to provide a first-hand assessment on potential threats and benefits of T. diversifolia and other Asteraceae IAPs in a multifaceted ‘environment-agriculture-energy-health nexus’ or ‘biorefinery’ prospects. Standard methods were used to quest the multifaceted implications of T. diversifolia invasion, mainly in the time frame of 2011 to 2023. Research platforms such as Scopus, Sciencedirect, and Google Scholar facilitated the literature collection. Adequate operation of filters was performed in selecting articles (n = 255) to deliver the state of the art knowledge in South Africa and globally. Applications of T. diversifolia are also discussed to cover diverse fields (e.g., agriculture, food industry, pharmaceuticals, bio/ethnomedicine, environmental remediation, bioenergy, biochar production, and phytosynthesis of engineered nanoparticles). An explicit assessment of IAPs can enable a judicial cost-benefit analysis to help determine its ecological economics while pursuing the targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.