Strawberry Guava Essay

Strawberry guava, Psidium cattleianum Sabine, is valued by the general public of Hawaii for its ornamental characteristics and fruit, which is frequently prepared into jams, jellies, juices, cakes, and pastries. However, due to false advertising and commercialization, guava as well as coffee, macadamia, passion fruit, and pineapples are seen as icons of Hawaii, yet they aren’t native to Hawaii. Even though these species aren’t native to Hawaii, coffee, macadamia, passion fruit, and pineapples do not pose a series threat to the native ecosystems of Hawaii, like the strawberry guava. Strawberry guava is an invasive alien species to Hawaii and can be managed through mechanical control, herbicide application, and biological control to prevent further dispersal and damage to the native ecosystems of Hawaii. Introduced to Hawaii …show more content…
Fallen strawberry guava fruit is consumed by feral pigs, birds, and rats and the seeds are then dispersed through their excrement (State of Hawaii 2010). The remaining fruit is left on the ground to rot, which hosts wild populations of fruit flies, such as the Oriental fruit fly and the Mediterranean fruit fly (State of Hawaii 2010). These wild populations of fruit flies are attributed with costing farmers millions of dollars annually in damage to fruit and vegetable crops (Johnson 2005). Millions of dollars more are spent annually to prevent the introduction of these fruit to the continental US through quarantine and eradication efforts (Johnson 2005). It is estimated by Roger Vargas (USDA ARS PBARC) that 95% of fruit fly populations developed from monotypic stands of strawberry and common guava in Hawaii (State of Hawaii 2010). Besides suppressing native species and providing nourishment for alien species, strawberry guava also negatively affects all of these species and more by damaging the