Wild Kiwi Fruit

To mitigate the deleterious effects of Wild kiwifruit, there are multiple factors we must consider such as. What consequences does this pest have on its food web and the environment around it? What are some solutions that other countries use?  How does it spread? What, where, and when did it affect the worst? What are some of the practices used to contain or abate Wild kiwi fruit? What are the positives and negatives of using some of these practices? How did it get here, and when and where did this pest originate?

How does it affect its food web?

The Wild kiwi fruit affects its food web and environment by spreading at excessive rates and suffocating the surrounding vegetation. Wild kiwifruit can endure high and low temperatures. Wild kiwi fruit will plague other plants such as trees, bushes, and shrubbery by growing thick heavy vines around them suffocating them. Even so, the most problematic part of Wild kiwifruit is that birds and humans will eat the fruit. They will then excrete and their faeces will contain the seed inside allowing the Wild kiwi fruit to grow further and infect that area. This makes the Wild kiwi fruit a formidable pest to seize control of. 

How does it spread? 

Wild kiwi fruit spreads by birds and humans. Wild kiwifruit is eaten by birds and humans, this in addition to the kiwifruit having approximately 1100 seeds means when the human or bird excretes the seed of the kiwifruit; the seeds are then released allowing the kiwifruit to infect the surrounding vegetation. Wild kiwifruit will then grow vines out onto other plants like a tree and from that cause more wild kiwifruit to grow and be eaten further continuing the growth of this weed. Wild Kiwi Fruit will grow and spread rapidly forcing other seedlings that compete with it to wither and die. Wild Kiwifruit can grow in most places not bothered by fertility, weather and temperature. Wild Kiwifruit will grow on top of things such as shrubbery, trees, and other greenery like bushes.

What and Where did it affect the worst?

Wild kiwifruit will affect anywhere it grows but affects most in the bush. Wild Kiwifruit affects all trees in the bush with its big heavy vines that stretch out and suffocate the surrounding trees. But Wild kiwifruit is affected the most in Te Puke and the bay of plenty because this area is where most kiwifruit is grown and imported. Due to these areas having such, Te puke even being the first place to have a commercial-sized kiwifruit farm, kiwifruit started growing in the wild. This all happened and grew during the 1970s when wild kiwifruit wasn’t recognised as a pest. Wild kiwifruit wasn’t recognised as a pest until 2018 and by then the devastating effects of wild kiwifruit had already dealt its damage and cleanup had to be done.