In Indian sandalwood forests the shrub competes with the tree crop as well as favours the spread of the sandal spike disease. It encroaches agricultural land, reduces the carrying capacity of pastures and is a weed in many agricultural crops. In New Caledonia following reproduction the climbing stems dry out and the dead material falls to the ground increasing fire susceptibility. In Tanzania L. camara can be considered as a serious health threat, as its thickets provide breeding grounds for Tsetse flies infected with trypanosomes of domestic animals. Since the turn of the century, biological control has been attempted in many parts of the tropics with varying degrees of success as different cultivars display differences in susceptibility to insect herbivores.
Greater success appears to have been achieved in drier areas.
Sesamum indicum L. Chemical control is expensive and cleared areas are rapidly reinfected by seedlings and stem and roots freely coppice. Mechanical control can be effective , particularly where land is cleared, but is labour intensive and requires continual follow-up treatment to remove roots and seedlings. There are no indications that any major differences exist between the invaded and native ranges. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. Costa Rican natural history, pp.