The negative effects of invasive alien species (IAS) are increasingly invoked to justify widespread and usually top-down approaches for their management or eradication. However, very little of the research or discourse is based on investigating local perceptions, uses and struggles with IAS, and how their presence influences and changes local livelihoods. The objective of this study was to assess the perceptions and livelihood uses of Acacia dealbata by local communities at three localities in the montane grasslands of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, using a combination of random household interviews, focus group discussions and participatory tools. We calculated direct-use values for each product and household (based on quantity used and local prices) and disaggregated these by gender of the household head and wealth quartiles. The results revealed the dualistic role of A. dealbata in local livelihoods. On the one hand, A. dealbata was widely used for firewood (100% of households), tools (77%) and construction timber (73%), with limited use for traditional medicines and forage. The cumulative value of approximately ZAR 2870 (±US$224) per household per year (across all households) represents considerable cash saving to households, most of whom are quite poor by national and international measures. On the other hand, the increasing extent of A. dealbata (93% said it was increasing) exacerbates local household vulnerability though reported reductions in cultivated areas, crop yields and forage production, and allegedly higher risks of crime. This quandary is well encapsulated by the considerable majority of respondents (84%) not wanting higher extents and densities of A. dealbata, but an equally high majority not wanting its total removal from local landscapes. Most respondents disliked A. dealbata in fields, close to homesteads or along primary access routes, and were more tolerant of it away from such sites. Institutional and use dynamics have varied over several decades in response to the changing extent and densities of A. dealbata and the broader political and socio-economic contexts. These results indicate that greater efforts are required to understand perceptions and uses of IAS by the people who live with them, and to direct such understanding into more spatially and temporally contextualised response strategies where required.

越来越多地援引外来入侵物种（IAS）的负面影响来为管理或根除其广泛且通常自上而下的方法辩护。但是，很少有研究或论述是基于调查当地的看法，与IAS的使用和斗争以及他们的存在如何影响和改变当地的生计。这项研究的目的是评估相思树的认知和生计用途由南非东开普省山地草原上三个地方的当地社区使用随机家庭访谈，焦点小组讨论和参与性工具相结合的方式进行。我们计算了每个产品和家庭的直接使用价值（基于使用的数量和当地价格），并按家庭户主的性别和财富四分位数进行了分类。结果揭示了A. Dealbata在当地生计中的双重作用。一方面，A。Dealbata被广泛用于薪柴（占家庭的100％），工具（占77％）和建筑木材（占73％），而传统药物和牧草的使用有限。每年每户（在所有家庭中）的累计价值约为2870南非兰特（约合224美元），对家庭而言可节省大量现金，其中大多数家庭在国内和国际上都处于贫困状态。另一方面，尽管据报道耕地面积，农作物产量和牧草产量减少，以及据称犯罪风险增加，但竹叶假单胞菌（A. Dealbata）的程度增加（93％表示正在增加）加剧了当地家庭的脆弱性。绝大多数受访者（84％）很好地概括了这一难题，他们不希望更高的密度和密度。，但相当高的多数人不希望将其从当地景观中完全移除。大多数受访者不喜欢田间，靠近宅基地或沿主要出入路线的脱皮拟南芥，并且对此类场所不抱有更大的容忍度。数十年来，随着脱皮拟南芥的不断变化的范围和密度以及更广泛的政治和社会经济背景，机构和使用的动力发生了变化。这些结果表明，需要作出更大的努力来了解与之同住的人们对IAS的理解和使用，并在需要的情况下将这种理解引入更具时空背景的应对策略中。