SARChI Research Chair in Entomology
Professor and Head of Entomology
Director: Centre for Biological Control (CBC)
President of IOBC Global

Email: m.hill@ru.ac.za
Office: F18, First Floor, Life Science Building
Phone: 046 603 8712

PhD, Entomology, Rhodes University (1995)

Prof. Hill completed his PhD at Rhodes University in 1995. He worked at the Plant Protection Research Institute (PPRI) of the Agricultural Research Council in Pretoria from 1995 to 2002 and moved to Rhodes University as Head of Entomology from 2002.  Promoted to full Professor in January 2009 and to Distinguished Professor in January 2018.  Currently holds the South Africa Research Chair Initiative chair in “Insects in sustainable agricultural ecosystems”. In 2020, Martin was elected as the President of IOBC Gloabl. 

Professor Hill’s research interests include the biological control of invasive alien aquatic weeds and insect pests. He has worked extensively throughout Africa on the control of aquatic weeds such as water hyacinth, salvinia, water lettuce, red water fern and parrot’s feather.  Recent research includes the development of microbial agents (entomopathogenic fungi and viruses) for the control of pests in citrus and other crops.

Recent publicaitons

Musedeli, J.N., Simelane, D.O., Hill, M.P. and Marais, M. 2020. Additive interaction between a root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica and a root-feeding flea beetle Longitarsus bethae on their host Lantana camara. Pest Management Science 76: 189-204.

Reid, M.K., Coetzee, J.A., Hill, M.P., Diaz, R., Gettys, L.A., Cuda, J.P. and Reid, C.S. 2020. Insect herbivores associated with Nymphaea mexicana in southern United States: Potential biological control agents for South Africa.  Florida Entomologist 103: 54-63.

Acheampong, M.A., Hill, M.P., Moore, S.D. and Coombes, C.A. 2020. UV sensitivity of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae isolates under investigation as potential biological control agents in South African citrus orchards. Fungal Biology 134: 304-310.

Motitsoe, S.A., Hill, M.P., Avery, T.S. and Hill, J.M. 2020. A new approach to the biological monitoring of freshwater systems: mapping nutrient loading in two South African rivers, a case study. Water Research 171:  Article 115391 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.115391

Aigbedion-Atalor, P.O., Abuelgasim Mohamed, S., Hill, M.P., Zalucki, M.P., Azrag, A.G.A. Srinivasan, R. and Ekesi, S. 2020. Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris (Hy-menoptera: Braconidae), a candidate for classical biological control of Tuta absoluta in Africa.  Biological Control 144: 104215.

Silvestri, L., Sosa, A., Mc Kay, F., Diniz Vitorino, M., Hill, M.P., Zachariades, C., Hight, S., Weyl, P., Smith, D., Djeddour, D. and Mason, P.G.  Implementation of access and benefit-sharing measures has consequences for classical biological control of weeds.  BioControl 65: 125-141.

Langa, S.D.F., Hill, M.P. and Compton, S.G. Agents sans frontiers: cross-border aquatic weed biological control in the rivers of southern Mozambique.  African Journal of Aquatic Science 45: 329-335.

Schaffner, U., Hill, M.P., Dudley, T. and D’Antonio, C. 2020. Post-release monitoring in weed biological control for assessing impact and increasing predictability. Current Opinions in Insect Science 38: 99–106.

Coetzee, J.A. and Hill, M.P. 2020. Salvinia molesta D.Mitch. (Salviniaceae): impact and control. CAB Reviews 15, No. 033. 1-11. doi: 10.1079/PAVSNNR202015033

Motitsoe, S.N., Coetzee, J.A., Hill, J.M. and Hill, M.P. 2020. Biological control of Salvinia molesta (D.S. Mitchell) drives aquatic ecosystem recovery.  Diversity 12: 204. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d12050204

Acheampong, M.A., Coombes, C.A., Moore, S.D. and Hill, M.P. 2020. Temperature tolerance and humidity requirements of select entomopathogenic fungal isolates for future use in citrus IPM programmes.  Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 174: 107436.

Gervazoni, P., Sosa, A., Franceschini, C., Coetzee, J.A., Faltlhauser, A., Fuentes-Rodriguez, D., Martínez, A. and Hill, M.P. 2020. The alien invasive yellow flag (Iris pseudacorus L.) in Argentinian wetlands: assessing geographical distribution through different data sources. Biological Invasions 22:3183–3193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-020-02331-4(0123456789

Coetzee, J.A., Langa, S.D.F., Motitsoe, S.N. and Hill, M.P. 2020. Biological control of water lettuce, Pistia stratiotes L., facilitates macroinvertebrate biodiversity recovery: a mesocosm study.  Hydrobiologia 847:3917–3929. doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04369-w

Egbon I, Paterson I.D., Compton S., and Hill M.P. 2020. Evolution of growth traits in invasive Pereskia aculeata (Cactaceae): testing the EICA hypothesis using its specialist herbivore, Catorhintha schaffneri (Coreidae). Pest Management Science. 76: 4046-4056.

Miller, B., Coetzee, J.A. and Hill, M.P. 2021. Mind the gap: Evidence for delayed recovery of a biological control agent population on water hyacinth in the Eastern Cape Province (South Africa) after winter.  Bulletin of Entomological Research 111: 120–128. doi.org/10.1017/S0007485320000516

Albertyn, S., Moore, S.D., Marsberg, T., Coombes, C.A. and Hill, M.P. 2021. The Influence of citrus orchard age on the ecology of entomopathogenic fungi and nematodes. Biocontrol Science & Technology 31: 80-96. doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2020.1830949

Maluleke, M., Fraser, G.C.G. and Hill M.P. Economic evaluation of chemical and biological control of four aquatic weeds in South Africa.  Biocontrol Science and Technology

Minuti, G., Coetzee, J.A., Ngxande-Koza, S., Hill, M.P. and Stiers, I. Prospects for the biological control of Iris pseudacorus L. (Iridaceae). Biocontrol Science and Technology 31: 314-335. doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2020.1853050

Baso, N.C., Coetzee, J.A., Ripley, B.S. and Hill, M.P. 2021. The effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration on the biological control of invasive aquatic weeds. Aquatic Botany 170: 103348. doi.org/10.1016/j.aquabot.2020. 103348

Maseko, Z., Coetzee, J.A. and Hill, M.P. 2021. Population dynamics of the biological control agent, Eccritotarsus catarinensis Carvalho (Miridae) on Pontederia crassipes Pellegrini and Horn (Pontederiaceae) at a seasonally cold site. African Entomology 29(1): 307–310 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4001/003.029.0307

Downey, P.O., Paterson, I.D., Canavan, K. & Hill, M.P.  2021. Prioritisation of targets for weed biological control I: a review of existing prioritisation schemes and development of a system for South Africa Biocontrol Science and Technology 31 (6): 546-565. DOI: 10.1080/09583157.2021.1918636

Paterson, I.D., Hill, M.P., Canavan, K. & Downey, P.O. 2021. Prioritisation of targets for weed biological control II: the South African Biological Control Target Selection system. Biocontrol Science and Technology. 31 (6): 566-583. DOI: 10.1080/09583157.2021.1918637

Canavan, K., Paterson, I.D., Ivey, P., Sutton, G.F. & Hill, M.P. 2021. Prioritisation of targets for weed biological control III: a tool to identify the next targets for biological control in South Africa and set priorities for resource allocation. Biocontrol Science and Technology 31 (6): 584-601DOI: 10.1080/09583157.2021.1918638

Van Rooyen, E., Paap, T., De Beer, W., Townsend, G., Fell, S., Nel, W., Morgan, S., Hill, M. & Roets, F. 2021. The Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer (PSHB) beetle: current status of a perfect invader in South Africa: Current status of the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer Beetle in South Africa.  South African Journal of Science

Book Chapters

Hill, M.P., Moran, V.C., Hoffmann, J.H., Neser, S., Zimmermann, H.G., Simelane, D.O., Klein, H., Zachariades, C., Wood, A.R., Byrne, M.J., Paterson, I.D., Martin, G.D. and Coetzee, J.A. 2020. Chapter 19: More than a century of biological control against invasive alien plants in South Africa: A synoptic view of what has been accomplished.  In: (Eds) van Wilgen, B.W., Measey, J., Richardson, D.M., Wilson, J.R. and Zengeya, T.A.  Invading Nature - Springer Series in Invasion Ecology: Biological Invasions in South Africa.  pp. 553-572.

Hill, M.P., Coetzee, J.A., Martin, G.D., Smith, R. and Strange, E.F. 2020. Chapter 4:  Invasive alien aquatic plants in freshwater ecosystems. In: (Eds) van Wilgen, B.W., Measey, J., Richardson, D.M., Wilson, J.R. and Zengeya, T.A.  Invading Nature - Springer Series in Invasion Ecology: Biological Invasions in South Africa.  pp.   97-114. 

Hill, M.P. and Coetzee, J.A. 2020. Chapter 20. How can progress in the understanding of antagonistic interactions be applied to improve biological control of plant invasions?  In: Eds) Traveset, A. and Richardson, D.M. Plant Invasions: The Role of Biotic Interactions CABI, Wallingford, UK. pp. 361-374.

Witt, A.B.R., Cock, M.J.W., Day, M.D., Zachariades, C., Strathie, L.W., Conlong, D.E., Hill M.P. and Roy, S. Biological control successes and failures: African region. In: Mason, P.G. (Ed) Biological Control: A Global Endeavour. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis. pp..

Moran, P.J., Raghu Sathyamurthy, Hill, M.P., Paynter, Q., De Clerck-Floate, R. and Goolsby, J.A. Mass-Production of Arthropods for Biological Control of Weeds: A Global Perspective.

Last Modified: Mon, 16 Aug 2021 16:01:04 SAST