View Online

INVASIVE WEEDS
CONTROL OF INVASIVE WEEDS IN AUSTRALIA
Sharon Corey from CSIRO Entomology/Cooperative Research Centre for Weed Management Systems
discusses how the problems caused by invasive weeds are being tackled in Australia

Downloaded on 08 February 2011

Published on 01 January 2000 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/B006353N

Introduction
Invasion of alien species across the planet is rated as being
the second biggest threat to biodiversity behind habitat loss.
Invasion of detrimental plant species (weeds) is one of the
most serious and expensive land degradation problems in
Australia, and one of the least known and understood by the
Australian community.
Non-native plant species currently account for about
15% of the total Australian flora. The largest proportion of
environmental weeds in Australia were originally deliberately introduced, often as garden ornaments.
It is estimated that control of agricultural weeds in
Australia amounts to more than A$3.3 billion per year. The
cost to our environment and loss of biodiversity is incalculable.
Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) a major environmental
weed across Southern Australia. Photo courtesy CSIRO

Current environmental weed projects

Serrated tussock
Bill Pettit of CSIRO is spending 2 years in Argentina
searching for natural biological control agents for serrated
tussock (Nassella trichotoma), a widespread problem in
pastures in Australia. Serrated tussock came to Australia
from South America in the early 20th century, possibly as a
contaminant in drought fodder. Today it costs Australia
some A$55 M and infects more than a million hectares in

Serrated tussock (Nassella trichotoma) a major pasture weed

across New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Photo
courtesy NSW Agriculture.

Control of weeds is a long-term process and involves

many strategies being implemented strategically to bring
about the best results. One of these strategies involves the
use of naturally occurring insects and pathogens as
biological control agents. CSIRO has been involved with
biological control of weeds since the early 1930s. Although
the spectacular successes have been few and far between, the
practice of implementing biological control has expanded
and is becoming a standard tool in a weed control package.

Bridal creeper (Asparagus asparagoides) one of Australias

most damaging and persistent environmental weeds. Photo
courtesy CSIRO

Pes tic i de Ou tl ook Ju n e 20 00

This journal is The Royal Society of Chemistry 2000

101

View Online

INVASIVE WEEDS
New South Wales and Victoria, with an increasing
infestation in Tasmania. The search is on for a fungal
pathogen that will be specific to serrated tussock, leaving
related Australian grasses untouched. While in South
America Mr Pettit will also be looking at biocontrol possibilities for Chilean needlegrass and blue heliotrope, both
major weeds in Australia.

Downloaded on 08 February 2011

Published on 01 January 2000 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/B006353N

Horehound
The Cooperative Research Centre for Weed Management
Systems (Weeds CRC) has introduced the horehound plume
moth and the clearwing moth as biocontrol mechanisms to
fight horehound in New South Wales, Victoria and South
Australia. Horehound is a pernicious weed, introduced from
Europe, which has established itself throughout SE
Australia. It competes vigorously with pastures, and its
prolific burrs are a major nuisance for wool producers.

Scotch broom
A moth, Leucoptera spartifoliella (a twig miner), a psyllid
(Arytainilla spartiophila) and a beetle (Bruchidius villosus)
are being used by the Weeds CRC in the biological control
of Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), which is a major environmental weed across southern Australia. These insects
have established on Scotch broom and form part of a major
effort to control broom in Australia. The seed feeding weevil
(Exapion fuscirostre) i s c u rrently undergoing testing in
quarantine. Research sites have been established to monitor
their impact.

Bitou bush
B i t o u b u s h (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subspecies
rotundata) is an invasive weed that is choking 70,000
hectares of SE Australias coastal ecosystems. The Weeds
CRC and ANZECC have recently released a best practice
guide to help better manage the weed. Bitou bush originates
from South Africa and is thought to have arrived in
Australia through the dumping of ballast by ships coming
from South Africa. After its establishment, bitou bush was
planted extensively along the New South Wales coast to
prevent erosion and rehabilitate land following erosion and
mining operations; this practice stopped when the plants
weedy nature was recognised. Its range now stretches from
Queenslands Sunshine Coast down to the south coast of
New South Wales. A number of biological control agents
have been released with two being well established. These
are the bitou tip moth (Comostolopsis germana) which
destroys the growing tips, and the bitou seed fly (Mesoclanis
polana) that destroys developing seeds. The latest release
is the bitou leaf-rolling moth which is capable killing
bitou bush under heavy attack. Larvae construct feeding
shelters by webbing together 2 or more neighbouring
leaves. Larvae then eat the leaves and stems within and
around the shelter resulting in death of leaves or shoot
tips. A field trial is also being carried out in the Eurobodalla
National Park, near Moruya, on the New South Wales
coast to control bitou bush using a management strategy
that integrates fire, herbicides and biocontrol agents
together with the deliberate fostering of native plant
growth.
102

Pe st ic id e Ou tl ook June 2 00 0

Bridal creeper
Bridal creeper, Asparagus asparagoides, is an environmental
curse found in every state across southern Australia.
Originally introduced from South Africa in the 1850s as an
ornamental plant, popular among florists, it is now out of
control. It is regarded as one of Australias most damaging
and persistent environmental weeds, and is a Weed of
National Significance. The first agent, a leafhopper (Zygina
sp.), was released in May 1999 and has established at
release sites across Australia. The community is now
becoming involved in the redistribution to other sites
infested with bridal creeper. The next agent, a rust
fungus Puccinia myrsiphylli, has just been approved for
release.

New quarantine facility

The fight against environmental weed problems in Western
Australia has been given a boost by the building of a new
A$4M quarantine facility at CSIROs Floreat Park site. The
facility will streamline the process of testing potential
biological control agents and reduce the cost associated with
each biological control program. The biological control
agents to be assessed in the new facility will include fungi as
well as insects. In the last 2 years two insects have been
released from quarantine in Western Australia to control
double gee (Emex australis) and bridal creeper (Asparagus
asparagoides). CSIRO Entomology also maintains quaratine
facilities in Canberra and Brisbane.
CSIRO Entomology works with many state organisations
and is one of the core partners in the Cooperative Research
Centre for Weed Management Systems. It is only through
this collaboration across all states that successful establishment of agents on weeds around Australia can be achieved,
and it has opened the doors for greater integration of
biological control with other weed control methods.
Community involvement with the redistribution of these
agents is also proving to be a vital component.

National weed strategy

Weeds are starting to gain some of the attention they deserve
with the publication of the National Weed Strategy in 1997
followed by a national consultative process which resulted
in the inaugural list of Weeds of National Significance
(WONS). All of the twenty weeds listed as WONS have an
environmental impact and State Departments are currently
in the process of developing strategic management plans for
each of these. The WONS weeds are listed below.
Alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides)
Athel pine (Tamarix aphylla)
Bitou bush/boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilifera)
Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus L. agg.)
Bridal creeper (Asparagus asparagoides)
Cabomba (Cabomba caroliniana)
Chilean Needle Grass (Nasella neesiana)
Gorse (Ulex europaeus)
Hymenachne (Hymenachne amplexicaulis)
Lantana (Lantana camara)

View Online

INVASIVE WEEDS
Mesquite (Prosopis spp.)
Mimosa (Mimosa pigra)
Parkinsonia (Parkinsonia aculeata)
Parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus)
Pond apple (Annona glabra)
Prickly acacia (Acacia nilotica)
Rubber vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora)
Salvinia (Salvinia molesta)
Serrated tussock (Nasella trichotoma)
Willows (Salix spp. except S. babylonica, S. calodendron
and S. reichardtiji)

Downloaded on 08 February 2011

Published on 01 January 2000 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/B006353N

Further reading

Panetta, F. D. (1993). A system of assessing proposed plant introductions for weed potential. Plant Protection Quarterly 8,
1014

Web sites
Weeds CRC http://www.waite.adelaide.edu.au/CRCWMS/
WONS http://www.weeds.org.au/natsig.htm
CSIRO Entomology Weed Management
http://www.ento.csiro.au/research/weedmgmt/weedmgmt.html

For further information on biological weed control

programs in Australia contact Mrs Sharon Corey, Scientific
Liaison Officer, Weed Management, CSIRO Entomology,
Weeds CRC, GPO Box 1700, Canberra ACT 2601,
Australia (sharon.corey@ento.csiro.au

Literature
Groves, R. H.; Hosking, J. R. (1997). Recent Incursions of Weeds
to Australia 19711995. CRC for Weed Management Systems
Technical Series No. 3.
Lonsdale, W. M. (1994). Inviting trouble: Introduced pasture
species in northern Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 19,
345354
Lonsdale, W. M. (1999). Global patterns of plant invasions and
the concept of invasibility. Ecology 80(5), 15221536

Sharon Corey has worked with CSIRO since 1988 after completing a
Bachelor of Applied Science (Agriculture). Since 1990 Sharon has
been the Scientific Liaison Officer with the Weed Management
Program at CSIRO Entomology where the research field of expertise
is the biological control of weeds.

CROP PROTECTION BOOKS

from the Royal Society of Chemistry
Metabolic Pathways of Agrochemicals
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF : Terry Roberts and David Hutson
Part 1 Herbicides and Plant Growth Regulators
Part 2 Insecticides and Fungicides
Package price (Parts 1 and 2)

ISBN 0 85404 494 9

ISBN 0 85404 499 X
ISBN 0 85404 489 2

225.00
250.00
425.00

Chemistry and Mode of Action of Crop Protection Agents

by L. G. Copping and H. G. Hewitt

ISBN 0 85404 559 7

18.50

Crop Protection Agents from Nature. Natural Products and Analogues

Edited by L. G. Copping

ISBN 0 85404 414 0

140.00

Pesticide Chemistry and Bioscience. The Food-Environment Challenge

Edited by G. T. Brooks and T. Roberts

ISBN 0 85404 709 3

49.50

Agri-Food Quality II. Quality Management of Fruits and Vegetables

Edited by M. Hagg, R. Ahvenainen,
A-M Evers and K Tiilikkala

ISBN 0 85404 788 3

69.50

Order to be sent to Sales and Customer Care, Royal Society of Chemistry, Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge
CB4 0WF, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1223 420066. Fax: +44 (0)1223 423429. e-mail: sales@rsc.org.

Pes tic id e Ou tlo ok Ju n e 20 00

103