Public concern increases over weed invasion (96kb)
Research released today by the Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Weed Management (Weeds CRC) shows that public concern over the spread of weeds continues to rise.

Images available for download
| Agapanthus | An agapanthus infestation in Lysterfield Park, Vic. Photo: A Lamb
| Topped lavender | Topped lavender out-competes desirable pasture species and natives. Here it is invading Greenhill Recreation Park, Adelaide foothills, South Australia. Photo: P Martin
| Madeira vine | An aggressive climber with rope-like stems, madeira vine creates a dense canopy, smothering native trees and shrubs which may break under its weight; Lismore, New South Wales. Photo: A Storrie

Foreign plants swamp Aussie battlers (72kb)
Invasive species from other countries spreading across Australia are the most immediate threat to Australia’s own flora and fauna, according to CRC for Australian Weed Management (Weeds CRC) scientist and President of the Council of Australasian Weed Societies Dr John Virtue.

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Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris)
Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) is an introduced, perennial pasture grass that is found across much of the Australian continent, including arid and semi-arid regions. For many decades it has been widely planted for livestock production and land rehabilitation. Its palatability is moderate but it is well regarded as pasture because it grows rapidly under warm, moist conditions and persists under heavy grazing and drought. Buffel grass has spread well beyond planted areas and dominates the ground layer in many native plant communities. It reduces native plant diversity and can affect vegetation structure by changing fire regimes.

| Buffelgrass_1_834_07_RDavies.jpg | Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) also threatens the environmental integrity of landmarks like Uluru (Ayers Rock), NT. Photo: Rick Davies |

Feathergrasses and mission grasses (Pennisetum species)
A number of introduced, mostly perennial grass weeds species are invading Australia’s native vegetation, particularly grasslands, woodlands, rangelands and coastal areas. Invasive grasses displace native plants and can also contribute to changed fire regimes that affect native vegetation structure and biodiversity.

| pennisetum_Missiongrass_CWilson.jpg | Mission grass (Pennisetum polystachion) infestation: Top End NT. Photo: C. Wilson |
| pennisetum setaceum_Fountain_grass invasion_ SNavie.JPG | Fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum) planted along a roadside has spread into adjacent bushland: Brisbane, Queensland. Photo: S. Navie |

African boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum)
African boxthorn (commonly known as boxthorn) is a widespread weed in regional Australia. It is considered a major problem because it invades native vegetation, alters habitat and overruns pastures and other areas. It forms dense, impenetrable thickets that exclude other plants, can provide shelter and food for feral animals such as foxes, rabbits, starlings and sparrows and reduce access for stock, native animals, people and vehicles. Its large thorns can also injure livestock and puncture vehicle tyres and several pest insect species breed in its fruit.

| Af_Boxthorn_ Bingara_LTanner.jpg | Fleshy-fruited weeds such as boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum) often appear first under trees where birds perch but it is not restricted to such areas. Photo: Les Tanner |
| Af_boxthorn_Lycium_ferocissimum_JMiles and MCampbell.jpg | African boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum) is an intricately branched shrub with large thorns. Photo: Jackie Miles and Max Campbell |

Half Australia's plants now from overseas (74kb)
The number of plant species now growing in Australia has more than doubled since European settlement in the 1780s due to new plants introduced from overseas, according to a new publication from Australian weed scientists launched today.

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| Patersons_curse.jpg | One of Australia's worst weeds, Paterson's curse (Echium plantagineum) was introduced during the mid 19th century from Mediterranean Europe as a garden plant. Credit: Jon Dodd|
| ig_lantana_andrewclarke_1_142_03.jpg | An enormous problem for the pastoral industry and a serious threat to biodiversity, lantana (Lantana camara) was introduced as a garden plant in the mid 19th century and now covers 4 million hectares in Australia including the World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics of northern Queensland, Fraser Island and the Blue Mountains, NSW. Credit: Andrew Clarke|
| Kalanchoe_thyrsiflora.jpg | Kalanchoe thyrsiflora is just one of 20,000 non-weedy foreign plants already in Australia that gardeners could choose from. This is in addition to the 11,000 native plants now cultivated. Credit: Forest & Kim Starr|
| gardenia_brighamii.jpg | Gardenia brighamii is just one of 20,000 non-weedy foreign plants already in Australia that gardeners could choose from. This is in addition to the 11,000 native plants now cultivated. Credit: Forest & Kim Starr|

Book to bump off brassica weeds launched at Dowerin (105kb)
Farmers have a new weapon for managing Australia’s worst broadleaf weed of winter cropping
systems, wild radish, which costs agriculture millions in lost production each year.

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| brassica_book_cover.jpg | The 86-page book Managing wild radish and other brassicaceous weeds in Australian cropping systems has a national focus and includes contributions from weed scientists from the Department of Agriculture and Food, WA and NSW Department of Primary Industries Credit: Weeds CRC|
| Brassica_book_fig1.23_AikCheam.jpg | With the widespread and rapid development of herbicide resistance, especially in WA, the management of wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) - seen here infesting a lupin crop - has become increasingly complex Credit: Aik Cheam|
| Brassica_book_fig1.28_C Hollaway.jpg | In addition to wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), the book provides options for managing other brassicaceous weeds including charlock (Sinapis arvensis), turnip weed (Rapistrum rugosum) and muskweed (Myagrum perfoliatum), seen here Credit: C. Hollaway|
| Brassica_book_fig4.3_P.Maloney.jpg | The book reveals that the embryo is the key to controlling seed-set in brassicaceous weeds Credit: P. Maloney|
| Brassica_book_fig4.4_AikCheam.jpg | Management tactics such as blanket weed wiping (seen here) are presented within an integrated weed management framework that focuses on the various parts of the weed lifecycle and keeps the pressure on the weed seedbank. Credit: Aik Cheam|

Scientists make urgent appeal as Australia records its 3rd glyphosate-resistant weed (80kb)
Leading weed scientists are urgently appealing to Australia's farmers to switch to an integrated weed management (IWM) system as the country records its third glyphosate-resistant weed.

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| liverseed_grass_andrewstorrie.jpg | Australia's second glyphosate-resistant weed; glyphosate resistance was earlier this year confirmed in a population of liverseed grass (Urochloa panicoides ) in northern NSW. Credit: Andrew Storrie|
| awnless barnyard grass_photo andrew storrie.jpg | Australia's second glyphosate-resistant weed; glyphosate resistance was earlier this year confirmed in a population of awnless barnyard grass (Echinochloa colona) in northern NSW. Credit: Andrew Storrie|
| sorghum crop_photo weeds crc.jpg | Uncontrolled summer grass weeds like barnyard and liverseed grasses can reduce sorghum yields by 25-40 per cent. Credit: Weeds CRC|
| steve walker_photo weeds crc.jpg | The key to getting on top of barnyard and liverseed grasses is to attack all parts of the weed lifecycle and keep the pressure on weed seedbanks, says Dr Steve Walker (Weeds CRC/Qld DPI&F) Credit: Andrew Storrie |
| iwm manual cover.jpg | The Weeds CRC’s Integrated Weed Management manual provides Australia's farmers with the tools and advice for effectively managing herbicide resistant weeds. Credit: Weeds CRC|

'Weeds in waiting' meet their nemesis (64kb)
The number of plant species now growing in Australia has more than doubled since European settlement in the 1780s, largely due to new plants introduced for gardeners, according to a new publication from Australia’s weed scientists.

Images available for download
| Patersons_curse.jpg | One of Australia's worst weeds, Paterson's curse (Echium plantagineum) was introduced during the mid 19th century from Mediterranean Europe as a garden plant. Credit: Jon Dodd|
| ig_lantana_andrewclarke_1_142_03.jpg | An enormous problem for the pastoral industry and a serious threat to biodiversity, lantana (Lantana camara) was introduced as a garden plant in the mid 19th century and now covers 4 million hectares in Australia including the World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics of northern Queensland, Fraser Island and the Blue Mountains, NSW. Credit: Andrew Clarke|
| Kalanchoe_thyrsiflora.jpg | Kalanchoe thyrsiflora is just one of 20,000 non-weedy foreign plants already in Australia that gardeners could choose from. This is in addition to the 11,000 native plants now cultivated. Credit: Forest & Kim Starr|
| gardenia_brighamii.jpg | Gardenia brighamii is just one of 20,000 non-weedy foreign plants already in Australia that gardeners could choose from. This is in addition to the 11,000 native plants now cultivated. Credit: Forest & Kim Starr|

New Weeds CRC website: 'drop a dot' (57kb)
Users of the CRC for Australian Weed Management’s (Weeds CRC) website will need to ‘drop a dot’ from the web address from Monday June 30.

Scientists welcome plans for new weed research centre (66kb)
Australian weed researchers today welcomed the announcement by the federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Hon. Tony Burke, that the government would establish a new national weed research centre.

Images available for download
| ig_morningglory_jeanettenobes.jpg | Parts of Queensland's Sunshine Coast (seen here) are drowning in blue morning glory (Ipomoea indica) and some areas are considered unrecoverable. Credit: Jeanette Nobes|
| ig_cytisusscoparius_1_107_03_.jpg | The yellow flowering understorey seen here in the World Heritage-listed Barrington Tops National Park, NSW is not a native Australian wattle but Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), an invasive weed which infests some 200,000 hectares of Australia, largely in the south-east. Credit: Mel Schroeder|
| ig_rubbervine_colinwilson_1_513_87.jpg | Rubber vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora) infests over 700,000 hectares of tropical and sub-tropical Queensland where it threatens waterways, woodlands and rainforests, including significant conservation areas such as the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and Cape York. Credit: Colin Wilson|
| ig_salvinia_1_355_05_.jpg | Seen here during a 2005 outbreak on the Hawkesbury River, NSW salvinia (Salvinia molesta) is now a major aquatic weed, widespread on the east coast of Australia and it is predicted to spread under climate change. Credit: Rebecca Coventry|

Queensland Government “bites the bullet” and bans gamba grass (68kb)
The decision today by the Queensland Government to officially declare African gamba grass a weed is a correct and courageous decision, taken in the face of sectoral interests lobbying for continued use of this plant.

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See images under the press release below.

Scientists call for banning of dangerous grass in northern Australia (97kb)
Almost 200 ecologists and weed scientists have signed an open letter calling on the Queensland and Northern Territory Governments to ban the planting and sale of gamba grass, a dangerous exotic grass that fuels fires of such ferocity they could transform Australia’s northern savannas into weed monocultures.

Images available for download
| mr_gamba_1_877_08.jpg | Gamba grass (Andropogon gayanus) was recently banned in Western Australia after it failed a weed risk assessment; the Queensland and Northern Territory governments are urged to follow suit Credit: Samantha Setterfield, Charles Darwin University |
| mr_gambagrass_1_370_05.JPG | After fire, gamba grass recovers more quickly than native grasses. Credit: Samantha Setterfield, Charles Darwin University |
| bushfire nt.jpg | The 4m-tall African gamba grassfuels fires so hot that even normally fire-resistant eucalypts are killed and it poses a real danger to human lives, particularly firefighters. Credit: Samantha Setterfield, Charles Darwin University |
| mr_gamba_1_878_08.jpg | Gamba grass is still being promoted and planted as pasture for cattle in Australia's tropics Credit: Michael Douglas, Charles Darwin University
| mr_gamba wet season.jpg | Gamba grass in the wet season. Credit: Natalie Rossiter-Rachor, Charles Darwin University

Drive down ryegrass (and resistance) with non-crop phase (72kb)
Introducing a three-year, non-crop phase can drive down annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) seedbanks, giving farmers a handle on herbicide-resistant populations and allowing a return to consecutive cropping, new Weeds CRC research has revealed.

Images available for download
| David Ferris_photo Sally Vidler.JPG | According to Dr David Ferris (Weeds CRC/WA Department of Agriculture and Food), introducing a non-crop phase provides an array of weed control methods, many of them non-chemical, to help drive down weed seedbanks and reduce the number of weeds in the paddock before sowing. Credit: Sally Vidler |
| glyphosate resistant annual ryegrass in wheat_photo andrew storrie.jpg | A farmer surveys herbicide-resistant annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) in his wheat. Annual ryegrass pollen can drift for several kilometres on the wind. Credit: Andrew Storrie|
| green manuring_photo Clinton Revell.jpg | Exploring the impact of green manuring on weed seedbank losses Credit: Clinton Revell|

Cyclones, fire, drought and flood - weeds love 'em! (83kb)
Drought, flood and fire may be the ruin of rural life, and cyclones the curse of coastal land and other low-lying communities, but if you’re a weed you love ‘em, says Dr Rachel McFadyen, CEO of the Weeds CRC.

Images available for download
| bushfire nt.jpg | The 4m-tall African gamba grass (Andropogon gayanus) fuels fires so hot that even normally fire-resistant eucalypts are killed. Native eucalypt woodlands, with their many animals and birds, are changed into a pure stand of gamba grass with much lower biodiversity. Credit: Sue Lamb, Bushfires NT |
| mr_mimosa_1_602_05.jpg | Mimosa (Mimosa pigra) got out of hand when seed was spread over the flood plain of the Adelaide River during major floods in the 1970s. Today it threatens large parts of the Northern Territory including World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park. Credit: Colin Wilson|
| cyclone_4_459_06.JPG | In the tropics, cyclones often break open the canopy of a forest and let in new light to the normally dim floor, providing perfect conditions for the germination of any weed seeds that may be lying dormant. Credit: Qld DNRM&W South Johnstone|
| imports_parthenium_hysterophorus.jpg | When the drought-breaking rains come, drought-tolerant weeds like parthenium (Parthernium hysterophorus) invade bare ground and grab all the moisture from desirable pasture grasses and native species. Credit: Wikimedia |
| cabomba_1_273_03.jpg | Floods spell disaster for weeds like cabomba which spread by water. Credit: Abyss Diving Pty Ltd |

Weed control without hurting your hip pocket (63kb)
The price of glyphosate might be on the rise in Australia – and cases of herbicide resistance too – but that doesn’t mean your weed numbers should be.

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| andrew storrie.jpg | If you’re faced with forking out more for your glyphosate this summer, consider investing the money in developing an integrated weed management program instead, says Technical Specialist, Mr Andrew Storrie (Weeds CRC/NSW Department of Primary Industries.|
| iwm manual cover.jpg | The Weeds CRC’s Integrated Weed Management manual provides Australia's farmers with the tools and advice for effectively managing herbicide resistant weeds. Credit: Weeds CRC|
| iwm_chaff cart_frank demden.jpg (919kb) | The integrated weed management (IWM) manual recommends over 30 tactics for tackling weeds including the use of a chaff cart at harvest to collect weed seeds and prevent them from entering the seedbank. Credit: Frank D'Emden |
| glyphosate resistant annual ryegrass in wheat_photo andrew storrie.jpg | A farmer surveys glyphosate-resistant annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) (dark patches) in his wheat. Credit: Andrew Storrie|

Avoid glyphosate resistance with sustained attack on summer grass weeds (77kb)
The heavy rains in parts of the northern grain region should sharpen the focus of growers on the early control of summer weeds', says Dr Steve Walker of the Weeds CRC and Qld DPIF.
In particular, says Dr Walker, the key to getting on top of barnyard and liverseed grasses is to attack all parts of the weed lifecycle and keep the pressure on weed seedbanks.

Images available for download
| steve walker_photo weeds crc.jpg | The key to getting on top of barnyard and liverseed grasses is to attack all parts of the weed lifecycle and keep the pressure on weed seedbanks, says Dr Steve Walker (Weeds CRC/Qld DPI&F) Credit: Andrew Storrie |
| sorghum crop_photo weeds crc.jpg | Uncontrolled summer grass weeds like barnyard and liverseed grasses can reduce sorghum yields by 25-40 per cent. Credit: Weeds CRC|
| awnless barnyard grass_photo andrew storrie.jpg | Australia's second glyphosate-resistant weed; glyphosate resistance was earlier this year confirmed in a population of awnless barnyard grass (Echinochloa colona) in northern NSW. Credit: Andrew Storrie|
| iwm manual cover.jpg | The Weeds CRC’s Integrated Weed Management manual provides Australia's farmers with the tools and advice for effectively managing herbicide resistant weeds. Credit: Weeds CRC|