Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Animal Production Science Animal Production Science Society
Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > AN > EA04049
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 44(12)

Salinity mitigation versus weed risks — can conflicts of interest in introducing new plants be resolved?

S. J. Bennett A C and J. G. Virtue B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

B CRC for Australian Weed Management, Animal and Plant Control Commission, Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, GPO Box 2834, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: sarita@cyllene.uwa.edu.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 44(12) 1141-1156 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA04049
Submitted: 18 March 2003  Accepted: 14 July 2004   Published: 24 January 2005

Abstract

Southern Australia’s annual-based agricultural system has come at a large cost to the landscape. Dryland salinity is a rapidly expanding environmental problem that is reducing the amount of land available for agriculture, and causing a significant ecological cost to remnant and riparian vegetation. There is an urgent need to increase the area of the landscape that is sown to deep-rooted herbaceous perennials to reduce the increase in dryland salinity, and for their successful adoption by landowners it is recognised that these perennials must be economically viable. Australian perennials are unlikely to provide such options in the short term and therefore there is a need to search for species overseas. Many agricultural weeds have arisen as a direct result of deliberately introduced species escaping cultivation and naturalising in the Australian environment. They cause a huge cost to agriculture in terms of both lost production and control. There is also a cost to natural ecosystems as a result of lost biodiversity and weed management. A conflict of interest thus arises.

This paper follows on from a workshop held between the CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity and the CRC for Australian Weed Management. It discusses 4 key areas where potential conflict exists between the maintenance of biodiversity in natural ecosystems and the development and introduction of new herbaceous perennials. Each of the issues within pre-entry weed risk assessment, post-entry weed risk assessment, weed risk of translocating native species and field assessments of new species is discussed in detail and suggestions are given on the means to resolve the conflicts. Actions to address the recommendations are urgently required if we are going to resolve the current conflicts of interest between the need for managing present and future environmental weeds and for mitigating dryland salinity.


Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the suggestions and comments made by Dane Panetta, Rod Randall, Brian Dear, Mike Ewing and Margaret Byrne.


References


ABS  (2002) Agriculture, Australia. Land use for agriculture. (Australian Bureau of Statistics: Canberra). Available online at: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats (verified 5 January 2005).

Adair RJ (1995) The threat of environmental weeds to biodiversity in Australia: a search for solutions. In ‘Conserving biodiversity: threats and solutions’. (Eds RA Bradstock, TD Auld, DA Keith, RT Kingsford, D Lunney, DP Sivertsen) pp. 184–201. (Surrey Beatty and Sons: Chipping Norton, NSW)

Anon. (1994) Outbreaks and new records: Australia: new quarantine pest problems and other outbreaks occurring in 1993. Plant Protection Bulletin 42, 149–150. (verified 7 December 2004).

Groves RH, Hosking J (1996) ‘Recent incursions of weeds to Australia 1971–1995. Technical Series No. 3.’ (CRC for Weed Management Systems: Adelaide)

Groves RH, Hosking JR, Batianoff GN, Cooke DA, Cowie ID et al (2003) ‘Weed categories for natural and agricultural ecosystem management.’ (Bureau of Rural Sciences: Canberra)

Hatton TJ, Nulsen RA (1999) Towards achieving functional ecosystem mimicry with respect to water cycling in southern Australian agriculture. Agroforestry Systems 45, 203–214.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Henderson L (2001) ‘Alien weeds and invasive plants: a complete guide to declared weeds and invaders in South Africa.’ Plant Protection Research Institute Handbook No. 12. (Plant Protection Research Institute: Agricultural Research Council: Canberra)

Hobbs RJ (2001) Synergisms among habitat fragmentation, livestock grazing and biotic invasions in southwestern Australia. Conservation Biology 15, 1522–1528.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Hobbs RJ, Atkins L (1988) Effect of disturbance and nutrient addition on native and introduced annuals in plant communities in the Western Australian wheatbelt. Australian Journal of Ecology 13, 171–179. open url image1

Hobbs RJ, Atkins L (1991) Interactions between annuals and woody perennials in a Western Australian nature reserve. Journal of Vegetation Science 2, 643–654. open url image1

Hobbs RJ, Mooney HA (1998) Broadening the extinction debate: population deletions and additions in California and Western Australia. Conservation Biology 12, 271–283.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Humphries SE, Groves RH, Mitchell DS (1991) ‘Plant invasions of Australian ecosystems: a status review and management directions. Project no. 58.’ (Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service: Canberra)

Hussey BMJ, Keighery GJ, Cousens RD, Dodd J, Lloyd SG (1997) ‘Western weeds: a guide to the weeds of Western Australia.’ (The Plant Protection Society of Western Australia: Victoria Park)

ILDIS  (2002) International legume database and information service. Available online at: http://www.ildis.org/ (verified 7 December 2004).

Keighery G, Halse S, McKenzie N, Gibson N, Burbidge A, Gomboso J (2000) ‘Salinity: driving the catastrophic collapse out of ecosystems.’ (Department of Conservation and Land Management: Perth)

Keller M, Kollman J, Edwards PJ (2000) Genetic introgression from distant provenances reduces fitness in local weed populations. Journal of Applied Ecology 37, 647–659.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Latta RA, Blacklow LJ, Cocks PS (2001) Comparative soil water, pasture production and crop yields in phase farming systems with lucerne and annual pasture in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 52, 295–303.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Lazarides M, Cowley K, Hohnen P (1997) ‘CSIRO handbook of Australian weeds.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Leigh JH, Briggs JD (1992) ‘Threatened Australian plants: overview and case studies.’ (Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service: Canberra)

Le Maitre DC, Van Wilgen BW, Chapman RA, McKelly DH (1996) Invasive plants and water resources in the Western Cape Province, South Africa: modelling the consequences of a lack of management. Journal of Applied Ecology 33, 161–172. open url image1

Lonsdale WM (1993) Rates of spread of an invading species Mimosa pigra in northern Australia. Journal of Ecology 81, 513–521. open url image1

Lonsdale WM (1994) Inviting trouble: Introduced pasture species in northern Australia. Australian Journal of Ecology 19, 345–354. open url image1

Low T (2002) ‘The new nature: winners and losers in wild Australia.’ (Penguin Books Australia Ltd.: Melbourne)

MDBMC  (1999) ‘The salinity audit of the Murray Darling Basin — a 100-year perspective.’ (Murray Darling Basin Ministerial Council: Canberra)

Moulton MP, Pimm SL (1983) The introduced Hawaiian avifauna: biogeographic evidence for competition. American Naturalist 121, 669–690.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Mullet TL (2001) Effects of the native environmental weed Pittosporum undulatum Vent. (sweet pittosporum) on plant biodiversity. Plant Protection Quarterly 16, 117–121. open url image1

Mulvaney MJ (1991) Far from the garden path: an identikit picture of woody ornamental plants invading south-eastern Australian bushland. PhD Thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.

Muyt A (2001) ‘Bush invaders of south-east Australia.’ (RG and FJ Richardson: Meredith, Vic.)

National Research Council  ((2002) ). Evaluating predictive systems. In ‘Predicting invasions of nonindigenous plants and plants pests’. (Eds Committee on the Scientific Basis for Predicting the Invasive Potential of Nonindigenous Plants and Plant Pests in the United States) pp. 111–140. (National Academy Press: Washington)

Nichols PGH, Collins WJ, Barbetti MJ (1996) ‘Registered cultivars of subterranean clover. Their characteristics, origin and identification.’ Bulletin No. 4327. (Agriculture Western Australia: Perth)

NLWRA  (2001) ‘Australian dryland salinity assessment 2000. Extent, impacts, processes, monitoring and management options.’ (National Land and Water Resources Audit: Canberra) Available online at: http://audit.ea.gov.au/ANRA/land/docs/national/Salinity_Contents.html (verified 7 December 2004).

Pannell DJ (1999) Explaining non-adoption of practices to prevent dryland salinity in Western Australia. Implications for policy, presented at COMLAND, University of Western Australia, Perth, 21–25 September.’

Parker IM, Simberloff D, Lonsdale WM, Goodell K, Wonham M , et al. (1999) Impact: toward a framework for understanding the ecological effects of invaders. Biological Invasions 1, 3–19.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Paynter Q, Csurhes SM, Heard TA, Ireson J, Julien MH, Lloyd J, Lonsdale WM, Palmer WA, Sheppard AW, van Klinken RD (2003) Worth the risk? Introduction of legumes can cause more harm than good: an Australian perspective. Australian Systematic Botany 16, 81–88.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Pheloung PC (1995) ‘Determining the weed potential of new plant introduction to Australia. Draft report to the Australian Weeds Committee and the Plant Industries Committee.’ (Agriculture Protection Board: Perth, WA)

Pheloung PC (2001) Weed risk assessment for plant introductions to Australia. In ‘Weed risk assessment’. (Eds RH Groves, FD Panetta, JG Virtue) pp. 83–92. (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Potts BM, Barbour RC, Hingston AB, Vaillancourt RE (2003) Genetic pollution of native eucalypt gene pools — identifying the risks. Australian Journal of Botany 51, 1–25.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Robertson EL (1999) ‘Restoration of grassy woodland: Watiparinga Reserve Management Plan.’ (National Trust of South Australia: Adelaide)

Ross KA, Fox BJ, Fox MD (2002) Changes to plant species richness in forest fragments: fragment age, disturbance and fire history may be as important as area. Journal of Biogeography 29, 749–765.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Richardson DM, Pysek P, Rejmanek M, Barbour MG, Panetta FD, West CJ (2000) Naturalization and invasion of alien plants: concepts and definitions. Diversity and Distributions 6, 93–107.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Ruesink JL, Parker IM, Groom MJ, Kareiva PM (1995) Reducing the risks of nonindigenous species introductions: guilty until proven innocent. Bioscience 45, 465–477. open url image1

Shelton M, McNeill F, Dalzell S, Graham G (2001) An assessment of the weed status and management of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit in Queensland. Report provided to Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland DPI, Environmental Protection Agency, Queensland, by The University of Queensland, Brisbane.

Simberloff D, von Holle B (1999) Positive interactions of non-indigenous species: invasional meltdown? Biological Invasions 1, 21–32.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Sinden J, Jones R, Hester S, Odom D, Kalisch C, James R, Cacho O (2004) ‘The economic impact of weeds in Australia.’ (CRC for Australian Weed Management: Adelaide)

Smith KF, Kelman WM (2000) Register of Australian herbage plant cultivars. A. Grasses 18. Wheatgrass Thinopyrum ponticum (Podp.) Z.-W Liu and R.R.-C. Wang (tall wheatgrass) cv. Dundas. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 40, 119–120. open url image1

Smith CS, Lonsdale WM, Fortune J (1999) When to ignore advice: invasion predictions and decision theory. Biological Invasions 1, 89–96.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand (1999) ‘1999 Risk management. AS/NZS 4360.’ (Standards Association of Australia: Strathfield, NSW)

Steane D, Byrne M, Vaillancourt R, Potts B (1998) Complex interspecific interactions in Eucalyptus: evidence from the chloroplast. Australian Biologist 11, 39–46. open url image1

Swarbrick JT (1991) Towards a rating scheme for environmental weeds. Plant Protection Quarterly 6, 185. open url image1

Templeton AR (1986) Coadaptation and outbreeding depression. In ‘Conservation biology: the science of scarcity and diversity’. (Ed. ME Soulé) pp. 105–116. (Sinauer: Sunderland, MA)

Thorpe JR, Lynch RL (2000) ‘The determination of weeds of national significance.’ (National Weeds Strategy Executive Committee: Launceston)

Tozer MG (1997) Variation in seed dormancy in Acacia saligna: implications for invasive potential in eastern New South Wales. In ‘Proceedings of the Conference of the Ecological Society of Australia’. (Charles Sturt University: Albury)

van Wilgen BW, van der Heyden F, Zimmermann HG, Magadlela D, Willems T (2000) Big returns from small organisms: developing a strategy for the biological control of invasive alien plants in South Africa. South African Journal of Science 96, 148–152. open url image1

Vila M, Weber E, D'Antonio CM (2000) Conservation implications of invasion by plant hybridisation. Biological Invasions 2, 207–217.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Virtue JG (2002) ‘Weed assessment guide 2002.’ (Animal and Plant Control Commission: Adelaide) Available online at: http://www.dwlbc.sa.gov.au (verified 7 December 2004).

Virtue JG, Cunningham DC, Hanson CST, Hosking JR, Miller IL, Panetta FD, Pheloung PC, Randall RP, Timmins SM, Walton CS, Weiss JER, Williams PA (2005) ‘A national protocol for post-border weed risk management.’ (CRC Australian Weed Management: Adelaide and Standards Australia: Canberra) (in press).

Virtue JG, Melland RL (2003) ‘Technical report: weed risk assessment of twenty plant species used for revegetation or farm forestry in South Australia.’ (Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation: Adelaide)

Walker B, Stefan W (1997) An overview of the implications of global change for natural and managed terrestrial ecosystems. Conservation Ecology Available online at http://www.ecology andsociety.org/vol1/issw/art2/ (verified 5 Janaury 2005). 1(2), open url image1

Walton CS (2001) Implementation of a permitted list approach to plant introductions. In ‘Weed risk assessment’. (Eds RH Groves, FD Panetta, JG Virtue) pp. 93–99. (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Ward PR, Dunin FX, Micin SF (2001) Water balance of annual and perennial pastures on a duplex soil in a Mediterranean environment. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 52, 203–209.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Weiss J, McLaren D (2002) ‘Victoria’s pest plant prioritisation process. Thirteenth Australian weeds conference: papers and proceedings’. (Eds H Spafford Jacob, J Dodd, JH Moore) pp. 509–512. (Plant Protection Society of Western Australia: Perth)

Williams J (2000) ‘Managing the bush: recent research findings from the EA/LWRRDC National Remnant Vegetation R and D Program.’ National Research and Development Program on rehabilitation, management and conservation of remnant vegetation. Research Report 4/00, Native Vegetation Research and Development Program, Land and Water Australia, Canberra.

Williams PA, Nicol E, Newfield M (2001) Assessing the risk to indigenous biota of plant taxa new to New Zealand. In ‘Weed risk assessment’. (Eds RH Groves, FD Panetta, JG Virtue) pp. 100–116. (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Williamson M, Fitter A (1996) The varying success of invaders. Ecology 77, 1661–1666. open url image1