Identification and Impact of Invasive Pests in the Wet Tropics Rainforest
Project manager: Damien Burrows
Project staff: Alan Webb
Collaborators: David Westcott (CSIRO), Dan Metcalfe (CSIRO), Denise Hardesty (CSIRO), Cameron Fletcher (CSIRO), Helen Murphy (Weeds CRC / CSIRO), John Russell (QDPI&F), Kylie Galloway (QDNRM), Simon Brooks (QDNRM), Rowena Grace (Terrain NRM), Frederieke Kroon (Terrain NRM)
Funding: MTSRF
Timeline: July 2006 – June 2010
Summary:
Key Objectives:
- 1.
Assessment of research needs for management of invasives
- 2.
Frameworks and tools for predicting invasive species’ spread through rainforest landscapes
- 3.
Distribution and impacts of invasives
- 4.
Research into priorities species and those identified in objective 1
This project will focus on invasive species (including translocated native species) and will develop tools for predicting the spread of invasive species in rainforests and modified coastal landscapes, map the distribution and document the impacts of invasive species, identify priority species for detailed study, and carry out those detailed studies. This will include an analysis of end user needs and priorities as well as research currently being undertaken in the Weeds CRC, the Australasian Invasive Animals CRC and the Plant BioSecurity CRC, to identify exactly where MTSRF can get the best return on its investment in invasive species.
For the purposes of this project invasives are defined (from a European perspective) as species moved beyond their natural range and may include exotic, translocated, and pest species. The term “rainforest landscapes” is used to include terrestrial and aquatic systems and human-dominated parts of the landscape (agricultural and urban areas) as well as rainforest ecosystems.
