Plant Sciences Commons^™

Monitoring Western Australia's Rangelands, Ron Hacker, David Beurle, George Gardiner

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Rangelands, native pastures used for grazing domestic livestock, occupy about 100 million hectares or 40 per cent of Western Australia, extending from the tropical grasslands of the Kimberley to the arid shrub steppe of the Nullarbor Plain.

The rangelands are characterized by highly variable seasonal conditions. Carrying capacity can fluctuate dramatically from year to year. Grazing management requires a tactical approach from one season to the next because of the great variation in the capacity of the land to support stock.

Rangeland monitoring provides pastoralists with objective information on these changes to assist their management decision making. The Western Australian …

Biological Control Of Doublegee, Dane Panetta

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Doublegee (Emex australis) is one of the worst agricultural weeds in Western Australia. To date, however, biological control of this weed has proved elusive. Multiple releases of two weevils which attack doublegee have not led to insect establishment. For one of these species, further research has shown that doublegee control would probably not be achieved in the wheatbelt even if insect establishment were enhanced by growing its host during the summer months. A joint Western Australian Department of Agriculture/ CSIRO project is investigating the virulence and host specificity of an undescribed South African species o/Phomopsis fungus. Should this pathogen prove …