Life Sciences Commons^™

Weeds : A Curse For Native Plants In Farm Woodlands, Max Abensperg-Traun

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

Weeds have a mJOR IMPct on native Australian plants, particularly in the tropical north and the agricultural regions of southern Australia.

Maz Abensperg-Traun, and his clooeagues from the CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology, explainthe effects of weed invasion on the diversity of native herbaceous plants in faarm woodlands in the centeral wheatbelt of south-west Western Australia.

Virulent Footrot : Mild Or Severe?, Laurie Depiazzi

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

The footrot eradication scheme in Western Australia has resulted in a low prevalence of severe footrot.

To appreciate the achievement, we need to understand what exactly is being eradicated. 'S' strains of Dichelorbacter nodosus, the infectious bacterium of footrot, are the target of footrot eradication. Laurie Depiazzi examines the basis for eradicating 'S' strains.

Australian Genetic Resources Of Trifolium And Ornithopus Species, Richard Snowball, Kevin Foster, Bill Collins

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

The introduction of improved pasture legumes into the cereal growing areas of southern Australia changed the face of our agricultural systems.

Subterranean clover was the first pasture legume to have a major impact, and the first varieties were available commercially in the 1930s. Since then, many varieties have been released, leading to the most recent release of Denmark, Gou/bum and Leura in 1992.

The development of burr, barrel and murex medics also had an impact on the pasture production of less acid heavy soils. Yellow serradella is still being developed for the more acid sandy soils.

This development of improved …

Test Detects Resistant Green Peach Aphids In Lupins, Francoise Berlandier, Ian Dadour

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

Confirmation of insecticide resistance in green peach aphid in Western Australia's lupin crops means farmers will have to choose insecticides much more carefully to control this pest. Resistance within an aphid population varies, and when resistant aphids are no longer exposed to insecticides, they may revert back to being susceptible in as little as one generation. Furthermore, when these revertant populations are exposed to the same insecticides in the future, resistance quickly reoccurs. In this article, the authors discuss a test to determine the extent of insecticide resistance in green peach aphid and how to manage it.

On The Trail Of The Native Budworm, Kevin Walden

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

Native budworm, the worst pest of lupins, is a bit of a uiill-o-the-unsp. Some years the native budworm moths go virtually unnoticed. In others, they appear in plague proportions without warning - in these years, the cost to growers in lost yield runs into millions of dollars.

If an early warning system can be developed to predict the extent of moth flights into lupin crops, and this seems possible, major crop losses could be averted.

The Department of Agriculture has started research to develop a system of predicting the size of spring flights of native budworm moth. We need to …

Wildlife Corridors In The Wheatbelt, Richard Hobbs, Denis Saunders

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

Native vegetation in the Western Australian wheatbelt now persists mostly in small areas that remained uncleared for various reasons. (See 'Remnant vegetation on farms is a valuable resource' on page 43.) On their own, most of these remnant areas are difficult to manage, and too small to retain viable populations of many of the birds and other animals found in the wheatbelt. These patches of vegetation can be linked by wildlife corridors, which may increase the ability of the wildlife to move about and persist in the area

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 Paterson's Curse, John Dodd, Bill Woods

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

The long- delayed biological control programme for the weed Paterson's curse (Echium plantagineum) has begun with the release of the leaf mining moth (Dialectica scalariella)' an insect slightly bigger than a mosquito. Yhe caterpillar stage of the moth feeds inside the leaves, producing tunnels and chambers which damage the leaf.

The leaf mining moth has already become established in suitable areas. Although the familiar purple haze of Paterson's curse will continue to be seen for years to come, we expect that the leaf mining moth - and other agents yet to be released - will make it a more manageable …

Reproductive Wastage In Sheep, R W. Kelly

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

The average lambing performance of Western Australia's ewe flock fluctuates between 60 and 70 per cent. Although this level of performance and variation between years is important for the sheep industry, individual farmers are more concerned about performance of their own flocks.

Figure shows the range in lambing performances that exist between farms in this State in 1983-84. The seriously poor performance of many flocks is apparentm - 28 percent of farms had less than 60 per cent lambing. By contrast, 24 farms had performances better than 100 per cent. The reasons for the large differences between farms ( and …

A Survey Of Drench Resistance In Sheep Worms, J R. Edwards, R. Wroth, G. C. De Chaneet, R. B. Besier, J. Karlsson, P. W. Morcombe, D. Roberts, G. Dalton-Morgan

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

Sheep worms which are resistant to chemical drenches have been detected with increasing freuency is Western Australia's south-western farming areas between 977 and 1980. These worms have anthelmintic resistance and such genetis resistance puts essential internal parasite control practices at risk.

This prompted veterinarians in the Esperance, Albany, Bunbury, Geraldton and Northam areas to survey farms to determine the prevalence of resistance to drenches and to define those sheep management practices which encourage its development.

This article describes the survey which was conducted to assess the extent of drench resistance, what causes its build-up and how it can be controlled …

A Closer Look At Parrots As Pests, John L. Long

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

Small parrots have been attacking fruit and grain crops in the south of Western Australia at least since agriculture expanded into their native habitats in the early 1900s. The parrots are capable of quickly adapting to new situations so it is not surprising that they have eaten crops.

It is not known whether parrot numbers have increased since European settlement began, but this appears likely. The present landscape of islands of uncleared country interspersed with areas of agriculture appears to favour the survival of the red-capped parrot, western rosella and the Port Lincoln parrot. These species were investigated during a …

The Secretive Silvereyes, I J. Rooke

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

Durinf the past five years the agricultural Protection Board, in co-operation with scientists from CSIRO's Division of Wildlife Research and the University of Western Australia, had studied the biology and control of the silvereye in the South-West of Western Asustralia. The project was partially funded by a voluntary levy on vignerons in the Margaret River and Mt Barker areas.

The first part of the study investigated the bird's bioloogy - its food requirements, reproductive rate, how it interacted with other birds and its seasonal movements, It was hoped that this knowledge would help develop effective techniques for either controlling the …

Dingoes And Sheep In Pastoral Areas, P C. Thomson

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

Since 1975, a long-term study of dingoes in the Fortescue River area of northern Western Australia has sought to provide the detailed information necessary to devise efficient dingo management strategies.

Dingoes have been fitted with radio-transmitter collars, then tracked and observed from a specially equipped aircraft. Their movements, breeding, hunting and social behaviour have been monitered in the rugged, spinifex-covered ironstone terrain which represents typicaldingo refuge country, and in neighbouring sheep country.

Although the pastoral and agricultural industry have long recognised the need to control dingoes to protect livestock, particularily sheep, there is little published evidence about the type of …

Rabbits North Of Carnarvon, D R. King

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

In Westeern Australia rabbits are mainly a pest along the south-western coastal parts of the State, but there are populations north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Rabbits after crossing the Nullarbour plain from South Australia and colonising the South-West of the State, were reported to have reached the west coast near Geraldton by 1912 and then spread northwards.

There is little information on the biologhy of rabbits in the northan parts of their range, but pastoralists in some areas are concerned about erosion and damage to vegetation on their stations when rabbits reach high numbers.

The Agricultural Protection Board undertook …

Tackling The Problem Off The Farm, C M. Croft

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

Methods of redusing phosphorus losses from the catchment soils of the Peel-Harvey esturine system have been discussed in other articles in this Journal.

This article briefly discusses a range of 'off the farm' techniques to improve phosphorus flushing from Peel Inlet or Harvey Estuary to the sea and to treat the phosphorus and the algae. These techniques were among more than 100 management options evaluated by the Peel-Harvey Study Group.

Skeleton Weed : How Serious A Threat In Western Australia?, F D. Panetta, J. Dodd

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

Skeleton weed is probably the most serious weed ever to threaten the Australian wheat industry. It interferes with wheat cropping at two stages: through competition with the growing crop, particularly for nitrogen and water during the crop's development: and later through the production of a tall, wiry flowering stem which tangles in harvesting machinery and can make harvesting difficult, if not impossible.

The weed is a major problem in eastern Australia although a combination of cultural, chemical and biological control programmes is helping to reduce its impact.

In Western Australia, skeleton weed is being contained mainly by eradication efforts. Weed …

Rabbit Kitten Survival In The South-West, D R. King

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

In the South-West of Western Australis reliable winter rains allow the rabbit breeding season to extend through winter and spring, and thus a large number of kittens are produced each year.

Studies on the biology of rabbits at Cape Naturaliste (270 kilometres south-west of Perth) and Chidlow (40 kilometres east of Perth in the Datling Range) have shown that at these sites each doe produces about 30 and 27 kittens respectively a year. If all these youg rabbits survived, there would be a 15-fold increase in numbers. Within a short time the State would be covered "wall to wall" by …

Preventing Vineyard Damage By Silvereyes, I J. Rooke

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

In the previous article, Dr I Rooke outlined the studies which helped to devise practical ways of controlling attacks by silvereyes on vineyards in the South-West of Western Australia. The preventative methods vignerons can use are discussed here.

Keeping Starlings Out Of W.A, John L. Long

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

In Europe and North America huge flocks of starlings cause millions of dollars worth of damage to grain and fruit crops each year and large sums of money are spent trying to control them.

Starlings were introduced into australia in the late 1890s when more than 200 birds were released near Melbourne. They are now well established over much of eastern Australia, ranging from central Queensland, south to Tasmania and along the Great Australian Bight to the South Australian-Western Australian border, occasionally crossing it and sometimes moving as far west as the Esperance region on the south coast.

Some people …

Algal Growth And The Phosphorus Cycle, Arthur J. Mccomb, K. S. Hamel, A. L. Huber, D. K. Kidby, R. J. Lukatelich

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

Larger algae and microscopic phytoplankton foul the waters of the Peel-Harvey estuarine system, upsetting the fishery and polluting the beaches.

These aquatic plants grow in response to phosphorus runoff from drainage, trapping phosphorus in the estuary and using it in their growth. When they die this phosphorus remains in the system to be recycled for further plant growth.

Algal pollution in the estuary can be lessened by reducing the amount of phosphorus entering the system, increasing phosphorus losses to the ocean, or in some way blocking the trapping and recycling processes.

Research Objectives In Vertebrate Pest Control, A J. Oliver

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

The European rabbit, introduced into Australia in 856 by an early settler for hunting, caused massive losses to agricultural production in Western Australia in 1940s and 1950s.

In those years most of the country's recources and efforts allocated to vertebrate pest problems were aimed at controlling this animal.

Research and control measures by Commonwealth and State agencies, including the introduction of myxomatosis, were largely responsible for reducing the rabbit problem to the comparatively minor one it is now.

Today, the Agricultural Protection Board is involved in the control of a much wider range of mammals and birds which cause losses …

1080 : A Selective Poison For Pests, D R. King

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

Since the 1960s, the control programmes for rabbits and dingoes in Western Australia have relied heavily on the use of sodium monofluoroacetate, more commonly known as compound 1080. Large quantaties are used each year as it is a valuable substance for the control of vertebrate pests.

Once in the animal's body 1080 is converted to fluorocitrate, a poison which is highly toxic to most mammals. Fluorocitrate blocks the Krebs cycle, a fundamental pathway of energy exchange in animals and plants. The animal dies as a result of damage to the heart, or to the brain and central nervous system, or …

Sand Dune Project Stabilises Erosion, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

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

Read how the Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service and the Department of Conservation and Environment worked with the Rockingham Shire to upgrade the road and protect the sand dunes.

New Dung Beetles At Work In Western Australia, T J. Ridsdill-Smith

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

Two kinds od dung beetles are active in the agricultural areas of Western australia. In one group are the native beetles which are mainly active in winter, and in the other group are beetles introduced from overseas. The introduced beetles are mainly active in summer and have already produced some spectacular results

Learning To Live With Spotted Alfalfa Aphid, M Grimm

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

The spotted alfalfa aphid which can devastate lucerne crops and perhaps also medic pastures, has been established in Western Australia since early 1978. However several methods of control are being developed, which could allow continued production of lucerne.

The Place For Annual Brome Grass, G W. Anderson

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

Grasses in the anual pastures of southern Australia are particularly important early in the growing season.

The main grass sown, has been annual rygrass, but concerns are emerging with 'annual ryegrass toxicity' and and 'in crop' competition.

This work looks at the role of annual brome grass in pastures.

Green Lemons Safe From Fruit Fly, A N. Sproul

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

Importers' demands for fruit imports to be free of local pests places great restrictions on the movement of fruit between States, between countries, and sometimes within a State.

In Western Australia a Fresh Fruit Disinfestation Committee was formed in 1969 to direct State research aimed at developing techniques for post-harvest fruit sterilsation Programmes are supported by State and Federal funds and, in W.A., have provided staff and facilities to work on Mediterranean fruit fly. Parallel work with Queensland fruit fly and codlin moth is being done in New South Wales and Victoria.

Lupin Split Seed : A Disorder Of Seed Production In Sweet, Narrow-Leafed Lupins, M W. Perry, J. W. Gartrell

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

Commercial seed production from narrow-leafed lupins (Lupinus angustifolius L.) began in Western Australia in 1967, based on the newly-bred low alkaloid cultivar Uniwhite. The release of improved cultivars has led to the crop's wide acceptance and more than 100 000 ha were sown to sweet lupins in 1975.

With the greater area and wider range of soil types devoted to lupins, a developmental abnormality of the seeds, which became known as "split seed", was observed in some situations.

Emus On The Move : 1976, Michael T. Sexton

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

The greatest migration of emus in recent times came out of the ZMurchison and Gascoyne pastoral areas during the winter of 1976. The emus were driven south-westerly by an instinctive search for food.

The Agriculture Protection Board's barrier fences stoped the wave of emus on the fringes of the wheatbelt, causing a congregation estimated in mid June to total 50,000 birds.

This article reviews the reason behind the emu migration and the policies employed to deal with such a situation.

The Control Of Annual Ryegrass, Geoffrey A. Pearce, J. E. Holmes

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

A valuable pasture plant - one of the worst weeds if cereal crops - host to a potent animal disease toxin.....annual ryegrass is the subject of intensive studies by the Department of Agriculture.

This article reviews current research into the control of annual ryegrass in crops.