Program 6 is divided into two components: Invasive pests in
the Great Barrier Reef (Project 2.6.1) and Invasive pests
in Wet Tropics rainforest and adjoining catchments (Project
2.6.2).
Understanding threats and impacts of
invasive pests in the Great Barrier Reef
Program Leader: Dr David Blair, James Cook
University
The Great Barrier Reef is a multiple use marine park where
shipping, coastal development and an expanding aquaculture industry
present potential risks to local biodiversity through the import of
invasive species (e.g. the Asian green mussel) and/or aquatic
pollution.
This marine program will report on the
current and potential risks of invasive marine toxic dinoflagellate
species in the Great Barrier Reef. This project will also
contribute to the development of capacity in this important area of
research through the conduct of a doctoral project at James Cook
University.
Identification
and impact of invasive pests in the Wet Tropics rainforests
Program Leader: Dr David Westcott, CSIRO
Sustainable Ecosystems
New or imminent incursions of invasive
terrestrial pests require immediate management action without the
luxury of data collection in the field. First responses to
incursions are crucial yet are most effective if based on some
knowledge of the invading species, in particular knowing how fast
and how far an invasive can spread is fundamental to first response
as it can set search areas and locations of risk.
This program will build on and refine a rapid
response strategy to incursion by detailing ecological dispersal
traits (e.g. introduction history, distribution, abundance,
taxonomy, population parameters, reproduction, environmental
tolerances, habitat preferences, movement, feeding habits), and a
statement of current or potential impact of native and exotic
species. These functional classifications of traits that
influence the invasive spread potential of pre-emergent or new
invasives will allow for data-based predictions of likely dispersal
characteristics to be developed. This will be done for
vertebrate-dispersed plants and fish. Gaps in knowledge of
invasives have been identified in previous years which will now be
used to guide research in the current and future years. The
resulting classifications of invasives will allow managers to
assign pre-emergent or new species to risk categories based on the
spread characteristics of similar species already in Australia and
to develop management response strategies based on these
classifications.
To enable the program to build on current
invasive research the rainforests program will:
-
Continue to focus on species identified of key concern in
workshops and stakeholder assessment. Detailed surveys appropriate
to the taxa will be broadened in a regional context and will be
used to build on data detailing distribution. At a species
level, functional classification of invasive plants that includes
dispersal, recruitment niche and life history will be completed at
both a species level and at a community and landscape level. This
will assist in identification of invasive 'hotspots' and of
critical landscape features for invasive spread within
landscapes.
-
Test and refine isotropic models of population spread through
rainforest landscapes to allow assessment of the potential outcomes
of management effort. Understanding how invasives move
through landscapes enables prediction of patterns and rates of
invasion and the opportunity to target management investment at
times or in places where it will be most effective. This
sub-project will i) test the process-based framework for predicting
the pattern and rate of invasive spread and will use this model to
ii) produce and test modelling tools that will enable prediction of
invasions in real landscapes and the assessment of alternative
management options.
This program is closely linked to Program 2
Status and Trends of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services,
Threatened Species and Communities projects and the Climate Change
Impacts Program with the terrestrial invasives data coming from the
biodiversity surveys being conducted as part of these
projects. To document the landscape features that influence
biological invasions of rainforest landscapes, the Program will
continue to utilise GIS modelling to overlay distribution of
invasives in, and landscape features of rainforest landscapes, e.g.
roadsides, fragments etc. These data sets will be integrated into
the e-Atlas which will enable managers and industry to access
spatially explicit information on the status and trends of the Wet
Tropics through a single data repository.
Program 6 involves two Projects:
Project 2.6.1
- Understanding threats and impacts of invasive pests on the Great
Barrier Reef
Project 2.6.2
- Identification and impact of invasive pests in Wet Tropics
rainforests
