Project No. PRJ-007053 Genetic, reproductive and demographic facilitation of Sagittaria invasion

[摘要] Aquatic weeds are a major threat to irrigated agricultural productivity, impeding infrastructure andaltering water availability and quality. Native biodiversity assets are also impacted by aquaticinvaders and can act as dispersal sources into new regions. Sagittaria is an aggressive invader acrossAustralia with three species, S. platyphylla, S. montevidensis and S. calycina, now established in moststates. This broad distribution indicates that Sagittaria eradication is no longer feasible and that new approaches are required. Biological control is a feasible option for Sagittaria with a recent AWRC fundedproject identifying that seed are the major dispersal unit for Sagittaria platyphylla, representing a major life cycle leverage point for biocontrol management (Broadhurst and Chong 2010). However, while identifying biological agents targeting seed production is a critical step towards Sagittaria control, the success of such a strategy requires information from three different sources: 1. Genetic – to determine whether Australian Sagittaria populations contain genotypes thatare not recognised by biological agents, 2. Reproductive – to understand the strategies involved inthe annual production of large seed volumes, and, 3. Demographic – to identify biological control agents and understand their impacts on Sagittaria in an Australian context. This project will integrate national and international research expertise from four institutions (CSIRO, La Trobe University, DPI Victoria and US Army Corps of Engineers) to generate this critical information on Sagittaria biology. This research will underpin the development of biological control agents that will reduce herbicide reliance and provide effective landscape-level management of this aggressive aquatic weed.

[发布日期] 2012-06-04 [发布机构] CSIRO

[学科分类] 地球科学(综合)