Water weeds matted across a pond. Text reads, 'An important aspect of our research is biological control of invasive weeds'.

Capability

 
  • Tractor sowing crops.
    Farm management

    CSIRO conducts farming research throughout Australia, working with producers and farming groups to trial and evaluate new ideas and techniques.

  • Tuft of buffel grass.
    Invasive species in the rangelands and savannas

    Invasive plants and animals (including invertebrates) are now the second biggest threat to national biodiversity after habitat loss

  • An adult of the striking red and black beetle Deuterocampta quadrijuga.
    Managing insect pests and weeds

    CSIRO has a history of biological control successes and our scientists are using their expertise to find more natural enemies of introduced weeds and insect pests.

  • Musterers on horse back with a cattle herd in northern Australia
    Sustainable rangelands and savannas

    Sustainable mananagement and habitation of 'Outback' and 'Top End' Australia is an important goal which CSIRO researchers working in arid rangelands and tropical savanna environments are addressing.

Overview

 
  • An adult of the striking red and black beetle Deuterocampta quadrijuga.
    Biological control of weeds

    CSIRO has been working on the biological control of weeds since the 1920s and now has many active biological control projects underway for Australian weeds which cause problems in natural, pastoral and agricultural ecosystems.

  • Mating adults of the stem-mining moth, Carmenta mimosa.
    Biological control: choosing the best potential agent

    Choosing the best potential agent is one step in the biological control process and involves research to find the best candidate for controlling a selected weed species in Australia.

  • Aerial photo of an infestation of mimosa in the Northern Territory, Australia.
    Biological control: choosing the target weed

    Not all weeds are suitable for biological control. Priority target species are usually identified as those weeds that cause significant damage to both agricultural and natural ecosystems on a national scale.

  • Scientist Paul Yeoh using a microscope to examine a biological control agent for the weed Emex.
    Biological control: host specificity testing

    Host specificity testing is a regulatory requirement and a key tool for assessing whether a candidate agent for biological control is safe to release into a new environment.

  • Scientist Joel Armstrong kneeling on ground evaluating the development and spread of the bridal creeper rust fungus.
    Biological control: mass-rearing, release and evaluation

    Once an agent has been approved for release in Australia the next step in the weed biological control process involves mass-rearing, release and evaluation.

  • Scientist, Ricardo Segura from the CSIRO Mexican field station conducting a survey in the field.
    Biological control: native-range surveying

    Native-range surveying is one step in the biological control process and involves searching for natural enemies of a particular weed species from the weeds native home range.

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