Invasive species

Analysis and Comment (18)

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Christmas Island is a shelter for cultural and environmental diversity. Flickr/Hadi Zaher

Unknown wonders: Christmas Island

By John Woinarski, Charles Darwin University

Australia is famous for its natural beauty: the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Kakadu, the Kimberley. But what about the places almost no one goes? We asked ecologists, biologists and wildlife researchers…
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Introduced as food for cattle, gamba grass burns in a way that threatens northern Australia’s ecosystems. AAP Image/CRC for Weed Management

Field of nightmares: gamba grass in the Top End

By Aaron Petty, Charles Darwin University

Stretching across the north from Broome to Townsville, Australia’s tropical savannas are the largest, least-degraded savannas on Earth. While fire management, pastoralism, mining, and the decline of native…
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A free-ranging (dingo-like) dog in Kakadu National Park. John Tracey

Dingoes, dogs and the feral identity

By Peter Fleming and Guy Ballard

On a stop-over in Thailand, CSIRO scientist Laurie Corbett noticed some familiar-looking, ginger dogs wandering the streets. This encounter set him thinking about the origins of Australia’s dingoes, a…
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Feral cats are a significant threat to Australian fauna species. Tim Doherty / ECU

Feral felines: managing their impact on native fauna

By Tim Doherty

Australian fauna have suffered serious declines since European settlement, with small- and medium-sized mammals being the worst affected. Feral cats depredate native birds, mammals and reptiles and are…
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The red fox is significantly implicated in wiping out native mammals, but there are some promising methods for reducing its impact. Harley Kingston

Is it too late to bring the red fox under control?

By Christopher Johnson, University of Tasmania

The red fox may be the most destructive species ever introduced to Australia. For a start, it carries most of the blame for Australia’s appalling record of recent mammal extinctions. Since European settlement…
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Fair game: Is the deer a pest or good hunting? black_lava/Flickr

The protected pest: deer in Australia

By Rohan Bilney, Deakin University

Deer are arguably the most charismatic of Australia’s invasive species. Long considered a welcome addition to the Australian environment, primarily as a highly valued hunting resource, deer populations…
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Australia’s best known pest. AAP Image/Dave Hunt

The toad we love to hate

By Ben Phillips, James Cook University

For some unfathomable reason, cane toads stir the popular imagination. Most invasive species are simply not noticed by most of us, or, if they are, they are quickly assimilated into our mental landscape…
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The Indian Myna is an invasive species – but has its behaviour changed in Australia? Wikimedia Commons.

Besieged by destructive plants and animals? Blame epigenetics

By Lynn B. Martin, University of South Florida and Christina Richards, University of South Florida

Plants and animals that are seemingly harmless in their native habitats can become quite aggressive or even destructive in a new location. Think of the rats that have been a source of human and animal…
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One of the worst Christmas presents Australia has had. Richard Taylor

Rabbits and biological control: two unexpected Christmas presents

By Brian Cooke, University of Canberra

Domesticated rabbits arrived in Australia with the first fleet and some became established as feral populations around colonial settlements as early as the 1830s. However, the situation changed dramatically…
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Starlings were introduced to Australia by humans, but does that matter? Simon Evans

In defence of invasive alien species

By Alexis Harley, La Trobe University

My cat caught a starling this week. By the time I intervened, the poor bird’s leg was broken, the kitchen floor was strewn with feathers, and I had to make one of those awful decisions. Was I to leave…
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Native or not? Red cabbage palms found in Palm Valley in the Northern Territory were introduced by Aboriginal people thousands of years ago. Jurriaan Persyn

What is a native and why should we care?

By Melinda Trudgen, CSIRO and Bruce Webber, CSIRO

New molecular techniques show that an iconic palm only grows in central Australia because humans moved it there thousands of years ago. It poses the question: should we still regard this as a native species…
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An introduced species can be invasive without causing native species' decline. Leaping to conclusions won’t help manage the problem. Degilbo/Flickr

We love to hate the common myna, but what should we do about it?

By Kate Grarock

In Australia we are all too familiar with devastating environmental impacts of introduced species such as foxes, rabbits and cane toads. But did you know that some introduced species may have a relatively…
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Honeybees are important pollinators, but not the only ones. BugMan50

Honeybee decline warrants concern, but not panic

By Saul Cunningham, CSIRO

In many countries there has been concern about a decline in honeybees. You may have even heard that honeybees face dangers so dire that their imminent decline threatens world food production, with potential…
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Just because an idea seems ridiculous, doesn’t mean it’s not worth discussing. moirabot/Flickr

Elephants on grass: only lively debate can save Australia’s environment

By David Bowman, University of Tasmania

Last week I published an opinion piece in Nature attempting to crystallise debate on a number of issues in Australian environmental management: bushfires, weeds, feral animals, management of Aboriginal…

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Research Briefs (8)

Invasive fish prove to be resourceful

Purdue University

Invasive species of fish, collectively known as Asian carp, may prove more of a concern to American river systems than previously…

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