Feral cats double the size of domestic tabbies. Cane toads with longer legs. And dingoes with flexible joints. ‘Selection pressure’ is at work on introduced animals.
Biological control strategies curb pests using other species that attack the invader. A biologist explains why it can take more than a decade to develop an effective biological control program.
Invasive species are the biggest single threat to Australian plants and animals.
The Balanggarra Rangers are land management representatives of the Balanggarra people, the indigenous traditional owners of the East Kimberley. (L-R) Wes Alberts, Bob Smith (coordinator) James ‘Birdy’ Birch, Isiah Smith, Quentin Gore.
The Kimberley Land Council
There are exciting synergies between western science and indigenous knowledge. Surprisingly, the success of our Australian predator conservation research was due entirely to its multicultural nature.
It is estimated there are now more than 200 million cane toads across Queensland and northern New South Wales.
Shutterstock
New genetic knowledge about cane toads could give us the knowledge we need to throw some more roadblocks in front of this persistent invader as it marches across Australia.
New cane toad traps that carefully imitate mating males successfully target breeding females. Males, meanwhile, will turn up for anything that sounds remotely like a toad.
Solar-powered arrays can be left in remote locations, recording high-quality audio for years.
Supplied
In a global first, hundreds of solar-powered microphones will be placed across Australia, listening out for invasive species, rare animals and the effects of climate change.
Just what the doctor ordered - more cane toads.
AAP Image/DPAW
It sounds weird, but releasing small cane toads ahead of the main invasion front can help predators learn to avoid the biggest, most toxic ones. Here’s exactly how it works.
Rick Shine aims to save Australia’s reptiles.
University of Sydney
University of Sydney conservation scientist Rick Shine has won a top science honour, for work that uses evolutionary theory to try and keep cane toads from killing Australia’s native wildlife.
Cane toads are still spreading across northern Australia.
UNSW
Cane toads, introduced in 1935 to control cane beetles, have now spread across a huge swathe of Australia, from the Kimberley in northern Western Australia to northern New South Wales. They’re still spreading…
Rabbit numbers have been considerably reduced by the introduction of two viruses - Rabbit calicivirus and myxoma.
CSIRO
Australia’s “ferals” — invasive alien plants, pests and diseases — are the largest bioeconomic threats to Australian agriculture. They also harm our natural ecosystems and biodiversity. Some, such as mosquitoes…
Two of millions of cane toads found across northern Australia.
Mark Lewis, Radio Pictures, Mullumbimby
When cane toads were released in Australia in 1935, they were the latest innovation in pest control, backed by a level of consensus support that a scientist could only dream of. So what went wrong? Research…
Cane toads spread faster when they arrive in a new area.
Flickr/blundershot
Cane toads are one of the Australia’s most serious invasive species, killing predators such as goannas, quolls and crocodiles in the tropical north. We already know the toads are advancing from Queensland…
Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University