York team seeks answer to Australasian animal invasion
Posted on 25 January 2005
Homesick settlers who introduced the European Fox into Australia in an attempt to replicate a slice of rural England, got more than they bargained for.
The fox, introduced in southern Victoria in the 1870s, so colonists could ride to hounds, has spread throughout Australia and has become a predator on native species such as rock wallabies, turtles and numbats.
But the animal has not only had an impact on wildlife - the fox causes damage estimated at £90 million each year in Australia, including £7 million to the country's sheep industry alone due to foxes preying on lambs.
Now a team from the University of York's Environment Department, headed by Dr Piran White, is to take part in a new international Co-operative Research Centre to help solve the problems caused by the fox and other invasive animal species throughout Australasia. York is one of only two international universities taking part in the project.
The impact of invasive species is second only to human population growth as a cause of global biodiversity loss. In Australasia, invasive animal species are a particular threat because of the distinctive flora and fauna resulting from its geographic isolation.
The total cost of damage and control due to invasive animals in Australia alone is estimated at £300 million annually. But biodiversity is also severely affected - the unique faunas and floras of Australia and New Zealand are particularly susceptible to the effects of invasive species, whether through competition, predation or infectious disease.
In New Zealand, for example, the Australian brush-tailed possum was introduced in 1858, by European settlers keen on the "artificial enrichment" of the local fauna. Possums have, however, spread throughout New Zealand, including some offshore islands causing damage to crops and native forests, carrying bovine tuberculosis and preying on nests of native birds.
Nearly half the known mammalian extinctions worldwide in the last 200 years have been from Australia. Invasive species have been a major factor in many of these and they also threaten all but one of Australia's 15 World Heritage Listed areas and 13 of its 15 "Biodiversity Hotspots".
The Australian Government has invested £12 million (A$29.64 million) into the Australasian Invasive Animal Co-operative Research Centre (AIA CRC) to carry out a 7-year programme to tackle the threat of invasive species drawing on international skills in research, management, commerce and industry. It will promote best practice in the prediction and management of invasive animals, develop new products and build capacity based on public-private partnerships within Australasia and overseas.
The University of York team will work with Australian and New Zealand partners on projects focusing on the detection, prevention and mitigation of impacts of invasive animals.
Dr White said: "York's involvement in the CRC is likely to provide extensive opportunities for further collaborative research, including joint UK-Australian studentships, as well as short-term visits for research staff and PhD students.
"The outcomes from the CRC will help to solve the problems associated with the costly impacts of invasive species on agriculture, biodiversity and cultural values."
Notes to editors:
- The CRC will incorporate four scientific programmes including: (1) Field trials of novel baits and large-scale ecological experiments; (2) The application of molecular reproductive technology and nationally co-ordinated risk assessments of invasive fish; (3) Stakeholder consultations and co-ordinated strategies for the commercialisation of new products, together with demonstration sites to provide a better understanding of how complex implementation programmes can be managed; and (4) Risk analysis, bio-economic modelling, analysis of the social impacts of invasive animals and the development of systems for management and conflict resolution.
- Further information on the CRC is available from Keryn Lapidge, Communications Manager, Pest Animal Control Cooperative Research Centre GPO Box 284 Canberra ACT 2601. Telephone: 00 61 2 6242 1791. Fax: 00 61 2 6242 1511. E-mail: keryn.lapidge@pestanimal.crc.org.au or go to www.pestanimal.crc.org.au/ or www.york.ac.uk/depts/eeem/