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The CSIRO Mexican Field Station: History and Current Activities

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The CSIRO Mexican Field Station: History and Current Activities The CSIRO Mexican Field Station: history and current activities Ricardo Segura P.L.1 and Tim A. Heard2 Summary Many weeds in Australia have their origins in the neotropical America, including Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean Islands and South America. The CSIRO Mexican Field Station, located at Veracruz on the gulf coast of Mexico, conducts research on plants native to tropical America, which are weeds in the tropical northern parts of Australia and other countries. The major focus is to find biological control agents and to investigate various aspects of plant and insect ecology. The station has been operating continuously since 1984. Currently, the major target weeds are Mimosa pigra, Sida spp., Jatropha gossypiifolia, Hyptis suaveolens, Parkinsonia aculeata and Argemone spp. Through the work of the Mexican Field Station, 14 agents have been released in Australia against four weed targets. Keywords: Argemone spp., field surveys, Hyptis suaveolens, Jatropha gossypiifolia, Mimosa pigra, neotropical America, Parkinsonia aculeata, Sida spp. History where the target weeds occur. Surveys on mimosa and hyptis that had commenced in Brazil were continued The Entomology Division of Australia’s Common- and new projects were initiated on Sida spp. In January wealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation 1987, the Station was transferred to Boca del Rio, (CSIRO Entomology) has long been involved in weed Veracruz State, Mexico (lat. 19°08.6'N, long. biocontrol. From the late 1960s, CSIRO Entomology 96°07.0'W, elevation 33 m). Since then, Ricardo has conducted surveys for potential biological control Segura has been the Officer-in-Charge. Wendy Forno agents of weeds from the Americas. A field station led led the station from 1990 to 1999, followed by Tim by Ken Harley with John Winder as officer-in-charge Heard until the present. Additional target species (OIC), was set up in Curitiba, Brazil, to provide a base surveyed from the Veracruz station include bellyache for this work. Early targets included lantana (Lantana bush (Jatropha gossypiifolia L.), Mexican poppy camara L.), salvinia (Salvinia molesta D.S. Mitchell), (Argemone mexicana L. and A. ochroleuca Sweet) and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Martius) Solms- parkinsonia (Parkinsonia aculeata L.). Collection of Laubach, water lettuce (Pistia stratioides L.), alligator biocontrol agents for other target weeds were made for weed (Alternanthera phylloxeroides (Martius) Grise- other institutions. bach), mimosa (Mimosa pigra L.) and hyptis (Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit.). The station was closed in February 1982. In March 1984, CSIRO Entomology Scope of activities established the Mexican Field Station on the western coast of Mexico at Acapulco, Guerrero State. The The station undertakes the activities required in the leader was Ken Harley and John Gillett was OIC. This early stages of biological control research. First, target- site closely matched the climate of northern Australia plant populations are located, often using the assistance of local botanists and herbaria records. Then fieldwork is conducted to collect the organisms associated with the plant, with their ecological and geographical data. 1 CSIRO Mexican Field Station, A. Carlon No. 5, Ejido 1 de Mayo, Boca del Rio, A.P.14 Veracruz, CP 94297, Mexico. Contact is made with local research institutions for 2 CSIRO Entomology, 120 Meiers Road, Indooroopilly, Queensland 4068, advice and with government departments to obtain Australia. permits to study and export insects. Collected speci- Corresponding author: Ricardo Segura <[email protected]>. mens are preserved, labelled, and sent to experts for 145 Proceedings of the XI International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds identification, usually in North America where most Target weeds interest and knowledge about American invertebrates resides. This results in lists of natural enemies (e.g. The Mexican Field Station has been the involved in a Gillett et al. 1991, Harley et al. 1995). Preliminary number of biological control research projects initiated host-specificity testing is conducted on species that by CSIRO (Table 1), as well as collaborating with other appear promising (e.g. Heard et al. 1997) or to validate agencies working on other target weeds (Table 2). the results of laboratory testing (e.g. Heard et al. 2004). The following list shows organizations that have Experiments or observations on biology, phenology collaborated with the station on specific weed projects, and ecology of the target weed are also conducted (e.g. or were local research institutions or government Lonsdale & Segura 1987). At all stages, the vast departments that provided advice and permits to study amount of information is captured in relational data- and export insects. The organizations that have collab- bases. orated with the station on specific weed projects, or Up to 40 field trips to find biological control agents have provided advice and permits to study and export have been carried out in the Americas, namely to insects include: Mexico, United States of America, Belize, Guatemala, • United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Brazil, United States of America Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Curaçao and • Alan Fletcher Research Station, Queensland Trinidad. Government, Australia A field plot, required for open field experiments and • Northern Territory Government, Australia growing plants, is maintained at La Aguada (lat. • University of Queensland, Australia 19°03.0'N, long. 96°01.8'W, elevation 50 m). A web- • International Institute of Biological Control (now maintained insect collection is central to achieving our CABI BioScience), United Kingdom goals. Our insect collection contains approximately 9400 pinned specimens with 800 duplicate specimens • Plant Protection Research Institute, Pretoria, in alcohol. Approximately 5000 specimens have been Republic of South Africa sent for identification, including some new species. • Secretaria de Agricultura, Ganaderia, Desarrollo The herbarium collection contains approximately 900 Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (SAGARPA), Mexico specimens. • Instituto de Ecología (IE) Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico Table 1. Target weeds comprising core CSIRO biological control research projects. Common name Scientific name Family Giant sensitive plant, mimosa Mimosa pigra L. Mimosaceae Sida retusa Sida rhombifolia L. Malvaceae Spinyhead sida Sida acuta Burm. F. Malvaceae Flannel weed Sida cordifolia L. Malvaceae Hyptis Hyptis suaveolens Poit. Lamiaceae Bellyache bush Jatropha gossypiifolia L. Euphorbiaceae Physic nut Jatropha curcas L. Euphorbiaceae Mexican poppy Argemone mexicana L. Papaveraceae Mexican poppy Argemone ochroleuca Sweet Papaveraceae Parkinsonia Parkinsonia aculeata L. Caesalpinaceae Table 2. Target weeds for which CSIRO has collaborated with other institutions to undertake biological control research. Common name Scientific name Family Leucaena Leucaena leucocephala Lam. De Wit. Mimosaceae Silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav. Solanaceae Lantana Lantana camara L. Verbenaceae Siam weed Chromoloena odorata (L.) R.K.&H. Rob. Asteraceae Sicklepod Senna obtusifolia L. Caesalpinaceae Parthenium weed Parthenium hysterophorus L. Asteraceae Mimosa Mimosa asperata L. (=Mimosa pigra var. berlandieri) Mimosaceae Crofton weed Ageratina riparia (Reg.) R.K.&H.Rob. Asteraceae Mile-a-minute weed Mikania micrantha Kunth Asteraceae 146 CSIRO Mexican Field Station • Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos on their target, especially Neurostrota gunniella (Lons- (UAEM), Mexico dale & Farrell 1998), Carmenta mimosa (Steinbauer • Colegio Profesional de Biólogos del Estado de 1998) and Calligrapha pantherina (Flanagan et al. Veracruz A.C. Delegación Veracruz, Boca del Río, 2000). Many other agents have been assessed for their Mexico potential and been rejected (e.g. Heard et al. 1998). In • Ministerio da Agricultura, Abastecimiento e total, about 40 insects have been sent to Australian Reforma Agraria da Brasil quarantine for further study. Additionally potential • Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria agents have been selected for Sida cordifolia, Hyptis (EMBRAPA) suaveolens, Argemone mexicana, and Parkinsonia • Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Recursos Genéticos aculeata. Although only employing between two to e Biotecnología (CENARGEN), Brasil three staff members, the Mexican Field Station has • Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales de Cuba (IIF) made a crucial contribution to weed management in • Universidad Central de Maracay, Instituto de Australia. Zoología Agrícola, Venezuela • Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología Acknowledgements (CONICIT), Venezuela • Ministerio de Agricultura y Cría (MAC), Venezuela We thank Wendy Forno for commenting on the manu- • Ministerio del Ambiente y de los Recursos Natu- script. rales, Venezuela • Universidad Nacional Agraria (UNA), Managua, References Nicaragua. Flanagan, G.F., Hills, L.A. & Wilson, C.G. (1998) The successful biological control of spinyhead sida, Sida acuta Agents released in Australia [Malvaceae], by Calligrapha pantherina (Col: Chrysomel- idae) in Australia’s Northern Territory. Proceedings of the X Through the work of the Mexican Field Station, 14 International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds agents have been released in Australia against four (ed N.R. Spencer), pp. 35–41. United States Department of weed targets (Table 3) (Heard & Segura 2004). Most of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services,
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