WEEDSHINE Newsletter of the Weed Society of Queensland Summer/Autumn 2011, Issue No: 46 ISSN 1835-8217 Guess the weed on the cover and win a years free membership! Features Response to RIRDC’s media release Humane vertebrate pest control - a growing imperative History of Hedychium in cultivation Weed spread threat due to recent floods Kidneyleaf mudplantain response to different herbicides Running bamboo - a groovy grass? www.wsq.org.au 2 WEEDSHINE Summer/Autumn No 46, 2011 QWS Directory Contents FROM THE PRESIDENT 3 Correspondence and enquires Winner of guess the weed competition 3 Weed Society of Queensland Inc. PO Box 18095, WEED societY OF QUEENSLAND news 4 Clifford Gardens, QLD, 4350 Response to RIRDC’s media release 4 Web Site DIARY EVENTS 6 www.wsq.org.au 23rd Asian-Pacific Weed Science Society Conference 6 President 11th Queensland Weed Symposium 7 Rachel McFadyen [email protected] Foxy new website invites citizen science input 7 Vice President QLD PEST ANIMAL BRANCH UPDATE 8 Dorean Erhart Humane vertebrate pest control - a growing imperative 8 [email protected] FEATURES 10 Secretary History of Hedychium in cultivation 10 Michael Widderick [email protected] Weed spread threat due to floods 16 Treasurer NEW PUBLICATIONS 17 Chris Love ON GROUND ACTION 18 [email protected] Kidneyleaf mudplantain response to different herbicides 18 Immediate Past President Running bamboo - a groovy grass? 19 John Hodgon [email protected] USEFUL LINKS 20 Newsletter Editor Jane Morton [email protected] CAWS Representative Joining the Weed Society of Queensland Steve Walker [email protected] The benefits of joining the Queensland Weed Society include: South-East Qld Representative • WeedShine: an informative quarterly newsletter Jen Ford [email protected] • Links to a great group of passionate people working in the weed and pest animal world Darling Downs Representative Luke Boucher • Discount to WSQ and PABWSQ seminars, workshops, conferences and [email protected] other events Western Qld Representative • Regional field days and workshops on topics of interest Brad Green To apply for membership, download and print the membership [email protected] application form from the WSQ website, www.wsq.org.au, complete the North Qld Representative details and mail to the WSQ Secretary. Vacant WeedShine Newsletter of the Weed Society of Queensland Inc. Web-site Editor (non-voting) John Hodgon Contributions to WeedShine are welcomed. Please [email protected] contact the editor for further information. Pest Animal Representative Readers are free to circulate and reproduce WeedShine Lavinnia Fiedler material with acknowledgement of the author and [email protected] source. Qld Weed Symposium Chairperson The views expressed in WeedShine are those of the John Hodgon contributors and are not necessarily shared by the WSQ [email protected] Executive Committee. Editor Jane Morton, [email protected] WSQ Membership Rates 2009 Design Jane Morton, BentleyWolff Designs Individual Membership $ 25 3 years $ 66 Printing Snap Toowoomba 5 years $ 100 Printed on 100% semi-gloss recycled paper ABN 88 026 015 870 Cover image Photo courtesy of Sonia Jordan Deadline Article submisson deadline 15th June 2011 Summer/Autumn No 46, 2011 WEEDSHINE 3 From the President In particular, our thanks go to Lavinnia Hello and welcome to another fantastic Fielder, chair of the working group, and to issue of Weedshine – this time a double Chris Love who as Treasurer had to deal issue, both Summer and Autumn. with all the pre-purchase sales. I would also like to thank Renee Stevenson for Since the last Weedshine in December, compiling the photos, Kathy Stevens for we have all suffered from one natural compiling the Weed Descriptions, Jen disaster after another. First the Ford for compiling the Weed Management devastating floods across much of Section, Chris Love for compiling the Queensland, including in Brisbane and Ipswich, Herbicide recommendations section and other with the tragic loss of life and property in members of the working group for editing, Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley, rapidly including Hellen Haapakoski, Grant Beutel, followed by Cyclone Yasi in the north where more Lavinnia Fiedler, Craig Hunter, Kevin Melmeth and heavy rain continues to hamper recovery efforts. Michael Widderick. Then there was the Christchurch earthquake, and now the earthquake and tsunami in northern A special congratulations goes out to Lavinnia, Japan. Fortunately no WSQ members lost their who did all this work while expecting her first child, lives in these disasters, though several have Otto Alexander, who was safely born on March 1st. lost homes or property, and I’m glad to say that Congratulations Lavinnia and welcome to a future our New Zealand colleagues came through the Weedo! earthquake there without injury. Let us hope that the rest of the year is less eventful! Planning continues for the Queensland Weeds Symposium on the 31st July to 3rd August 2011, in At our last Executive meeting in February, Brad Mackay. Further details are to be found on page Green was elected as the new Western Downs 7. Planning is also well underway for the 23rd representative on the Executive. Brad works in Asian Pacific Weed Science Society Conference the environmental management field in the region in Cairns from 26th to 30th September, and there and lives in Chinchilla but travels widely in the is still time to register for this at the cheap rate west. Welcome Brad! (see www.apwss2011.com). The Weed Society of Queensland is sponsoring Professor Jeff Mullahey The new edition of the Weeds of Southern from the University of Florida at Pensacola to Queensland book is now ready to go to the printers attend the 23rd APWSS Conference to talk about and pre-purchased copies should be distributed in Tropical Soda Apple, Solanum viarum, a major the last week of May 2011. Copies will be given to weed in the southern USA which has recently each registrant at the Weed Symposium in Mackay been found in southern Qld and northern NSW. and will be for sale at the Symposium at $5 each. Professor Mullahey will also be giving a talk on After printing and pre-purchase orders have been this weed in Brisbane on Monday 26 September filled, there will only be another 10,000 books to which you are all invited. Details of venue and available through bulk purchases by regional time will be advertised in the next Weedshine and groups, councils and government agencies from on our webpage. WSQ. This book will be a great asset for all ‘weedos’ in Queensland and I’d like to thank all I look forward to seeing many of you at the those whose dedication and hard work made it Symposium in Mackay or in Cairns in September. possible. Cheers, Rachel WINNER Congratulations to Jason Weber who identified last seasons weed as Gymnocoronis spilanthoides or “ Senegal tea plant” Jason has won a years membership to the WSQ. Guess this edition’s cover weed and go into the draw to WIN! Send your answer to: [email protected] by 15th June 2011 4 WEEDSHINE Summer/Autumn No 46, 2011 WEED SOCIETY OF QUEENSLAND RESPONSE TO RIRDC’S MEDIA RELEASE The following media article was released by Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) on the 3rd March 2011. Travis Sydes has written a response to this media release. RIRDC MEDIA RELEASE 3 March 2011 Research highlights Mother Natures role in weed control after cyclones New research highlights Mother Nature’s role in limiting weed growth in cyclone affected rainforests With the clean up continuing across North Queensland following Cyclone Yasi, new research published by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) has emphasised the role Mother Nature plays limiting weed growth in rainforests following cyclones. A review of weeds activity in rainforest areas around Innisfail following Cyclone Larry in 2006 found that an increased amount of forest litter and debris on the ground helped to minimise the spread of weeds. The review also found the natural regenerative powers of the rainforests helped keep weeds to a minimum, with many native species regenerating quickly which suppressed extensive weed regrowth. “The report shows that in many cases, Mother Nature may be a more effective and efficient way of dealing with weeds, as opposed to human intervention,” RIRDC National Weeds and Productivity Research Program Senior Research Manager Ken Moore said. “With further cyclone activity predicted in Queensland over coming months, this new piece of research could act as a useful tool for environmental land managers.” The review was undertaken by a team of scientists from the CSIRO, who monitored a number of rainforest areas damaged by high winds from Cyclone Larry in March 2006. They found that the variety of weed species and the size of their populations increased sharply after rainforest canopies were stripped bare by cyclonic winds. The rainforests proved remarkably resilient in recovering and choking out the many herbaceous weed species which followed Cyclone Larry. However, the impact of infestations of larger woody shrubs and invasive vines will be felt for years to come. “This research will assist land managers in cyclone prone areas understand more about the regenerative abilities of rain forests, how this can affect weeds growth and the type of weeds that should be targeted in post-cyclone land management activities,” Mr Moore said. “Whilst on the surface it may appear that cyclone damaged areas provide the ideal breeding ground for weeds, the increased amount of forest debris and litter, coupled with fast-growing native species, often act as a barrier to weed establishment.” Weed response to cyclones in the wet tropics rainforests was supported by the Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry as part of the National Weeds and Productivity Research Program which is managed by RIRDC.