Biological Control: Choosing the Best Potential Agent

Biological Control Home | Key Resources

Steps in a Weed Biological Control Program | Choosing Target Weed | Native-range Surveying | Choosing Best Potential Agent | Host-specificity Testing | Mass-rearing, Release and Evaluation | Non-target Impacts

• Every biological control agent released represents a large investment of resources. It is therefore important that we select agents that are most likely to establish, be effective and not pose an unacceptable risk of non-target impacts.

• Typically agents suitable for biological control are those that have a lifecycle that closely match that of the weed in Australia and that cannot survive and reproduce on other plant species. Agents must be able to tolerate long dry summers typical of temperate Australia and high rainfall and humidity typical of tropical Australia.

• The effectiveness of an agent is determined by a broad range of factors, relating both to the type of damage they exert on individual weeds and whether they will reach sufficient densities to cause significant impact on the weed population. Interactions between the agent, weed, and the new environment are complex and often very subtle, and therefore exceedingly difficult to predict.

• CSIRO, in conjunction with the Weeds CRC and other collaborators, are pursuing a variety of approaches to improve our ability to predict which agent will more likely establish and cause significant impact of the target weed populations at a landscape level.

Biological Control Home | Key Resources

Steps in a Weed Biological Control Program | Choosing Target Weed | Native-range Surveying | Choosing Best Potential Agent | Host-specificity Testing | Mass-rearing, Release and Evaluation | Non-target Impacts