Environmental weeds in Australia and New Zealand: issues and approaches to management Journal Paper
- Author
- Williams, J.A.; West, C.J.
- Year
- 2000
- Journal / Source
- Austral Ecology
- Volume
- 25
- Pages
- 425-444
- Summary
- Environmental weeds are plants that invade natural ecosystems and are considered to be a seriousthreat to nature conservation. Australia and New Zealand, where biota with a high degree of endemism have evolved,are particularly susceptible to environmental weeds. Environmental weeds have been implicated in the extinctionof several indigenous plant species, and they also threaten ecosystem stability and functional complexity. Historically,emphasis has been placed on the chemical or manual ‘control’ of weed infestations, often with little considerationof the long-term effectiveness or the ecological consequences of such an approach. As the threat from environmentalweeds is becoming more fully recognized, an integrated, strategic and ecological approach to weed managementis being recommended. In both countries, systems for screening new plants before allowing entry for cultivationhave been developed. For already established plants, management is conducted within a legislative and policy frame-work such as the Regional Pest Management Strategies that operate through the Biosecurity Act 1993 in New Zealand.Noxious weed legislation in Australia has historically focused on agricultural weeds, but some Acts are (or haverecently been) undergoing revision to give greater emphasis to environmental weeds and the involvement of thecommunity in weed management. Quarantine, legislation, research and on-ground management are complementedby education programmes about the impact and control of environmental weeds. This paper provides an overviewof the ‘tool-kit’ needed to manage environmental weeds in Australia and New Zealand, comparing and contrastingthe approaches taken in the two countries. It also provides a broad framework for the case studies that make upthis special issue on the ecology and management of environmental weeds in both countries