Keynote address: Environmental weeds - past, present and future
R.H. Groves, CSIRO Plant Industry and CRC for Weed Management Systems, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
Summary
Weeds of natural ecosystems have received increasing attention over the last 25 years because their impact on native biodiversity has been increasingly recognized and the direct costs of controlling them have increased. Some significant events in this recent history will be highlighted. Present research on the major environmental weeds will be described, especially those aspects related to biological control, in an attempt to define directions for future research. I conclude that integration of several different methods of control into a system of management of both weed and native plant populations will be more effective than any one method on its own. Co-operation between research and land resource agencies and bush regenerators must increase if future management of environmental weeds is to become more effective. The role of enhanced communication at different levels will be crucial in this regard.
Plant Protection Quarterly (1999) 14 (3) 92-95.