Weed control in the Restoring Riparian Resilience project

(MRCCC Biodiversity Fund project)

Dr Tanzi SmithPresentation to the MRCCC General Meeting 3

February 2015

Goals of the project

• Project ends in June 2017• Now working in 20 demonstration reaches• Targets for the project are: – Revegetation: 48 ha– Restoration: 41 ha– Management for invasive species – 480 ha• Physical and chemical weed control• Surveillance for presence of weeds• Biological control

Overview of weed control• Weeds controlled: – Cats Claw, madeira vine, camphor laurel, chinese

elm, privet• Biological controls released for – Cats Claw – both jewel beetles and tingids– Madeira vine • Biological controls supplied by Greater Mary Association

(jewel beetles and tingids) and Gympie and District Landcare (tingids and Plectonycha correntia)

• Our goal is to establish populations in the wild

Cats Claw biological control releases

• Biodiversity Fund – 42 releases on 25 sites (since Jan 2014)– 3000 jewel beetles – 1300 loose tingids – At least 128 pots of tingids infected

plants• Building wild populations in the

lower Mary– GMA has released another 4000

jewel beetles, 3500 loose tingids and hundreds of jewel beetle discs

Map of Biofundrelease sites over last

12 months

Stages of Jewel beetle breeding – larvae developmentCourtesy of Ross Smith at Greater Mary Association Inc.

Observations and comments• Evidence that populations are

becoming established – both jewel beetles and tingids

• More to learn about circumstances under which they become established

• More to learn about conditions for breeding them

• Supply is dependent upon community groups - Greater Mary Association & Gympie Landcare

• Working together and sharing knowledge is essential for future success

Tingid damage one month after release at Widgee School

Latest resources and developments

• GMA report on releases up until October 2014

• Gympie Landcare’s new brochure• Gympie Landcare’s cross pollination

day on 5 March• Gympie Landcare monitoring

program • MRCCC has modified biocondition

assessment method to encompass presence of vine weeds and biological controls

Jewel beetles at Three Mile Creek Reserve, The Palms

And is there a wild

biological control for

mile a minute?