TESS Our Research Biosecurity in tropical Australia

Invasive species and biosecurity in tropical Australia

Tropical Queensland is a hotspot of opportunity for the introduction of invasive species, such as weeds, plant pathogens, invasive ants, and Asian honey bees, with millions of dollars spent on control efforts to date.

In terms of landscape epidemiology, this flagship project will assess how land-use changes affect disease vectors, such as mosquitos and ticks, and will monitor selected wildlife species, such as birds, as potential pathogen hosts.

A priority will be assessing the potential for land-use change, including habitat fragmentation and the expansion of agriculture and irrigation projects in northern Queensland, to increase disease vectors.

A key output from this flagship has been the development of a JCU Environmental Biosecurity capacity brochure that describes JCU’s biosecurity-relevant expertise. (with a link to the document for the underlined part).

This flagship has two major foci:

  1. The ecology and control of invasive species in far northern Queensland, and
  2. Landscape epidemiology and infectious diseases.

Research team