Skip to content

Weed Biocontrol articles

  1. Improved Establishment Success of Heather Beetles, 25 Years Post Release

    The heather beetle (Lochmaea suturalis) has population outbreaks in its native range in the United Kingdom, periodically causing devastating and unwanted damage to vast swathes of its host plant, heather (Calluna vulgaris).

  2. Weeds of the Future: The Survey of Rural Decision Makers Provides a Glimpse

    The Survey of Rural Decision Makers is a leading source of information on New Zealand’s food and fibre sector.

  3. Weed Biocontrol New Faces

    Temo Talie

    Temo joined MWLR in January 2021 as programme co-ordinator of the Natural Enemies Natural Solutions (NENS) programme, which aims to develop weed biocontrol agents for high-priority weeds in Pacific Island countries and territories. Temo is currently based at our Tamaki site in Auckland, ...

  4. Hieracium Biocontrol: Where to from Here?

    During January and February 2020 a survey to assess the establishment and impact of the biocontrol agents for hieracium/hawkweed (Hieracium and Pilosella species).

  5. Educating Our Youth with Honshu White Admiral Butterflies

    Waikato District Council, in collaboration with MWLR and Enviroschools, has initiated a weed biocontrol education programme for schools in the Waikato District. Enviroschools is an environmental action-based programme that empowers young people to design and lead sustainability projects in their sch...

  6. Weed Biocontrol New Recruits

    Stephanie Morton (Auckland) Stephanie Morton

    Stephanie first joined Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research (MWLR) as a summer technician at our Tamaki site in 2018, shortly after completing her MSc in Biosecurity and Conservation through the University of Auckland. For her MSc, which focused on the che...

  7. The More the Merrier? Testing Efficacy of Multiple Agents

    NZ’s native forest remnants are important habitats, providing substantial conservation, scientific and aesthetic value. However, they are often detrimentally subjected to human disturbances, leading to understorey invasions by problematic weed species, including tradescantia.

  8. Old Man’s Beard Agents Show Promise

    Old man’s beard (Clematis vitalba), one of New Zealand’s worst and most widespread invasive alien plants, is a deciduous, climbing, layering vine that can grow up to 20 metres in height. In suitable habitats it rapidly dominates, smothers and eventually kills all types of vegetation.

  9. A New Aquatic Weed on the Radar

    Water celery (Helosciadium nodiflorum; synonym Apium nodiflorum) was recently highlighted as a problematic aquatic weed in New Zealand, yielding high scores in a weed risk assessment conducted by Paul Champion (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) in 2018.

  10. New Insights into Predicting Non-Target Impacts

    Weed biocontrol has several proven advantages over conventional control methods, yet concerns over its environmental safety persist. This is despite evidence that modern host range testing protocols are highly reliable. Globally, examples of biocontrol agents that cause persistent damage to non-targ...