Avian influenza activities at CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory

CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) performs two vital functions to prevent avian influenza from spreading in birds – disease diagnosis and research.

Beware the enemy within

Evidence supporting Australia’s internal quarantine restrictions designed to stop the spread of insect pests, has been published in the respected scientific journal, Nature Communications.

Ecosystem Sciences PhD program

The PhD program at CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences offers university students an opportunity to conduct research with leaders in science.

Bitou bush biocontrol agent: the leaf-rolling moth

CSIRO Entomology and New South Wales Agriculture collaborated on a project to rear, release and evaluate the performance of the leaf-rolling moth Tortrix species to help control bitou bush.

The CSIRO Fire Danger and Fire Spread Calculator

The CSIRO Fire Danger and Fire Spread Calculator is a computer program available as a 882 Kb zip file that can be downloaded for use in assisting rural fire authorities across Australia.

Living with grassfires in Australia

Myths are debunked and fire behaviour revealed in the second edition of CSIRO’s essential guide to grassfires – Grassfires: Fuel, Weather and Fire Behaviour.

Future fire – still a wide open climate question

How the frequency and intensity of wildfires and intentional biomass burning will change in a future climate requires closer scientific attention, according to CSIRO’s Dr Melita Keywood.

Dr Geoff Baker: developing management strategies for invertebrates

Dr Geoff Baker is the Program Leader for Invasion Biology and Functional Ecology, whose research on insect pests and invasive plants aims to help protect Australia's agricultural and environmental landscapes.

Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) brochure

The Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) is a national centre of excellence in disease diagnosis, research and policy advice in animal health. This six-page brochure provides an overview of AAHL's achievements, capabilities and responsibilities.

Science for tomorrow: developments

Four CSIRO research projects from Farming Ahead: invigorating wheat production, accurately mapping water availability, weeding out the risk of pest plants and a survey to help refine seasonal forecasts. (1 page)

The CSIRO Fire Danger and Fire Spread Calculator

CSIRO’s grassland and forest fire danger and spread meters are now available as a computer program.

Biodiversity status and trends

Understanding the extent and health of the nation’s biological diversity is the first step to halting its decline.

Collaboration key to keeping new diseases in check

Collaboration across a diverse range of scientific disciplines is among the most important factors in efforts to detect and control outbreaks of new infectious diseases like Influenza A (H1N1), according to one of the world’s leading virologists, University of Texas Medical Branch Dr Thomas Ksiazek.

Kakadu still battling South American invader

Biological control of the aquatic weed salvinia in the billabongs of Kakadu National Park has been “fitful and incomplete”.

Noogoora burr throws researchers a curve ball

What do you do when a weed fights back? Noogoora burr in Australia’s tropical north has done just that but CSIRO scientists aren’t letting it get away with it.

Finding the jewels in crown rot research

This article from Farming Ahead discusses how the discovery of wheat and barley lines resistant to crown rot could, with further research, make losses from this disease a thing of the past. (3 pages)

Functional Ecology and Systematics

The Functional Ecology and Systematics Program is helping to manage the increasing threat from invasive species and the benefits to agriculture from ecosystem services while ensuring the preservation and sustainable use of Australian ecosystems.

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Increased international trade means the world community will have to be more vigilant in preventing economic loss and hardship due to destruction and spoilage of foodstuffs by insects, according to CSIRO entomologist David Rees.

New solutions to water management issues

We focus on finding new, integrated ways to manage our water supply and water resources issues. This includes land use change, salinity, climate change, groundwater extraction and drainage schemes. 

Bats host viruses dangerous to humans (Podcast 16 Feb 2007)

Dr Linfa Wang from CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory discusses bats and what makes them such an efficient carrier of viruses, in this five-minute podcast. (5:23)

Dr Andrew Higgins: operations research and value chain analysis

Dr Higgins is a Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences in St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.

Mesquite biocontrol with the sap-sucking Coreid, Mozena obtusa

The sap-sucking Coreid, Mozena obtusa was investigated as a potential biological control agent for mesquite, a woody weed invading semi-arid and arid parts of Australia.

Controlling mesquite in northern Australia

Scientists at CSIRO are using an integrated management approach aimed at providing a basis for long-term management of mesquite, including mechanical, chemical and biological techniques and the use of fire and grazing strategies.

Herbicides limit nitrogen-fixing ability

This two-page article from Farming Ahead looks at the effect of increased herbicide use on soil nitrogen fixation in grain legumes such as field peas.

Pollution

Our scientists are developing solutions to our mounting air, land and water pollution problems. Our scientists are working with industry, regulators and the community in the search for solutions to our mounting air, land and water pollution problems.