Key points
- Invasive species are the leading cause of extinction to our native species, posing a greater risk than climate change and habitat destruction.
- Invasive species cost Australia about $25 billion per year due to losses in agriculture and management costs.
- More than 80 per cent of Australia’s land-based threatened species are harmed by invasive species.
Our biosecurity system helps keep new invasive species out of Australia. It also helps manage the spread of existing pests, weeds and diseases to new areas within Australia. It is a key tool in helping to protect our threatened species.
In Australia, invasive species are the number one cause of extinction. They pose a greater threat to native species than climate change and habitat destruction. Australia has close to 3000 invasive alien species, which are estimated to cost our nation about $25 billion every year in losses to agriculture and management costs.
More than 1250 (80 per cent) of Australia’s land-based threatened species are harmed by invasive species. Feral cats, for example, have contributed to the extinction of 27 native species and kill more than 450 million native mammals and 270 million birds each year.
Here are five ways our biosecurity research is helping to protect our precious plants and animals.
Tracking feral cows from space
We have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) satellite tracking system that works together with global position system (GPS) tagged animals to predict the movement of feral cows.
Unmanaged cattle have spread from their original cattle stations, with populations now estimated to reach into the hundreds of thousands. These cattle can overgraze on native vegetation and destroy rivers and wetlands.
By combining data with Indigenous knowledge, rangers can plan the best route to reach and manage feral herds on their land.
Our partnership with Microsoft, known as Space Cows, uses a space technology-powered digital twin — a virtual replica of the landscape — to help Indigenous rangers manage feral herds on their land in Northern Australia.
Understanding avian influenza
The world is experiencing a pandemic outbreak of H5N1 bird flu, and Australia is the only continent not yet infected. Known to easily mutate, this strain could not only devastate our wild birds and poultry, but could also threaten cattle and some mammals, including local species of seals and penguins.
Scientists at our Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) are helping to track the spread and evolution of this virus through the Asia Pacific region. This work is helping Australia understand and prepare for a potential outbreak of this virus on our shores, to help reduce the impact on our agriculture industries and our local fauna.
Atlas of Living Australia
The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) is Australia's largest open-sourced biodiversity data infrastructure. Home to more than 145 million species occurrence records of native and introduced species, the ALA is often the first platform where invasive species incursions are publicly recorded. ALA is a connector between citizen science and biosecurity management. To ensure management authorities are notified of new incursions, the ALA has partnered with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry through the Catalysing Australia's Biosecurity (CAB) initiative to develop the Biosecurity Alerts Service.
The ALA's Biosecurity Alerts Service provides weekly email notifications of occurrences of invasive species to management authorities. These occurrences are aggregated from more than 850 data suppliers, including iNaturalist and FeralScan. The Biosecurity Alerts Service reports the species name, observation location, images, data provider and provides direct links to the ALA occurrence record.
Saving little penguins from sea spurge
Sea spurge is a weed found along the Australian coastline, from Western Australia, around Tasmania, and through to New South Wales. This weed is a threat to the nesting sites of local birds, such as little penguins. Sea spurge produces a white latex when damaged, which can be toxic to animals and humans.
We have identified a French fungus, Venturia paralias, as a targeted biological control agent for sea spurge. By infecting the leaves and stems, the growth and reproduction of the sea spurge is limited. The fungus has been tested to ensure it will not harm native species and will only target the toxic sea spurge.
Enhancing Australia's biosecurity
While Australia's biosecurity is world-leading, pressure on the system is growing. Threats posed by invasive species are growing in number and complexity due to increasing trade, tourism, climate change and changing land use.
Scaling up our current biosecurity system will not be enough to manage these increasing risks. Meeting this challenge requires transformational change.
We have partnered with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), Australia's national regulator for biosecurity, to develop the Catalysing Australia's Biosecurity (CAB) initiative. By working with partners across the system, CAB is driving technology and digital innovations to transform Australia's biosecurity system, so it is ready to meet current and future challenges.