scholarly journals Yucca aloifolia (Spanish bayonet).

Author(s):  
Sylvan Kaufman

Abstract Y. aloifolia is an evergreen shrub in the Asparagaceae family that grows mainly in the coastal plain of the southern United States and Mexico along dunes, roadsides and in open coastal forests. Some sources also list it as native to islands in the Caribbean (Trelease, 1902; Jones and Goode, 1884; USDA-ARS, 2016). It is widely planted as an ornamental and living fence in temperate and tropical regions around the world and has the ability to spread by seed and vegetatively. It is listed as a transformative species in Plantas Invasoras en Cuba (Oviedo Prieto et al., 2012). It is considered an environmental weed in New South Wales, Australia (Weeds of Australia, 2016) and invasive on coastal dunes in Valencia, Spain (Ferrer Marino and Donat, 2011). It has naturalized in scrublands of South Africa (Smith et al., 2012). In the USA it is naturalized in California (LSA Associates, 2010). There is no information on what environmental effects the species has on habitats, ecosystems or populations but since it can form dense stands (Sydney Weeds Committee, 2016), it is likely to compete with native species. The leaves are tipped with very sharp points and can cause an allergic reaction (Kanerva et al., 2001). There is no evidence that it is considered a weed in agricultural systems.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caryn Rickel ◽  
Julissa Rojas-Sandoval

Abstract P. aurea is a highly invasive running bamboo native to Southeast China that is now widespread globally and especially problematic in Australia and North America. This woody, rhizomatous perennial grass rapidly forms a dense monoculture, suffocating other native plants and altering the entire ecosystem. As well as having detrimental effects on the environment this bamboo may also damage property and poses a potential threat to human health as it harbours a fungus responsible for the disease Histoplasmosis. Invasive bamboos are among the fastest growing plants on Earth and one infestation of P. aurea can spread as far as 9.3 miles. The spread is rapid in all directions, increasing each successive year. It is listed as invasive in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Reunion, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, USA, Mexico, Spain and France. In the United States, it is listed as naturalized or invasive in 273 counties including the mid-Atlantic region of the USA, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Georgia. It is reported as fully naturalizing in New Zealand, with infestations forming dense stands, and some invading national parks. In Australia, this species is regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland and New South Wales.


1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Pickett ◽  
C. H. Thompson ◽  
R. A. Kelley ◽  
D. Roman

Thirty-nine species of scleractinian corals have been recovered from under a high dune on the western (mainland) side of North Stradbroke Island, eastern Australia. The corals are associated with thin intertidal sediments and their good condition implies burial in situ and preservation in a saturated zone. Most likely this occurred as the coast prograded and a large dune advanced into the littoral zone, burying intertidal sediments and coral. The species assemblage indicates a sheltered environment but one open to the ocean without wide fluctuations in salinity. Three species yielded a mean 230Th/234U age of 105,000 yr B.P. which is significantly younger than the nearest Pleistocene corals at Evans Head, New South Wales. The corals provide evidence of a sea stand near present sea level during isotope Stage 5c, which is considerably higher than previously suggested for this period. Their good condition implies that the overlying parabolic dune is of comparable age and formed during that high stand of sea level. Also, the isotope age provides a maximum period for the development of giant podzols in the podzol chronosequences on coastal dunes in southern Queensland.


1994 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
J. Barker ◽  
D. Lunney ◽  
T. Bubela

Mammal surveys were carried out on the Carrai Plateau and Richmond Range in north-east New South Wales between March 1988 and November 1989. The emphasis was placed on rainforest mammals, following the recognition by Adam ( 1987) that the species lists of mammals in the state's rainforests were incomplete and that more research was needed. The mammals were surveyed primarily by analysis of prey remains in Dog and Fox scats, collected from roads throughout the forests, and from bat trapping. The bat fauna at both the Carrai Plateau and Richmond Range is rich (1 0 species and nine species respectively, including the rare Golden-tipped Bat, Kerivoula papuensis, in the Richmond Range). Scat analysis revealed the presence of 24 native species on the Carrai Plateau, and on the Richmond Range there were 17 species, including high numbers of two pademelon species. Feral prey species are almost completely absent, although the Fox is an established predator in both areas. A sharp division was identified between the mammal faunas of closed and open forests. Differences were found also between the mammal fauna composition of the two rainforest sites, and with those of nearby eucalypt forests. The mammal fauna of New South Wales rainforests is distinct from open forests and future mammal surveys are needed to ensure an adequate level of knowledge to identify and conserve these areas.


2009 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olusegun O. Osunkoya ◽  
Karina Pyle ◽  
Tanya Scharaschkin ◽  
Kunjithapatham Dhileepan

Cat’s claw creeper, Macfadyena unguis-cati (L.) Gentry (Bignoniaceae) is a major environmental weed of riparian areas, rainforest communities and remnant natural vegetation in coastal Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. In densely infested areas, it smothers standing vegetation, including large trees, and causes canopy collapse. Quantitative data on the ecology of this invasive vine are generally lacking. The present study examines the underground tuber traits of M. unguis-cati and explores their links with aboveground parameters at five infested sites spanning both riparian and inland vegetation. Tubers were abundant in terms of density (~1000 per m2), although small in size and low in level of interconnectivity. M. unguis-cati also exhibits multiple stems per plant. Of all traits screened, the link between stand (stem density) and tuber density was the most significant and yielded a promising bivariate relationship for the purposes of estimation, prediction and management of what lies beneath the soil surface of a given M. unguis-cati infestation site. The study also suggests that new recruitment is primarily from seeds, not from vegetative propagation as previously thought. The results highlight the need for future biological-control efforts to focus on introducing specialist seed- and pod-feeding insects to reduce seed-output.


1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Date ◽  
H. F. Recher ◽  
H. A. Ford ◽  
D. A. Stewart

A survey of conservation reserves, rainforest remnants and agricultural districts in northeastern New South Wales was conducted to determine the abundance, movements and habitat requirements of rainforest pigeons, to evaluate the extent and use of suitable habitat in conservation reserves, and to provide guidelines for the conservation and management of rainforest pigeons. Eight species of rainforest pigeon occur in northeastern New South Wales. Commencing with the clearing of rainforest in the 1860s for agriculture, rainforest pigeons declined in abundance throughout New South Wales and by the 1970s five species were thought to be threatened in the state. Since then, rainforest pigeons have apparently increased in abundance and distribution, but the Wompoo, Rose-crowned and Superb Pigeons continue to be listed by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service as vulnerable and rare. However, populations of all species of rainforest pigeons in New South Wales are relatively small and vulnerable to further loss of habitat. Most rainforest pigeons show a preference for subtropical rainforest habitat, but moist eucalypt forests, gardens and weedy exotic vegetation along roads and on abandoned farmland are also frequented to varying degrees by different species. To investigate recent trends in pigeon abundance we used data collected for up to 12 years from eight sites and during 1988, 1989 and 1990 from 17 rainforest remnants in northeastern New South Wales. The data suggest that rainforest pigeons now occur more frequently in lowland agricultural areas than in the recent past and tend to confirm an increase in abundance since the 1970s. Nesting and foraging habitats for rainforest pigeons are extensive in the conservation reserve system of northeastern New South Wales, but these habitats, which are largely at high elevations, lack winter food resources. Instead, pigeons congregate in remnant rainforest and exotic berry-bearing trees and shrubs in agricultural areas at lower elevations and near the coast. They rely on these habitats for food during winter and it is the restricted extent of this habitat that probably limits their abundance, not the area or quality of habitat at higher elevations. The conservation and management of rainforest pigeons requires the protection of low elevation and coastal rainforest remnants. As development of northeastern New South Wales proceeds, to avoid a decline in the abundances of rainforest pigeons it will be necessary to protect sclerophyll forest with native or exotic fruit bearing trees and shrubs and to extend the area of suitable habitat by the regeneration of rainforest and by the planting of native species used by pigeons as a food source. This will become increasingly important as the control and removal of exotic plants, such as Lantana Lantana camara and Camphor Laurel Cinnamonum camphora, on which some pigeons depend as a winter food source, becomes more successful.


1980 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
EJ Weston ◽  
DF Thompson ◽  
BJ Scott

Poplar box (Eucalyptus populnee) woodlands mainly occuron duplex, clay and red earth soils between the 300 mm and 750 mm rainfall isohyets. The poplar box lands have been occupied for from 100 to 150 years and have been modified extensively through tree felling, ringbarking, clearing, cultivation, burning and grazing by domestic livestock. The current land use is described for six vegetation groups which together comprise the poplar box lands. The eastern areas of the poplar box lands are mainly used for intensive agriculture based on wheat. barley and grain sorghum, with small areas sown to c~ops of high water demand. Mixed farming involves dairying (in Queensland) and fat lambs (in New South Wales) and broad-acre cereal and fodder cropping. Sheep and cattle grazing replace intensive crop production as the rainfall decreases. In all areas used for cropping the stability and fertility of the soil are of paramount importance in maintainihg production. The use of woodlands in areas of lower rainfall can lead to deterioration of the resource and to the encroachment of woody native species into the grazing lands. Because cropping is unreliable the opportunity to use cultivation to control woody regrowth is reduced. In central areas much of the land can be sown to improved pastures, but in western areas diversification is limited by the low rainfall and land use is restricted to grazing, initially only by sheep but now by sheep and cattle. Particularly in western New South Wales the increase in unpalatable shrubs and the decrease in available forage has resulted in low stocking rates, and high grazing pressure, making reclamation and pasture improvement difficult. In consequence many enterprises are becoming uneconomic.


1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Charles Wescott

Australia possesses a distinctive national parks and conservation reserves system, in which it is the State Governments rather than the Federal Government which owns, plans, and manages, national parks and other conservation reserves.Most Australian States declared their first national parks in the latter quarter of last century, Australia's first national park being declared in New South Wales in March 1879. These critical declarations were followed by a slow accumulation of parks and reserves through to 1968. The pace of acquisition then quickened dramatically with an eight-fold expansion in the total area of national parks between 1968 and 1990, at an average rate of over 750,000 ha per annum. The present Australian system contains 530 national parks covering 20.18 million hectares or 2.6% of the land-mass. A further 28.3 million hectares is protected in other parks and conservation reserves. In terms of the percentage of their land-mass now in national parks, the leading States are Tasmania (12.8%) and Victoria (10.0%), with Western Australia (1.9%) and Queensland (2.1%) trailing far behind, and New South Wales (3.92%) and South Australia (3.1%) lying between.The Australian system is also compared with the Canadian and USA systems. All three are countries of widely comparable cultures that have national parks covering similar percentage areas, but Canada and the USA have far fewer national parks than Australia and they are in general of much greater size. In addition, Canada and the USA ‘resource’ these parks far better than the Australians do theirs. The paper concludes that Australia needs to rationalize its current system by introducing direct funding, by the Federal Government, of national park management, and duly examining the whole system of reserves from a national rather than States' viewpoint.


2000 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 889 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. R. Spennemann ◽  
L. R. Allen

Olives (Olea europaea ssp. europaea), dispersed from 19th century orchards in the Adelaide area, have become established in remnant bushland as a major environmental weed. Recent expansion of the Australian olive industry has resulted in the widespread planting of olive orchards in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland and parts of Tasmania. This paper reviews the literature on the activity of vertebrate (principally avian) olive predators and their potential as vectors for spreading this plant into Australian remnant bushland. The effects of feralisation on the olive plant, which enhances its capacity for dispersal as a weed, place wider areas of south-eastern Australia at risk. A number of approaches for the control of olives as woody weeds are addressed. Proponents of new agricultural crops have moral and environmental obligations to assess the weed potential of these crops.


1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 263 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Lunney

Seven species of possums and gliders were found during a survey in logged coastal forests near Bega, New South Wales. A study of the preferences for the various tree species showed that both commercial and non-commercial species must be retained to support the full range of possum and glider species. Spotlight searches were carried out in 6 adjacent felling areas each autumn from 1981 to 1983. Four species (Petaurus breviceps, P. australis, Petauroides volans and Pseudocheirus peregrinus) were seen frequently enough to determine their habitat preferences. There were significantly fewer possums and gliders in logged areas, with a greater effect on some species, e.g. P. volans, than others, e.g. P. breviceps. Fire rendered the logged areas even less habitable, and drought compounded the effects of logging and fire by further reducing numbers. Deep unlogged gullies were found to be crucial refuges from logging, fire and drought. The primary conclusions are that the current logging operation is causing a significant reduction in numbers, and that gullies need to be redefined to include all drainage lines and to remain unlogged.


1981 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.G. Thom ◽  
G.M. Bowman ◽  
P.S. Roy

AbstractThe geomorphic and stratigraphic history of six coastal embayments has been studied in the vicinity of Newcastle, New South Wales (N.S.W.), Australia, in order to determine modes of deposition, and the degree to which marine and estuarine deposits can be correlated and dated. Each embayment possesses its own distinctive suite of landforms ranging from those dominated by coastal dunes to those in which beach ridges occur. In four of the bays dual sand barriers, comprising an Inner Barrier and an Outer Barrier, provide the framework for correlation between embayments. Six stages are recognized in the deposition of late Quaternary sediments in this area: (i) Pre-Last Interglacial, involving accumulation of separate composite units consisting of estuarine clays and transgressive dune complexes; (ii) Last Interglacial stage during which Inner Barriers were formed; (iii) Last Glacial reworking of barrier and dune sands by westerly winds; (iv) Postglacial Marine Transgression during which the Outer Barriers were initiated; (v) Mid-Holocene stage following cessation of sea-level rise ca. 6000–6500 yr B.P. on this coast, and involving progradation of Outer Barriers in some embayments; and (vi) Late Holocene episodic eolian reworking of dune complexes and Outer Barriers. The relatively high wave and wind energy as well as the tectonic setting of the central N.S.W. coast results in somewhat different geomorphic histories from barrier-island coasts in North America and Europe.


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