ScienceNetwork WA

A NEW strain of the deadly water mould Phytophthora may be the key to combating the spread of European blackberry – an invasive weed taking hold in the south-west.

AN article by Western Australian and American environmental scientists is putting forward a new way of looking at the native versus non-native species debate and proposes species origin is no longer the best judgement tool in the ever-changing environment.

THE United Nations has set a target to restore 150 million hectares of degraded land globally by 2020, but a UWA study has cautioned there are significant challenges facing global landscape-scale restoration efforts.

AN INTERNATIONAL study looking at the reasons for changes in threat categories of native plants has found an increased knowledge of the plants is the most common cause for the change.

FOREST health scientists at Murdoch University hope collaboration with Canadian remote sensing experts will help attract research funding for projects in south-west WA.

THE impact of projected climate change on water resources and water dependant ecosystems in south-western Australia has been assessed in extensive research by the CSIRO’s Water for a Healthy Country (WfHC) Flagship.

AN INVESTIGATION by local plant scientists into the scope of indigenous and exotic viruses in orchids has revealed the presence of a symptomless virus never before found in orchids.

ENVIRONMENTAL scientists are using remote sensing technology to identify phytophthora outbreaks without conducting lengthy and expensive ground surveys.

ON TUESDAY, the WA Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) recorded the lowest pressure in Perth for November since the Mt Lawley observing site was relocated to in 1993.

WHILE drought in WA’s south-west continues to worsen, a new analysis of global drought shows that, worldwide, the problem has been overestimated for decades.  

THE first detailed analysis of a WA native carnivorous plant by a group of German scientists has confirmed the presence of a unique mechanism for trapping prey.

EXISTING fire behaviour guides under-predict the rate of spread and intensity of bushfires that burn long enough to develop headfires more than 100m wide, according to a new study.

USING key specimens from the Western Australian Museum researchers have concluded that the extinction of the Australian mainland population of the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was in part due to direct competition by dingoes (Canis lupus dingo).

THE common bush rat’s (Rattus fuscipes) liking for truffles may be the best link to finding new habitats for the world’s rarest mammal, the critically endangered Gilbert’s Potoroo (Potorous gilbertii) found only near Albany.

RECENT research indicates Australia may be lacking in effective regional responses to climate change adaptation, with two key case studies showing a lack of coordination among local organisations.

CRITICALLY endangered WA flora is being translocated across the South West in a bid to prevent its extinction

RESEARCHERS at UWA have discovered the chemical used by a local orchid to trick male wasps into believing it is a female on heat.

RESEARCH published by CSIRO on live-lure techniques to control the Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) concludes that live-lure remains the most successful control method for one of the world’s top 100 invasive bird species.

AN AQUATIC ecology and water management scientist has highlighted the need for greater awareness and research on potential effects of personal care product residues contaminating WA lakes and rivers.

RESEARCH from the UWA steers the investigation of magnetic navigation by pigeons back on course, demonstrating that cells previously believed to be the basis of magnetosensation are instead non-magnetoreceptive white blood cells.