Determining the degree to which an insect species feeds on different plant species is a critical test for biosecurity. Such tests can help scientists understand the potential host range of exotic insects and therefore what impact the species could have on native and agricultural plants in New Zealand.
Measuring the feeding behaviour of chewing insects is relatively straightforward, because the damage they cause by feeding can be readily observed visually. In contrast, sap-sucking insects can be seen to...
Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) is a bacterial pathogen that causes the widespread death of kiwifruit vines. The pathogen first appeared in this country in Te Puke during November 2010, killing gold kiwifruit orchards but leaving most crops of the mainstay green variety still farmable.
In just over a year, at least 840 orchards in the Bay of Plenty, representing a third of all kiwifruit plantings nationally, have contracted the highly virulent form of Psa (called Psa-V). More recently it has also spread over a hundred kilometres away to orchards in Tauranga, Katikati, Waihi, Whakatane, Opotiki and Pukekohe. The current cultivar of gold kiwifruit planted in New Zealand is particularly susceptible to the disease.
B3 began supporting research on Psa soon after its appearance in New Zealand, in order to assist in development of diagnostic tools to identify the virulent strain and monitor its spread. Because the Psa bacterium has variable strains, from...
B3’s Eradication and Response Theme aims to develop new insect pest eradication tools that will be effective as well as economically viable and socially acceptable. One such research project led by theme leader Dr Max Suckling of Plant and Food Research is using insects’ natural mating instincts to control pests without the need for controversial pesticide spraying.
Suckling’s team, in collaboration with the Western Australia Department of Food and Agriculture and the USDA in Hilo, Hawaii, has been investigating control methods for the Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana). Originating from southeastern Australia, the moth causes significant damage to agriculture and horticulture in the United States, Europe, Western Australia and New Zealand.
The Light Brown Apple Moth is also an interesting case study because its control has highlighted the need for socially acceptable control methods as an alternative to pesticides and aerial...
Imagine if it was possible to identify any species instantly, simply by scanning it in the same way a loaf of bread is scanned at the supermarket checkout. Think of how this could spark peoples’ deeper interest in their surroundings, appreciation of the importance of biodiversity and the severity of existing threats, such as food supply and climate change.
It may sound like science fiction, but new advances in molecular diagnostic technology may soon make this a reality. “DNA barcoding”, as the technology is called, was first used in New Zealand in 2003. Dr Karen Armstrong, Theme Leader for Diagnostics at B3 and Senior Research Officer at Lincoln University’s Bio-Protection Research Centre, has been building a DNA library that can be used to identify exotic insect...
Speech by Dr Stephen Goldson, Strategy Advisor to the Office of the Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Committee, to the MAF Policy, Science and Economics conference, 5 May 2011
Good afternoon everyone and thank you for asking me to this session.
I am actually an applied entomologist and had a really good time for about 15 years in the MAF Research Division and then MAF Technology before it was turned into AgResearch. I have a debt of gratitude to MAF for putting me through half of my MSc and then my PhD at Lincoln. Those who were then my bosses were great leaders and seemed particularly tolerant of the foibles of the callow neophyte I was then. People like Peter O’Hara, Robin Scott, Russ Ballard, David Joblin, Bill Kain, Rod East and many others were remarkably patient, encouraging and constructive. Indeed, MAF made such an imprint on me that when I am tired or distracted or both, I occasionally still refer to AgResearch as MAF, which is embarrassing for...
The Biological Control Agents introduced to New Zealand (BCANZ) database is now available to help regulators and researchers find information on biological control agents that have been introduced to New Zealand to help manage weed and invertebrate pests.
The database currently contains records for 720 introductions of 518 biological control agents against 126 targets (25 weeds and 101 invertebrates). This information is being constantly updated.
Initiated originally by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA NZ), BCANZ is now maintained by Better Border Biosecurity (B3).
The database includes information for each organism on the date it was imported, where it was imported from, whether or not it was eventually released into the New Zealand environment, how many organisms were released and when and if the organism established in New Zealand. A comprehensive set of references enables users to locate further information about each agent.
The...
Lisa Berndt (Scion)
The programme ‘Better Border Biosecurity’ (B3) is a partnership between research providers (AgResearch, Plant and Food Research, Scion and Lincoln University) and end users (MAF BNZ, ERMA New Zealand, Department of Conservation and the Forest Biosecurity Research Council). One of the research priorities identified in the partnership has been to assist those applying to ERMA NZ for approval for new biocontrol agent introductions to better meet the HSNO Act Section 36 Minimum Standards. An example of where assistance may be useful is in predicting and explaining the likelihood (which can be minuscule) of a new introduction displacing native species, or causing other deterioration of natural habitats.
When considering the release of a new biological control agent into New Zealand, the Biosecurity and HSNO Acts require that ERMA NZ take "the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, water, sites, wahi...
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