Root rot disease
Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2005
Healthy natural environments provide a range of direct and indirect benefits to the community, in addition to the intrinsic value of biodiversity. The disease caused by the introduced plant root pathogen, Phytophthora cinnamomi, threatens these values and benefits. This disease is often difficult to detect and its impact may be significant before it is detected. Depending upon environmental conditions and plant susceptibility, the pathogen can destroy vegetation communities. P. cinnamomi threatens several plant species with extinction.
The disease caused by P. cinnamomi is listed as Key Threatening Processes under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EBPC Act). A Threat Abatement Plan (TAP) has been prepared to provide a national strategy to manage the impact on biodiversity.
The Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts has funded several projects which identify and test management options for the disease and improve our understanding of the pathogen and its effects:
- a project 'Management of Phytophthora cinnamomi for Biodiversity Conservation in Australia' reviews current management approaches, identifies benchmarks for best practice, and develops of risk assessment criteria and a system for prioritising management of assets that are or could be threatened by P. cinnamomi.
- the Department has commissioned research into natural and induced resistance in Australian native vegetation of Phytophthora cinnamomi and innovative methods to contain and/or eradicate within localised incursions in areas of high biodiversity in Australia via the following three reports
- Enhancing the efficacy of phosphite with the addition/supplementation of other chemicals such as those known to be involved in resistance
- Does the physiological status of the plant at the time of spraying affect the efficacy of phosphite?
- Eradication of Phytophthora cinnamomi from spot infections in native plant communities in Western Australia and Tasmania
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