Study to investigate effects of Lantana on soil biodiversity

Dr Pete Turner & Dr Paul Downey (NSW Dept Environment & Climate Change), Heidi Case, Dr Andy Le Brocque and Dr John Dearnaley (ACSC).

A masters student from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ)'s Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchments (ACSC) will undertake a research project to determine the effect of nationally-significant environmental weed, Lantana camara, on soil biodiversity.
 
Funded in part by the NSW Department of Environment & Climate Change, the ground-breaking study will be conducted by Master of Science student, Heidi Case and will use advanced molecular techniques to compare the DNA of fungi in Lantana-infested soils with soils free of the weed. 
 
'Recent estimates suggest up to 120 native species of plants and animals in Queensland alone may be threatened by the weed that has invaded at least 4 million hectares in eastern Australia,' Heidi said.

The study will examine the impacts of lantana on the vegetation and soils across a broad range of open forests/woodlands on the range escarpment from Crows Nest to Flagstone Creek south of Toowoomba and out to Mt Kent, near Greenmount.
 
Changes to the soil microscopic organisms associated with Lantana invasion will be investigated in the project which will be supervised by USQ Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Sustainability Dr Andy Le Brocque and Senior Lecturer in Plant Science Dr John Dearnaley. 
 
'There has been some considerable research into the effects of Lantana on bushland flora and fauna, however, research has focussed on above-ground components of invaded systems,' Dr Le Brocque said.

'We know nothing of what happens to the microscopic biodiversity within the soils.'

Almost all plant roots, including most crop species, are colonised by microscopic fungi which are essential for inorganic nutrient uptake in plants, Dr Dearnaley said. 
 
'Lantana is known to release chemicals that can suppress the growth of native plant species and possibly also these important fungi,' he said.
 
'It is quite likely that many of the fungal species Heidi identifies will be new to science.'

Very recently developed techniques in molecular ecology will be used to identify any differences in fungal species diversity and composition between lantana-infested and lantana-free sites in the study area.

'Essentially, the technique extracts fungal DNA from the soil, which can then be identified using an international database,' Heidi said.

Dr Paul Downey and Dr Pete Turner from the Department of Environment & Climate Change, are coordinating a major inter-state project into Lantana and showed considerable interest in Heidi’s preliminary results. They were also excited by other potential research opportunities in this area.

Further information on this research can be obtained from Dr Andy Le Brocque (telephone +61 7 4631 1529, email lebrocq@usq.edu.au).
 
Media Contact: Jane Urquhart USQ Media +61 7 4631 2559