Exotic diseases represent a significant threat to Australia’s unique fauna and flora.
Dramatic declines in frog numbers in the 1970s were initially blamed on habitat destruction associated with logging. It was not until twenty years later that the disease Chytridiomycosis caused by the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis was positively identified and is now officially recognized as the cause of four species extinctions. The disease is thought to have spread from Africa.
The Myrtle rust is an exotic disease from South America with the potential to infest many Australian native plants including Eucalyptus. The disease was first detected in Australia on the Central Coast of New South Wales in April 2010. Recently it was found in southeastern Queensland. In an attempt to stop the spread of the disease it is rumoured some National Parks could be closed to visitors.
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Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.