[Pil-pc-oceania] Tim Low: Melb Sept 28th: Talk re invasive species (& prospect of biofuel crops seriously worsening our weed problems)

[Deb Guildner]

"(including) the prospect of biofuel crops seriously worsening our weed problems..."

Link: http://www.vnpa.org.au/level3a.php?page_ID=9&page_level2_I=&page_level3_ID=215

RE: Climate Change and Invasive Species - Turning Nature on its Head




What: Public talk by celebrated author and biologist Tim Low.
When: Wednesday, September 26 at 7.30pm.
Where: Space 39, Level 2, 39 Little Collins Street, Melbourne.
To Book: Email your name and details to info at vnpa.org.au or phone (03) 9341 6508.
Download flyer (240kb pdf).


Under climate change Australia can expect more floods, cyclones, fires and droughts, but what does this mean for our natural environment?

Could increased temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns expose our native plants and animals to yet another threat?

Tim Low, celebrated biologist and author of six books including Feral Future and The New Nature, arrives in Melbourne next month with a warning for everyone who cares about the environment.

"A warmer world will mean a weedier, more pest-infested and diseased world. Not only will climate change create many losers, but also winners we would rather not have," he says.

"Severe weather patterns bringing more fires, drought, floods and cyclones will stress our forests, woodlands and marine environments, opening them up to invasion by pests and weeds that could do great harm."

An invasive species has already caused the world's first climate change extinctions. In Latin America more than 70 harlequin frog species vanished recently after changing cloud patterns allowed chytrid fungus, a deadly frog pathogen, to spread higher into the mountains.

Under climate change, even native species are triggering problems by spreading southwards. In the waters of Tasmania, a sea urchin from New South Wales is eliminating the kelp beds that sustain marine biodiversity.

Tim's talk will also take in ants, moths, cane toads, rabbits, kookaburras, vines, and the prospect of biofuel crops seriously worsening our weed problems. He will tell us how governments and individuals can work together to counter the threat.

Late last year Tim ran a workshop in Canberra about climate change and invasive species, then wrote up the findings into a report for the Federal Government. 

Tim is Project Officer at the Invasive Species Council, one of eight environment groups that have joined forces to form the Victoria Naturally alliance, an organisation committed to overturning Victoria's biodiversity crisis.

The alliance's Carrie Deutsch says environmental weeds are one of the biggest drivers of habitat loss and degradation in Victoria and that feral animals such as foxes, cats, rabbits and trout threaten many of our rare and endangered species.

"Deer, carp and rabbits are all very good at destroying habitat for our native species and pushing them out of their home," she says. "And weedy garden plants are continually escaping into our parks and reserves where they smother native vegetation and destroy important habitat for our wildlife.

"The State Government should heed Tim's warnings about future pest invasions under climate change and make sure its Land and Biodiversity White Paper inquiry gets tough on feral animals and invasive weeds."

For more information on the Invasive Species Council go to www.invasives.org.au.



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