Grasses as suitable targets for classical weed biological control

Michael Day and several colleagues have just published “Grasses as suitable targets for classical weed biological control” in BioControl. Grasses are amongst the most abundant and environmentally damaging invasive weeds worldwide. However, grasses have been less actively pursued as targets for biological control due to a perceived lack of sufficiently specialised and damaging natural enemies and because of the risks posed to economically important crop/pasture species and closely-related native species. This paper reviewed the literature which indicated that grasses can possess suitably host-specific and damaging natural enemies and that the associated risks are no greater than for other weedy taxa if practitioners follow appropriately rigorous risk assessments protocols.

Sutton, G.F., Canavan, K., Day, M.D., den Breeyen, A., Goolsby, J.A., Cristofaro, M., McConnachie, A. and Paterson, I.D. 2019. Grasses as suitable targets for classical weed biological control. BioControl 64(6): 605-622.