Forest protection

Forest protection research addresses the industry challenges of:

• reducing the impact of pests and diseases by maintaining sustainable, healthy forests that support better wood quality and wood products
• implementing effective biosecurity practices to minimise the risk of introducing new, native or exotic pests or diseases.

Our research

Developing effective support tools for managing pests, diseases and nutritional problems in production forests

Targeted laboratory and field studies of key pests and diseases aim to identify effective and sustainable ways to manage damaging insects and disease pathogens. Our laboratories are equipped for discovering and developing insect-based chemical attractants to use in insect management tools. Our expertise in soils and plant nutrition supports plantation management for wood quality and sustainable tree health and productivity.

Protecting our forests from biosecurity threats

Working with Biosecurity Queensland, we develop systems for early detection, rapid response and surveillance, and we collaborate internationally to provide over-the-horizon surveillance of emerging threats.

Developing commercial tree varieties with resistance to pests and diseases

Forest health and tree improvement scientists collaborate to screen trees for pest and disease resistance to select superior germplasm for future forests.

Case studies

Protecting plantations – keeping a step ahead of the pests New surveillance strategies are reducing the risk of pine pests reaching Queensland’s valuable pine plantations.

Identifying resistance to myrtle rust in eucalypts Forestry scientists are testing commercially-important tree species for their susceptibility to myrtle rust to discover varieties to include in future tree breeding programs.