David Briese

David Briese
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation | CSIRO · Division of Ecosystem Sciences

B.Sc(Hons) PhD

About

140
Publications
38,981
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Introduction
Now retired and have gone walkabout - check out http://www.gang-gang.net/nomad to see where. There is life after science.
Skills and Expertise
Additional affiliations
April 1971 - June 1974
Australian National University
Position
  • PostDoc Position

Publications

Publications (140)
Chapter
Full-text available
Australian Weed Management Systems, edited by Brian Sindel, was published in 2000 as an initiative of the Cooperative Research Centre for Weed Management Systems to develop a syllabus for Weed Science and produce an associated textbook. In 2007, authors of the chapters in this book were invited to revise and update their contributions for a planned...
Article
Full-text available
A comparison was made of the STR markers on the Y-chromosome of eight individuals bearing the surname Briese. Based on paper records, two of these individuals were known to be related, but relationships could not be determined for others. The genetic study showed three distinct genetic lineages bearing the Briese surname. Five of the eight were sho...
Chapter
Full-text available
Blue heliotrope (Heliotropium amplexicaule), a toxic perennial herbaceous plant from South America, has become an increasingly serious pasture weed in south-eastern Qld and north-eastern NSW since its introduction in the late 19th century. Following preliminary surveys in its native range in the early 1990s, a biological control project was carried...
Article
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Between 1993 and 1999 a biological control program focused on the establishment and redistribution of the stem boring weevil Lixus cardui on its host Onopordum thistles in south-eastern Australia. Three release strategies (caged, free-release and stem release) were assessed as a part of a redistribution process that involved engagement with communi...
Article
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Over the past 30 years, protocols for the selection of test plants used to determine the host range of candidate biological control agents have remained largely unchanged. Using the case of the root-feeding flea beetle, Longitarsus sp., a candidate agent for biological control of Heliotropium amplexicaule in Australia, this paper describes a “moder...
Chapter
These proceedings contain the full-length papers and abstracts of papers presented at the symposium. Subjects covered include: ecology and modelling in biological control of weeds; benefits, risks and cost analysis of biological weed control; target and biological control agent selection; pre-release specificity and efficacy testing; regulations an...
Article
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Abstract Between 1992 and 2000, seven insect agents were released in Australia for the biological control of Onopordum spp. thistles. This paper describes the protocol used for the selection of these agents, starting with the development of a preliminary strategy, based on the ecology and population dynamics of the target weed. The strategy informe...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
The centrifugal phylogenetic method (CPM) has been the standard for selecting test plants used to determine the host-specificity of weed biological control agents for the past 30 years. During that time it has undergone little or no scrutiny, despite considerable advances in the understanding of plant and insect phylogenetic relationships and the e...
Article
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In its modern era, the discipline of biological control can be perceived as being subject to a series of tensions due to differences in philosophy, different needs, and different practices; these include the view that biological control is environmentally friendly and desirable vs. the view that any organism alien to a particular habitat should be...
Article
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Broad-leaved weeds in pasture, such as Carduus nutans, Onopordum spp. and Echium plantagineum are a major problem for graziers in southern Australia. Previous attempts to combat these weeds with a single technique have only resulted in short-term success. An approach to long-term control, combining biological control with different grazing and herb...
Article
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The life-cycle of the stem-boring weevil, Lixus cardui, was found to be closely synchronized to the phenology of its host plant, Onopordum spp., based on an experiment in which adults of this biological control agent were caged on individual plants in a natural population of these thistles. The mean lifespan of female L. cardui covered the whole 2-...
Article
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Abstract Exotic weeds pose a problem of considerable economic and environmental importance to Australia. As a consequence, Australia has developed into a leading centre of research on weed biological control, with over 60 weeds the targets of past and current projects. Using primarily entomological examples, this review highlights the contributions...
Conference Paper
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Nassella trichotoma (serrated tussock) and Nassella neesiana (Chilean needle-grass) are the two most widespread and damaging species of stipoid grasses that have been introduced into Australia. A project was set up in 1999 in Argentina to investigate the potential of pathogens as biological control agents for these species. A Corticiaceae fungus fo...
Article
Hypericum perforatum , St John's wort, is an invasive perennial herb that is especially problematic on waste ground, roadsides, pastures and open woodland in south‐eastern Australia. We use detailed data from a long‐term observational study to develop quantitative models of the factors affecting growth, survival and fecundity of H. perforatum indiv...
Article
Hypericum perforatum , St John's wort, is an invasive weed of natural and agro‐ecosystems in south‐eastern Australia. In previous work we used a long‐term data set to determine which plant traits and environmental factors influence population growth and persistence in this species. These results were then used to parameterize an individual‐based mo...
Article
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Feeding by larvae of the crown fly, Botanophila spinosa, was found to directly reduce the growth of Onopordum acanthium rosettes during spring and to indirectly reduce the subsequent growth of flowering stems and seed production. The impact of feeding damage by larvae was greatest when plants were attacked in early spring and declined to be non-sig...
Article
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This biological control workshop, organised by the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Australian Weed Management, included sessions on agent selection, host-specificity testing, and different aspects of evaluating weed biological control programs. A key purpose of this workshop was to enable scientists involved in weed biological control from no...
Article
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This paper describes an open-field host-specificity test conducted to make a preliminary evaluation of the safety of four candidate agents for the biological control of Heliotropium amplexicaule, an invasive weed of South American origin. These agents were a leaf-eating beetle, Deuterocampta quadrijuga, a flea-beetle, Longitarsus sp., that feeds on...
Article
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Paterson's curse and related weeds (Echium spp.) were introduced as garden flowers before 1850 and have spread to over 30 million ha in southern Australia. Four hundred successful releases of crown weevil (M. lawatus) populations specifically targeting Echium spp. were made in the 1993–2000 period. Based on the timing, location and performance of t...
Article
Full-text available
This paper describes the host-specificity testing of the leaf-beetle, Deuterocampta quadrijuga, a candidate agent for the biological control of blue heliotrope, Heliotropium amplexicaule, in Australia. Selection of plants for testing was based on three elements of potential risk; phylogenetic relatedness, biogeographic overlap, and ecological simil...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Blue heliotrope, Heliotropium amplexi-caule Vahl, an herbaceous perennial plant of South American origin, is becoming an increasingly serious weed problem in grazing lands of northern NSW South Wales and southern Queensland, where it competes with desirable summer pasture species and is toxic to stock. Herbicides have had limited success in reducin...
Article
Full-text available
Several European thistle species of the genus Onopordum have become naturalized in Australia and are considered serious pasture weeds, leading to a project aimed at their biological control. The population structure of a potential control agent, the crown weevil Trichosirocalus briesei , a newly described member of the Trichosirocalus horridus spec...
Article
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This paper describes a series of host-specificity tests carried out to evaluate the safety of eight insects for release in Australia as biological control agents of Onopordum spp. thistles; Larinus latus L., Lixus cardui Ol. and Trichosirocalus briesei Alonso-Zarazaga & Sanchez-Ruiz (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Tephritis postica Loew and Urophora t...
Article
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A strategy is described for the biological control of exotic Onopordum spp. thistles in Australia. This strategy is based on identification of critical transitional stages in the life-cycle of the weed and targeting a complementary group of insect herbivores against these stages. The strategy has both long- and short-term aims and is focussed on th...
Article
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Surveys of pathogens attacking N. trichotoma and N. neesiana in South America have identified three pathogens showing potential for biological control. These are a rust, Puccinia nassellae, a smut, Ustilago sp. and a Corticiaceae basidiomycete fungus. Different strains of the P. nassellae have been found attacking N. trichotoma and N. neesiana. Dif...
Article
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The comparative biology of two anthomyiid flies with potential for biological control of their host thistles, Botanophila turcica on Carthamus lanatus and Botanophila spinosa on Onopordum acanthium, was studied using field surveys and collections, and by rearing collected eggs and larvae in the laboratory in southern France. The thistle hosts are s...
Technical Report
Full-text available
Foreword Serrated tussock (Nassella trichotoma) and Chilean needle grass (Nassella neesiana) are two related species of South American grass that are highly invasive in southeastern Australia. They pose a substantial threat to Australian pastures and to native grasslands, and both species have been declared weeds of national significance under the...
Chapter
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This book contains 11 chapters by 35 contributors, which are noticed elsewhere. The papers were presented at an international symposium held in Montpellier, France, on 17-20 October 1999.
Article
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Based on the timing and location of 400 successful releases of insects specifically targeting Echium species of weeds including PatersonÕs curse / ÒSalvation JaneÓ since 1992 across southern Australia, and estimates of insect attack and spread rates according to dates of weed germination, a benefit / cost analysis is developed for the biological co...
Article
Full-text available
1. The impact of the oligophagous capitulum weevil Larinus latus on seed production by its host Onopordum species was studied in its native range in order to assess its potential as a biological control agent of these thistles in Australia. 2. Field surveys in Greece during 1988–89 showed a strong positive relationship between attack levels of L. l...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
It is a widely held premise amongst biological control practitioners that an agent released into a new range free from constraints such as specific natural enemies will per- form better than in its native range. However, differences in performance between an agent in its introduced and native range have seldom been quantified to test this premise....
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Several stipoid grasses of temperate South American origin have invaded Australia. One of these, Nassella trichotoma, is considered the most important grass weed of pas- tures in south-eastern Australia, while another, Nassella neesiana is viewed as a serious threat to native Australian grasslands. Blue heliotrope, Heliotropium amplexicaule, a toxi...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Experience has repeatedly shown that accurate identification of the target weed(s) for a biological control project is critical to the success of a biological control project. This is particularly true where the weed may comprise different biotypes or be part of a species complex, where hybridisation is suspected or where the agent - host plant rel...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
It is a widely held premise amongst biological control practitioners that an agent released into a new range free from constraints such as specific natural enemies will perform better than in its native range. However, differences in performance between an agent in its introduced and native range have seldom been quantified to test this premise. Th...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Abslract We present data confirming the isolation of, and subsequent evolution of, hybrid lineages from parental species of the Eurasian thisfle g enus Onopordum. Contemporary patterns of genetic diversity in Australian (alien) and hjsiorical patterns from European (native) Onopordum both indicate that hybridization has played a significant role in...
Article
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Several recent molecular developments provide new genetic tools for addressing difficult problems in weed ecology. In this review, we describe some of the techniques and the DNA markers they generate [including amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs), simple sequence repeats (SSRs) or microsatellites, and intron-polymerase chain reaction (i...
Article
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We explore the evolution of delayed, size-dependent reproduction in the monocarpic perennial Onopordum illyricum, using a range of mathematical models, parameterized with long-term field data. Analysis of the long-term data indicated that mortality, flowering, and growth were age and size dependent. Using mixed models, we estimated the variance abo...
Chapter
Full-text available
Biological control of terrestrial weeds using insect herbivores has been practised in many countries throughout the world for nearly one and a half centuries. The first documented case was in the 1860s, when the cochineal insect Dactylopius ceylonicus (Green) was introduced from India into Sri Lanka, where it successfully controlled prickly pear ca...
Article
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Onopordum L. (Compositae) is an extremely diverse genus of thistles, which includes several species that have become serious pasture weeds in several regions of the world. We present a comparison of the genetic diversity in invasive forms of Onopordum from Australia with several known native European species. A total of 108 polymorphic genetic mark...
Article
Full-text available
The potential for biological control of the weedy grass, Nassella trichotoma, in Australia is discussed in the light of recent surveys for pathogens in its native range and an improved understanding of the taxonomic relationships of Nassella to other Australian and South American genera of the tribe Stipeae. This information gives increased optimis...
Article
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A key element for achieving a successful outcome to a biological control programme is the effective redistribution of agents throughout the range of infestation of the target weed. Australian biological control workers have enjoyed a good reputation for scientifically based and systematic studies leading to the selection, release and establishment...
Article
Full-text available
A thorough understanding of the ecology of St. John's wort and the processes that drive the population dynamics of infestations is a key to the management of this weed. However, while some aspects of the weed's biology have been studied in the seventy years of research on its control in Australia, there has been only one study devoted to its ecolog...
Article
Full-text available
The eriophyid mite, Aculus hyperici, was released in Australia in 1991 for the biological control of St. John's wort, Hypericum perforatum. Establishment was variable, with some sites showing rapid increases in mite populations to levels at which plant damage was observed after two years, while others failed completely. Differences could not all be...
Article
Full-text available
Work on the biological control of St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) in Australia first commenced almost seventy years ago, and has passed through a number of discrete phases, leading up to the current program of work. A total of 15 agents have been studied in some detail with a view to introduction, and 12 of these were eventually released....
Article
Full-text available
St. John's wort has been a problem weed in south-eastern Australian landscapes for the last 100 years. Its toxicity to stock and its perennial habit made St. John's wort an early and serious pest of pastures, and led to several attempts at control by chemicals, pasture management and biological control (see Groves 1997, Briese 1997b). Despite subse...
Article
Full-text available
Biological control of weeds has been traditionally associated with pastoral or cultivated land-use systems. Recently though, there has been increasing discussion of the possibility of biological control of weeds that have invaded national parks and native forests. However, a completely different set of management strategies applies in such land-use...
Article
Full-text available
Data are presented on allozyme variation between 15 populations of the stenophagous capitulum weevil, Larinus cynarae, and three populations of its congener, L. latus, that had been collected throughout the northern mediterranean range of these species. A phenetic analysis of these data revealed no direct relationship between genetic variation and...
Conference Paper
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Article
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Using plants grown in large field cages, it was shown that heavy feeding by the weevil, Lixus cardui, reduced both the plant growth and reproductive capacity of Onopordum thistles. At high initial densities of adult weevils, the plant height and biomass were reduced by up to 50%. Fewer capitula were produced on Lixus -attacked plants, and these wer...
Article
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Female Larinus latus lay eggs into the capitula of their Onopordum spp. host plants from the onset of capitulum development until the completion of flowering. This tight linkage between insect life-history and plant development optimised larval survival, apart from some initial asynchrony between the readiness of the females to oviposit and the sui...