Weed research spells end for wattle

One of the worst environmental scourges to hit the Great Southern could be eradicated in the near future thanks to an Albany woman’s ground-breaking research.

Sydney golden wattle, which spreads fast and quickly kills and replaces native WA bushland, is at plague proportions in Albany, but Department of Agriculture and Food biosecurity officer Jennifer Westwood is hopeful the weed could be defeated soon.

As part of her masters in weed biosecurity, Ms Westwood tested millions of seeds to determine if smoke water, herbicides and microwaves could control invasive weeds, including Sydney golden wattle, by preventing seed germination in soil.

Senior research scientist John Moore said Ms Westwood’s findings offered “new hope” for eradication efforts of the insidious weed that had been thwarted in the past by dormant seeds remaining in the soil for decades.

“Sydney golden wattle is the worst environmental weed in Albany and has dormant seed banks,” Mr Moore said.

“The infestation doubles every five years, which would mean about 300 hectares per year are invaded. A big part of the problem is seeds being spread by birds.

“Jennifer’s work will control seed in the soil which would normally germinate over the next 10 years. This gives us the potential to eradicate a wattle infestation in a single year.”

Ms Westwood’s work with microwaves involved burying bags of seeds in soil, then microwaving them.

“The radiation penetrated the soil … then I waited for it to cool and left it in sunlight to see if they would germinate,” Ms Westwood said. “I also tested them again six to eight weeks later to see if germination had been delayed or prevented.”

Her findings have resulted in collaboration with the University of Melbourne to produce larger machines suitable for field use.

Mr Moore said the next step would be to prove Ms Westwood’s findings were as effective in field conditions as they had been in the laboratory.

Sydney golden wattle has become a persistent pest since introduced in Albany in the 1980s. One bush had grown up to 10m high.