Myrtle Rust National Symposium
Galvanising action to conserve native plant species threatened by myrtle rust.
23-25 March 2021
The Foundation and partners are convening a National Myrtle Rust Symposium, everyone welcome.
The symposium will bring key stakeholders together to build a community of interest, share knowledge and build co-ordination and implementation of the National Action Plan. Presenters will share the latest research, response, surveillance and conservation activity, framed against the Action Plan. Workshop sessions and discussion will aim to maximise the effectiveness of the Plan in reducing the risk of new strain entering Australia, reduce the risk of greater spread, understand the impacts on both species and ecologies, and options for conservation of threatened species.
This is a hybrid event where key stakeholders come together in Ballina, NSW to work through ways of implementing the National Action Plan, combined with an online event to share the latest research, activities and thinking to a broader audience.
Register here.
Sessions will follow the structure of the National Action Plan:
• Enabling the Response
• Awareness and engagement
• Impact Assessment
• Towards Recovery
• Biosecurity
• Summary and Galvanising Action
Presenters: If you are interested in presenting (face-to-face, online or pre-record) please submit an abstract using the template available on the Registration site or below, and then email it to mractionplan@apbsf.org.au. You will need to register for the event.
For more information, or sponsorship opportunities, please contact the Foundation through mractionplan@apbsf.org.au or Michael Robinson on 0419992914.
The Symposium Planning Committee
- Michael Robinson (Plant Biosecurity Science Foundation)
- Geoff Pegg (QDAF)
- Angus Carnegie (NSWDPI)
- Bob Makinson (ANPC)
- Brett Summerell (NRBG)
- Alistair McTaggart (UQ)
- Julie Quinn (DAWE)
- Rachel Morgain (Threatened Species Hub)
Please review the Foundation’s range of Myrtle Rust projects below.
The Myrtle Rust National Action Plan
Myrtle Rust is a plant disease caused by the introduced fungal pathogen Austropuccinia psidii and it poses a serious and urgent threat to Australia’s native biodiversity. Myrtle Rust affects plant species in the family Myrtaceae (paperbarks, tea-trees, eucalypts, and lillipillies), which are key and often dominant species in most Australian ecosystems. To date it has proved capable of infecting 382 native species and this number is growing. Serious declines towards extinction are underway in some species, and broader ecological consequences are expected. Myrtle Rust is likely to have a significant impact on matters of national environmental significance protected under national environment law, including listed threatened species and ecological communities, wetlands of international importance, world heritage sites, and national heritage places.
The Myrtle Rust in Australia: National Action Plan can be downloaded (screen version) or booklet printable version here.
The Action Plan is supported by Myrtle Rust reviewed: The impacts of the invasive plant pathogen Austropuccinia psidii on the Australian environment (R.O. Makinson 2018), a valuable resource to be read in conjunction with the National Action Plan.
For further information on the Plan, please email info@apbsf.org.au.
Proactive pre-border vigilance against exotic strains of myrtle rust (PBSF033)
Impact of myrtle rust infection on community composition and ecological function (PBSF038)
Using metabolites as biomarkers for the identification of innate resistance to myrtle rust across the Myrtaceae (PBSF037)
Quantifying impacts of exotic myrtle rust and endemic pathogens in highly disturbed forests (PBSF036)
Myrtle Rust in Western Australia: surveillance plan and testing preparedness (PBSF035)
Exploration of RNAi vaccines as a novel control for Myrtle Rust in critically endangered Australian taxa (PBSF034)
Environmental Biosecurity – Adding a Cultural Context (PBSF031)
Fire and rust – impact of myrtle rust on regeneration of fire damaged Myrtaceae and associated ecosystems (PBSF029)
Expanding environmental biosecurity capacity to protect unique ecosystems on K’gari (Fraser Island) (PBSF025)
Developing molecular ‘fingerprinting’ of myrtle rust disease to facilitate strategies in monitoring and control (PBSF023)
Enhancing community capacity to assess the impacts of myrtle rust on rainforest Myrtaceae in ecologically and culturally significant lowland subtropical rainforests associated with World Heritage Gondwana Rainforest ecosystems (PBSF020)
Resolution of disease epidemiology and detection of genetic and genotypic diversity in Australian populations of myrtle rust (PBSF018)
Myrtle Rust Masterclass – Community Awareness (PBSF009) COMPLETE
Expanding environmental biosecurity capacity to protect our unique ecosystems (PBSF012 COMPLETE)
Expanding Indigenous communities biosecurity surveillance and monitoring capacity to care for country and to protect country from pest and diseases (PBSF011)
Plant Epidemiology: host susceptibility to Myrtle Rust (PBSF004)