Research Project
Researchers: Darren Crayn (Principal investigator, Principal or Chief Investigator) , Jennifer Firn (Principal investigator, Principal or Chief Investigator)
Full description This research project aims to support the strategic management of Australia’s World-Heritage Gondwana Rainforests and Wet Tropics forests from the impacts of the invasive disease myrtle rust, caused by the fungal pathogen Austropuccinia psidii. Our research efforts will focus on understanding which ecosystem attributes increase the vulnerability of forests to myrtle rust and better understand the consequences of losing certain native tree and shrub species from forests. Understanding forest dynamics and the ecological role that different Myrtaceae species play in different forest types will focus future management and restoration efforts by setting the foundations for a myrtle rust susceptibility model aimed at guiding investment and fortifying biosecurity monitoring protocols.
