Cure for Bellyache
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The flowering behaviour of Bellyache Bush will help determine the potential rate of spread of the destructive northern weed.
UQ Gatton graduate Kirsty Wild completed her Bachelor of Agricultural Science honours' research on the plant at the Tropical Weeds Research Centre in Charters Towers with the help of a scholarship from the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Australian Weed Management.
She was one of three UQ Gatton honours graduates to complete projects in cooperation with Natural Resources and Mines weed specialists at Charters Towers.
"Weed control is an important issue to the future sustainability of our rangelands and our students are making meaningful contributions," lecturer Dr Len Bahnisch said.
Ms Wild, from Mackay, studied the emerging threat to northern rangelands posed by bellyache bush, introduced from South America.
She worked with potted specimens of the plant and studied a roadside infestation south of Charters Towers.
Linda Anderson, from Theodore, also secured a CRC scholarship to examine the effects of moisture and temperature on the germination of five species of woody weed.
Tanya Robertson, an Inglewood Landcare facilitator, also completed a weeds research project in her honours year at UQ Gatton.
