Now is the ideal time to check your property for the noxious weed serrated tussock (Nassella trichotoma). The recent rains and warm start to spring in some parts of Victoria has been good for pastures and crops, but unfortunately, also good for the growth of serrated tussock. Controlling serrated tussock before the plant goes to seed is critical to prevent further spread, lost productivity and increased control requirements.

“Before seeding, serrated tussock has a lime green appearance. When seeding the flowerheads have a distinctive purple colour developing as the seeds ripen in late spring and early summer. These features help serrated tussock stand out from the native tussock grasses,” Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Party Chairperson Lance Jennison said.

The VSTWP has developed an online video and information sheet to help landowners identify the unwanted grass, at http://www.serratedtussock.com/how-identify-serrated-tussock

“Serrated tussock has a fine leaf and will roll smoothly between the index finger and thumb, while native tussocks feel as though they have flat edges,” Mr Jennison said. “The leaves also feel rough when you run your fingers downwards due to fine serrations,” he said. “A mature serrated tussock plant can produce thousands of seeds in a season, blowing up to 20 kilometres from the parent plant.”

Before they flower and seed, serrated tussock plants can be controlled with a registered herbicide, manual removal or cultivation . “Having a healthy pasture and competitive ground cover is one of the most important aspects to weed management. Serrated tussock is a prime example of a weed that does not like competition and well established pastures,” Mr Jennison said.

It’s estimated that serrated tussock now covers more than 250,000 hectares of land in Victoria. Treating plants prior to seeding is vital to prevent further spread across Victoria and impacts on our agricultural and environmental assets. It is best to control serrated tussock before it gets out of control. Large infestations require ongoing management and the integration of a number of control techniques, which can cost large sums of money and time.

The VSTWP recently commissioned case studies on the economic costs of not treating serrated tussock, which concluded that if serrated tussock is left to infest a property or landscape, the cost of controlling it will be at least five times higher than if it was prevented in the first instance”. This is a massive cost saving and an important message to deliver to landowners who have untreated plants on their property.

For further information, please visit www.serratedtussock.com, or contact the VSTWP on

info@serratedtussock.com

An invitation to participate in a photographic workshop in Glenlyon

Bats, bees, birds, butterflies, insects, moths, and wind each assist plants with the pollination process using unique, highly specialized and diverse methods. To date, no study has been conducted on pollinators in the Upper Campaspe Catchment – and that is where you come in!

We would like to encourage you, the Upper Campaspe Catchment community, to record, photograph and report on the many specialised native plant-pollinator relationships that you observe in your area.

We would love you to join our team of Citizen Scientists creating a data base of indigenous pollinators in the Upper Campaspe catchment!

As part of our Pollinator Project, we are inviting you to spend the weekend with the UCLN in Glenlyon on 8 & 9 October from 1pm to 4pm, and learn how to ‘photograph’ native insects from our resident pollinator photographer – UCLN President John Walter.

The Pollinators in Focus workshop will be run in two parts over two days – Saturday 8th will be theory based at the Glenlyon Town Hall, while Sunday 9th will be a practical run in a local private garden!

Please email ucln@uppercampaspelandcare.org or call UCLN Landcare Facilitator, Rebekah on 0432 491 789 to reserve your place!

For more images of your local pollinators or to share images you have taken, please visit our iNaturalistAU Projects:

UCLN Pollinator Hunters

or

UCLN Pollinators of Central Victoria

Join Pollinator Ecologist, Dr Amy-Marie Gilpin, Research Fellow at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, ONLINE at 7pm on Thursday 8th September as she talks us through the present and future impacts of climate change on our native pollinators.

Tickets are available via EVENTBRITE or you can join us directly by clicking the following ZOOM link.

DR AMY-MARIE GILPIN

The following is taken from Dr Amy-Marie Gilpin’s website

I am particularly interested in the ecology of pollinators and the pollination function they provide both within agricultural and native ecosystems. My research to date has largely focused on identifying the pollinators of agriculturally important crops within both temperate and tropical regions of Australia and the floral resources that support healthy pollinator populations within agroecosystems. I employ a variety of methods from multiple disciplines including large-scale manipulative field and glasshouse experiments to determine the effects of climate change on floral resources and pollinators. I use an integrative approach to understand firstly who are the pollinators and then what is there effect on surrounding plants, ecosystems, plant mating systems, seed fitness as well as fruit quality and yield.

ABOUT THIS EVENT

This event is funded by the NRM Drought Resilience Program – Grants. The grants support projects that contribute to improved drought resilience of agricultural landscapes through experimentation in NRM practices, systems and approaches that go beyond current best practice.

This event forms part of the Upper Campaspe Landcare Network’s NRM Drought Resilience Grant project – Empowering an informed and engaged community to allow for the creation of connecting pollinator corridors through the Upper Campaspe Catchment to ensure environmental resilience and improved functionality of drought threatened agricultural landscapes.