Download WRA_E.baccans_notes - Department of Primary Industries, Parks

Berry heath (Erica baccans) – risk assessment notes
Originates from South Africa (CRC for Australian Weed Management 2007)
Domestication/Cultivation
1.01.
Yes
1.02.
Yes
1.03.
Species highly domesticated?
Naturalised where grown?
Weedy races? No, none known
Climate and distribution
2.01. Suited to Australian climates? Yes, naturalised in Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, South
Australia and New Zealand (Blood 2001, Queensland Government 2015). Climatch indicates moderate
suitability to parts of Tasmania. Victorian Climatch map indicates ‘very high’ potential suitability through
southern and central Victoria (Figure 1) (DEPI 2014). Given naturalisations in four jurisdictions and the
Victorian Climatch finding, E. baccans is given a score of 2.
2.02. Quality of climate match data? Both Victorian and Tasmanian Climatch assessments have been
undertaken - see Figures 1 and 2. They indicate strong suitability to much of southern Australia. Score of
2.
2.03. Broad climate suitability? Yes. Climatch indicates suitability through a broad area of southern
Australia – southern Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, south west New South Wales, and
Tasmania.
2.04. Native/Naturalised in regions with extended dry periods? Yes, in its native region, the driest
quarter of the year averages less than 50mm rainfall (World Weather Online 2016).
2.05. History of repeated introductions outside natural range? Yes, naturalised in Tasmania, Victoria,
Western Australia, South Australia and New Zealand (Blood 2001, Queensland Government 2015).
Weed elsewhere
3.01. Naturalised beyond native range Yes, naturalised in Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, South
Australia and New Zealand (Blood 2001, Queensland Government 2015). Banned from sale in South
Australia and is subject to regulated control in specified areas (Biosecurity SA 2015, PIRSA 2015).
3.02. Garden/amenity/disturbance weed? Yes, ‘garden escape in the south-western and eastern states
of Australia’ (SANBI 2010).
3.03. Weed of agriculture? No, no evidence of this to date.
3.04. Environmental weed? Yes, ‘this species is regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria, South
Australia and Tasmania, and as a potential environmental weed or ‘sleeper weed’ in other parts of
southern Australia’ (Queensland Government 2015).
3.05. Congeneric weed? Yes, same genus as Spanish heath and other weedy heath species
Undesirable traits
4.01. Spines, thorns, burrs? No
4.02. Allelopathic? Yes. Although no specific evidence has been found for this species, Erica species are
recognised as having allelopathic properties that inhibit grasses and crop plants (Rice 1984). This also
reflects the position taken by the Victorian Government invasiveness assessment of E. baccans (DEPI
2014a).
4.03. Parasitic? No, no documented evidence of this found.
4.04. Unpalatable to grazing animals? Yes. Although no specific information was found for this species,
a ‘yes’ response to unpalatability was selected as the judgement was made that it is likely that E.
baccans shares the trait of other Erica species of being largely unpalatable. This also reflects the position
taken by the Victorian Government invasiveness assessment of E.baccans (DEPI 2014).
4.05. Toxic to animals? No, no evidence of this.
4.06. Host to pests and pathogens? No, no documented evidence of this found.
4.07. Toxic to humans? No, no documented evidence of this found.
4.08. Fire hazard? Yes, ‘increases fire risk’ (Blood 2001).
4.09. Shade tolerant? Unknown, no documented evidence of this found. However, another species E.
arborea shows shade tolerance during stages of its life cycle (Ojeda et al 2000).
4.10. Grows in infertile soils? Yes, though there was no specific evidence found for this species, capacity
to grow in infertile soils is a consistent feature of members of the genus. ‘Ericas are capable of normal
nutrition in average soils, but become mycotrophic in soils unfavourable to the direct absorption of
nutrients – such as on a heather moor, where the soil is wholly humus …’ (Underhill 1971).
4.11. Climbing or smothering habit? No, no documented evidence of this found.
4.12. Dense thickets? Yes, seedlings ‘germinate prolifically after fire or on disturbed land’ (SANBI 2010).
Related species E. lusitanica and E. arborea are recorded to form dense thickets (Muyt 2001, Johansson
et al 2009, Nelson 2011).
Plant Type
5.01. Aquatic No
5.02. Grass No
5.03. Nitrogen fixing woody plant? No
5.04. Geophyte? No
Reproduction
6.01. Reproductive failure in native habitat? No
6.02. Viable seed? Yes, ‘many thousands of seeds are produced each year and germinate prolifically
after fire or on disturbed land’ (SANBI 2010).
6.03. Hybridised naturally? No, no documented evidence of this found.
6.04. Self-compatible or apomictic Unknown
6.05. Specialist pollinators? No, no documented evidence of this found.
6.06. Reproduces by vegetative fragmentation? No, no documented evidence of this found.
6.07. Minimum generative time? First flowering 3+ years (DPAW 2015)
Dispersal
7.01. Dispersed unintentionally? Yes, ‘spread by wind, water and in dumped garden waste’ (Blood
2001).
7.02. Dispersed intentionally by people Yes, ‘spread by wind, water and in dumped garden waste’
(Blood 2001). Grown as an ornamental.
7.03. Produce contaminant? No, no documented evidence of this found.
7.04. Wind dispersal? Yes - Carr et al (1992), Csurhes and Edwards (1998), Blood (2001), and DPAW
(2015) list wind as a mechanism of dispersal for E. baccans.
7.05. Propagules buoyant? Yes – Carr et al (1992) Csurhes and Edwards (1998) and Blood (2001) list
water as a mechanism of dispersal for E. baccans. Light seed is likely to be buoyant in overland water
flows.
7.06. Bird dispersed? No – no documented evidence of this found. Likely that as for E. scoparia , ‘the
small seed does not have structures for … zoochorous dispersion’ (Bartolome et al 2005), and are not
recorded to be consumed.
7.06. Dispersed by other animals? No – no documented evidence of this found. Likely that as for E.
scoparia , ‘the small seed does not have structures for … zoochorous dispersion’ (Bartolome et al 2005).
7.07. Propagules survive passage through gut? Unknown, no documented evidence of this found.
Persistence attributes
8.01. Prolific seed production (>2000/m sq.) Yes, ‘many thousands of seeds are produced each year’
(SANBI 2010). Also, this level of seed production was found for E.scoparia (Victorian Government(c)
2008) and E. lusitanica (DPIPWE 2015).
8.02. Persistent seed bank? Yes, 1.6 year seed bank half-life (Holmes and Newton 2004)
8.03. Well controlled by herbicides? Unknown, no documented evidence of this found for E. baccans.
8.04. Benefits from mutilation/cultivation? Unknown, though recorded to ‘resprout from base’ (DPAW
2015).
8.05. Natural enemies in Australia? Unknown, no documented evidence of this found.
Figure 1. Victorian potential distribution map for E. baccans with red indicating ‘very high’ infestation
potential (DEPI 2014).
Figure 2. Climatch assessment for E. baccans using source location from GBIF 2013. Climatch conducted
by Michael Noble 12 February 2016.
References
Bartolome, J., Lopez, Z.G., Boncano M.J. and Plaixats J. (2005). Grassland colonization by Erica scoparia
(L.) in the Montseny Biosphere Reserve (Spain) after land-use changes. Agriculture, Ecosystems and
Environment 111, pp. 253-260.
Biosecurity SA (2015). Plants banned from sale in South Australia. URL:
http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/242715/Plants_banned_from_sale_in_SA_list_Ja
nuary2015.pdf (accessed 14 April 2015).
Blood, K. (2001). Environmental weeds – a field guide for SE Australia. CH Jerram & Associates – science
publishers, Mt Waverley, Victoria.
Carr, G.W., Yugovic, J.V. and Robinson, K.E. (1992). Environmental weed invasions in Victoria –
conservation and land management implications. Department of Conservation and Environment, East
Melbourne, Victoria and Ecological Horticulture Pty Ltd, Clifton Hill, Victoria.
CRC for Australian Weed Management (2007). Weed management guide; Managing weeds for
biodiversity. Spanish heath (Erica lusitanica) and other Erica species.
Csurhes, S. and Edwards, R. (1998). National weeds program potential environmental weeds in Australia
– candidate species for preventative control.
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/weeds/publications/books/potential.html
(accessed 16 January 2016).
Department of Environment and Primary Industries, Victoria (DEPI) (2014). Potential distribution of
berry flower heath (Erica baccans) in Victoria.
http://vro.depi.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/vrosite.nsf/pages/lwm_pest_plants_berry_flower_victoria (accessed
10 February 2015).
Department of Environment and Primary Industries, Victoria (DEPI) (2014a). Invasiveness assessment –
Spanish heath/berry-flower heath (Erica baccans) in Victoria.
http://www.nre.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/vrosite.nsf/0d08cd6930912d1e4a2567d2002579cb/e1700f5cfbced9
19ca2578c30004b340?OpenDocument (accessed 10 February 2015).
Department of Parks and Wildlife, Western Australia (DPAW) (2015). Erica baccans L..
https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/18263 (accessed 11 February 2015).
Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, Tasmania (DPIPWE) (2015). Spanish
heath Erica lusitanica scoresheet. http://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/invasive-species/weeds/environmentalweeds/weed-risk-assessment-scoresheets-reports (accessed 6 February 2015).
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) (2013). Erica baccans L.
http://www.gbif.org/species/5682818 (accessed 12 February 2016).
Holmes, P.M. and Newton, R. J. (2004). Patterns of seed persistence in South African fynbos. Plant
Ecology 172, pp. 143-158.
Johansson, M., Rooke, T., Fetene, M. and Granstrom, A. (2009). Browser selectiveity alters post-fire
competition between Erica arborea and E. trimera in the sub-alpine heathlands of Ethiopia. Plant
Ecology 207(1), pp. 149-160.
Muyt, A. (2001). Bush invaders of south-east Australia. R.G. and F.J. Richardson, Meredith, Victoria.
Nelson, E. C. (2011). Hardy heathers from the northern hemisphere – Calluna, Daboecia, Erica. Kew
Publishing, Kew, UK.
Ojeda F., Arroyo J., and Maranon T. (2000). Ecological distribution of four co-occurring Mediterranean
heath species. Ecography, 23, 148-159.
Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) (2015). Plant pests in South Australia. URL:
http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/biosecurity/weeds_and_pest_animals/plant_pests_in_south_australia
(accessed 14 April 2015).
Queensland Government (2015). Berry heath Erica baccans.
http://keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/03030800-0b07-490a-8d040605030c0f01/media/Html/Erica_baccans.htm (accessed 10 February 2015).
Rice, E.L. (1984). Allelopathy (2nd Ed.). Academic Press Inc., Orlando, Florida.
South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) (2010). Erica baccans L..
http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantefg/ericabaccans.htm (accessed 10 February 2015).
Underhill T.L. (1971). Heaths and heathers; Calluna, Daboecia and Erica. David & Charles, Newton Abbot,
United Kingdom.
World Weather Online (2016). Cape Town monthly climate average, South Africa.
http://www.worldweatheronline.com/cape-town-weather-averages/western-cape/za.aspx (accessed 29
January 2016).