Biology
Biology topics: Agriculture
Getting the buzz on the value of bees
Feeding the future – sustainable agriculture
Hydatids – when a dog is not man's best friend
Is Australian wildlife fair game?
Integrated pest management – the good, the bad and the genetically modified
Sodicity – a dirty word in Australia
Monitoring the white death – soil salinity
More food, cleaner food – gene technology and plants
Prions – morphing agents of disease
A plague on the pest – rabbit calicivirus disease and biological control
Getting the buzz on the value of bees
Australian agriculture has been getting a free ride from honeybees for nearly 200 years. Their pollination services are worth several billion dollars a year, but Australia's honeybees are under increasing threat, including from a mite known as Varroa destructor.
Sponsored by:
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Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry |
Feeding the future – sustainable agriculture
With the population exceeding 6 billion and growing by about 6 million a month, the need to protect agricultural land and to increase food production has become critical. Does sustainable agriculture have the answers?
Sponsored by:
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CSIRO Division of Plant Industry | and the bequest of J S Anderson, FAA. |
Hydatids – when a dog is not man's best friend
Dogs are the main culprits in the spread of hydatids, a common but largely ignored disease in Australia that can kill people, livestock and wildlife.
Sponsored by:
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The Bayer Group | and the bequest of J S Anderson, FAA. |
Is Australian wildlife fair game?
Is the growing commercial use of Australian wildlife compatible with good conservation?
Sponsored by:
 |
Integrated pest management – the good, the bad and the genetically modified
Twenty-five years ago cotton cultivation was abandoned in Western Australia's Ord River valley because of an uncontrollable infestation of two native caterpillars. Now researchers are trialling an integrated pest management strategy that could allow cotton to be grown there again.
Sponsored by:
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Bayer CropScience |
Sodicity – a dirty word in Australia
Soil sodicity hasn’t hit the headlines yet, but in terms of area and impact it far outweighs salinity as a problem in Australia.
Sponsored by:
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CRC for Soil and Land Management |  |
the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy |
Monitoring the white death – soil salinity
New technology is being used to help monitor the extent of dryland salinity threatening large areas of Australia's agricultural zone.
Sponsored by:
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Land Monitor Project | |
the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy |
More food, cleaner food – gene technology and plants
Gene technology, also known as genetic engineering, involves manipulating or transferring genetic material within or between organisms. It has the potential to improve agricultural yields and reduce the application of pesticides.
Sponsored by:
| |
CSIRO Division of Plant Industry |
Prions – morphing agents of disease
Prions are the proteins that cause deadly brain diseases. But how do they cause disease and what is their normal role in the body?
Sponsored by:
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the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy |
A plague on the pest – rabbit calicivirus disease and biological control
The accidental release of the rabbit calicivirus from Wardang Island in October 1995 is yet another development in the story of Australia's efforts to control pests.
Sponsored by:
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the Australian Government's National Innovation Awareness Strategy |