Assessment of research needs for the management of invasive species in the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of the Wet Tropics

This report is a synthesis of past and current research and management of invasive species in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems of the Wet Tropics bioregion. Its intention is to identify knowledge gaps and critical needs and thus recommend future opportunities for investment in research and management of invasive species in the Wet Tropics bioregion. The report includes previous and current priority listings of invasive species of concern, developed on behalf of stakeholders and researchers. It reviews the outcomes of actions taken to address these invasive species and evaluates the impacts and capacity to meet these and future threats. This information has been synthesised from a series of workshops and face-to-face meetings with stakeholders, and a review of the primary and secondary literature. The proposed MTSRF study areas contain the terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems occurring within the following legislative regions: Wet Tropics bioregion, the Far North Queensland Natural Resource Management boundary, the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, and a southerly extension to incorporate the rainforest area of Mt Elliot, regarded as a southern outlier of the Wet Tropics bioregion on floristic and faunistic grounds. Within the MTSRF Rainforest Projects the combined areal extent of these regions is extended by a twenty kilometre buffer to minimise edge effects in the modelling of environmental conditions and species distributions