The Impact of Biological Control on the Distribution and Abundance of Chondrilla juncea in South-Eastern Australia

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Abstract
Changes in the distribution, frequency and abundance of 3 forms [according to shape of rosette banes: A, narrow; B, intermediate; C, broad] of C. juncea occurring in southeastern Australia in 1968-1980 are documented. The abundance of the most widespread form declined as a result of the impact of a number of host-specific natural enemies deliberately introduced as biological agents. The distribution of the other 2 forms has extended. The effect of the most aggressive of these agents, Puccinia chondrillina, on the competitive interaction between the 2 morphologically most dissimilar forms of C. juncea is demonstrated in a replacement series experiment. When grown in the absence of P. chondrillina both forms competed equally; when form A plants were regularly infected with P. chondrillina, dry weight of the non-susceptible form C was increased by at least 10%, while that of form A declined substantially.

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