Impacts of climate change on pests, diseases and weeds in Australia : report of an International Workshop, Brisbane 9-12 October 1995

Pests, plant diseases and weeds collectively reduce yields of primary production systems by approximately 35% on a worldwide basis. In Australia pests reduce yields by $3 billion and require a similar outlay in management costs. It is expected that the global climate will change over the next decades at a faster rate than at any other time in the last 10,000 years or more. In Australia the scenarios depict likely changes in temperature of 0.5-2.5 degree Celsius by the year 2030, with a disproportionate increase in the number of days with extremely high temperatures and a comparable decrease in the frequency of extremely low temperatures. Rainfall scenarios suggest that summer rain will increase by 0-20% and winter rainfall will decrease by 0-10%, with a disproportionate increase in the frequency of extreme rainfall events. The findings and recommendations of the workshop on Impacts of Climate Change on Pests, Diseases and Weeds, held in Brisbane in October 1995, and attended by 12 international and 40 Australian delegates are summarised.