Fw: update on Bombus in Australia

Some of you may be interested in this development.


----- Forwarded by Peter
Fuller/Callista on 31/10/2005 12:41 PM -----

Andrew Hingston <>

30/10/2005 11:10 AM

To
cc
Subject	update on Bombus in Australia

Dear colleagues,

It's been 18 months since the Department of Environment and Heritage
advertised for comments on the Terms of Reference for the proposal by the
Australian Hydroponics and Greenhouse Association (AHGA) to import Bombus
terrestris to the Australian mainland. Although the AHGA has not yet made
a
follow-up submission, this may be imminent. An article appeared in The
Sydney Morning Herald on September 18 stating "The Australian Hydroponics
and Greenhouse Association is finalising its submission to the department
for the importation of bumblebees as greenhouse pollinators". This
information was based on an interview with the AHGA's president, Graeme
Smith.

For those of you who would like to keep up to date with the scientific
literature relevant to the likely submission, here are the details of
relevant articles published in the past 18 months.

Hingston AB, Potts BM, McQuillan PB (2004) Pollination services provided
by
various size classes of flower visitors to Eucalyptus globulus ssp. globulus
(Myrtaceae). Australian Journal of Botany 52, 353-369.

Hingston AB, Potts BM, McQuillan PB (2004) The swift parrot Lathamus
discolor (Psittacidae), social bees (Apidae) and native insects as
pollinators of Eucalyptus globulus ssp. globulus (Myrtaceae). Australian
Journal of Botany 52, 371-379.

Hingston AB (2005) Does the introduced bumblebee, Bombus terrestris
(Apidae), prefer flowers of introduced or native plants in Australia?
Australian Journal of Zoology 53, 29-34.

Hingston AB (2005) Inbreeding in the introduced Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
causes uncertainty in predictions of impacts on native ecosystems.
Ecological Management and Restoration 6, 151-153.

Hergstrom K, Buttermore R, Hopkins A, Brown V (2005) The distribution and
spread of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris (L.) in Tasmania since
introduction in 1992, with notes on food plants. Kanunnah 1, 103-125.

The journal Kanunnah is published by the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.

Kind regards,
Andrew
Dr Andrew B. Hingston
Honorary Research Associate
School of Geography & Environmental Studies
University of Tasmania
Private Bag 78
Hobart 7001, Tasmania
Australia

Convenor: Friends of Mt Nelson Bushcare Group
President: Mt Nelson Signal Station Wildcare Group

phone: (613) 6226 1747 (w), (613) 6223 1223 (h)
fax: (613) 6226 2989

Research interests: impacts and spread of feral Bombus terrestris in
Tasmania; plant/pollinator associations; pollination of eucalypts; floral
evolution; ecology of Tasmanian native bees and birds.

"Daring as it is to investigate the unknown, even more so is it to
question
the known." Kaspar