logo
Invasive shot-hole borer from WA could wreak havoc on Sydney's heritage trees

Invasive shot-hole borer from WA could wreak havoc on Sydney's heritage trees

The Guardian08-07-2025
The chief scientist of the Botanic Gardens of Sydney is warning of an imminent and deadly risk to the city's trees posed by an invasive beetle that has led to the removal of thousands of trees in Perth.
The tiny polyphagous shot-hole borer, which is native to south-east Asia, is a 'fungus farmer' that burrows into trees and can spread a fungus that kills the host tree.
The larvae of the beetle feed on the fungus, which then colonises the tree's water and nutrient conducting vessels and blocks them, causing stress and dieback that can eventually lead to the tree's death.
The beetle was first detected in a tree in Perth in 2021 and a year later had spread to more than 200 locations across the West Australian capital. About 4,000 trees, including Moreton Bay and Port Jackson figs – which are not native to WA – have been cut down during attempts to eradicate the beetle.
The beetle can't establish the fungus in all tree species, and it is not known how many types of trees in Australia – native and introduced – could become targets. Overseas, more than 400 host species have been recorded.
The West Australian government has its own list of species found to be susceptible.
The WA government announced last month that a national management group made up of state, territory and federal representatives had determined it was no longer feasible to try to eradicate the invasive pest and control strategies would shift to managing it.
Brett Summerell, the chief scientist at Sydney's botanic garden, said they had been preparing for the beetle to make its way to eastern Australia, where it could have a huge impact in places such as formal gardens.
'We've been concerned for the past couple of years, but that concern is now heightened because the potential for it to be accidentally brought into the Sydney region is quite significant,' he said.
Summerell said with the focus shifting from eradication to management in WA, it was 'inevitable' that the beetle would spread further in Perth, and there would be increased opportunities for it to expand – likely via the transportation of infested wood such as firewood.
'I just see the opportunities for people to pick up infested wood and travel east, even all the way to the Sydney region. That risk is going to be heightened because we're moving from eradication to management.'
He said because it was not known how many tree species were susceptible, 'it's just a big experiment about to happen'.
In Sydney there are large populations of known hosts such as plane and fig trees meaning there was the potential for large numbers to be severely affected, Summerell said.
Shot-hole borers could impact the heritage values and appearance of popular parks and gardens – and the amenity trees provide through natural urban cooling.
Carol Booth, the policy director at the Invasive Species Council, said it was critical that governments fund research to investigate more control options, including collaboration with overseas researchers.
'One of the highest priorities should be to contain it for as long as possible to give us the time to develop more effective control methods,' she said.
The council wants to see more work to investigate the potential impacts of the shot-hole borer in Australia and which native species might be susceptible.
'The big unknown is what is going to be the environmental impact,' she said. 'What the impact is going to be overall in forests. It's really uncertain.'
Signs of polyphagous shot-hole borer infestation included tiny entry and exit holes – about the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen – in a tree's bark and wilting and dieback of branches, often starting in the upper canopy.
Summerell said monitoring for the presence of the beetle was critical, as was educating the public to identify the signs of a potential infestation, which could start in a backyard tree.
'The more sets of eyes we have looking for potential problems, the more likely we are to find it early,' he said. 'If there are little holes and dots in the trees where it's obvious a borer has been … they should report that.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Weird swelling revealed first sign man's fingers and toes were ‘completely replaced' by cancer
Weird swelling revealed first sign man's fingers and toes were ‘completely replaced' by cancer

The Sun

timean hour ago

  • The Sun

Weird swelling revealed first sign man's fingers and toes were ‘completely replaced' by cancer

A MAN developed painful swelling in one of his fingers and toes over the course of six weeks. It turned out to be a rare sign of cancer that had spread through his body - and the bones in his digits had been " completely replaced" by cancerous tumours. 2 Prior to swelling, the 55-year-old from Australia had been diagnosed with metastatic squamous-cell lung cancer. Squamous cell lung cancer is known for spreading to multiple sites, including the brain, spine and other bones, adrenal glands, and liver. It's a type of non-small cell cancer, the most common type of lung cancer, and accounts for roughly 80-85 per cent of all lung cancer cases. His case was published this month in The New England Journal of Medicine. Six weeks after noticing swelling in his right middle finger and his right big toe, the man went to his local hospital. Doctors found the tip of each was red and swollen, and an ulcer had formed near the nail of the affected toe. The swollen areas were firm to touch and tender, the doctors reported. Scans revealed his hand and foot contained "destructive lytic lesions that had completely replaced" the bones in the finger and toe. Lytic lesions are areas of bone destruction that appear as holes or weakened spots on imaging scans. While cancer that's spread to the fingers and toes may mimic gout on a physical examination, a scan called a radiograph can help identify lytic lesions, the patient's doctors noted. The man was diagnosed with acrometastasis - the rare occurrence of cancerous tumours metastasising to the bones of the hands or feet. Acrometastases account for about 0.1 per cent of all metastatic cancers, according to a 2021 review. In most cases, the condition is seen in patients who already have cancer. But in some instances, acrometastasis can be the first sign for undiagnosed cancers. It's most often linked to cancers of the lung, gastrointestinal tract and genitourinary tract. Acrometastases are seen more often in males than in females, according to the review. 2 And it tends to be rare, because in most cases, cancer cells are drawn to bone marrow, which is found in the long bones of the arms, legs, ribs, backbone, breastbone and pelvis. Finger and toe bones contain less bone marrow. Additionally, the further a bone is from the heart, the less blood it gets. Lower blood flow makes it harder for cancer cells to reach the fingertips or toes, so acrometastases happen less often there. Because acrometastases are usually seen in late-stage cancers, they're linked to poor survival rate. Treatments are typically focused on relieving a patient's pain and retaining as much function in the hand or foot as possible. In the 55-year-old's case, he was started on palliative radiotherapy, which aims to relieve symptoms rather than cure the disease. The doctors reports he died three weeks later from complications of refractory hypercalcemia - persistently high calcium levels in the blood that don't respond to standard treatments. Common symptoms of acrometastasis Acrometastasis, the spread of cancer to the bones of the hands or feet, can present with symptoms like pain, swelling, redness, and warmth in the affected area. These symptoms can mimic benign conditions like arthritis or infection, leading to potential diagnostic delays. Common symptoms include: Pain: Often deep-seated, intermittent, and may not be relieved by typical painkillers. Swelling: Can be localized to a specific digit or involve a larger area. Redness and warmth: May indicate an inflammatory process, but can also be a sign of acrometastasis. Tenderness: The affected area may be tender to the touch. Functional impairment: Difficulty using the hand or foot due to pain or swelling. Ulceration or bleeding: In some cases, the skin over the affected area may ulcerate or bleed. Palpable mass: A lump or mass may be felt in the affected digit.

Revealed: The number of steps you need to improve your life expectancy
Revealed: The number of steps you need to improve your life expectancy

Telegraph

time12 hours ago

  • Telegraph

Revealed: The number of steps you need to improve your life expectancy

Walking 7,000 steps a day is the sweet spot for preventing many chronic diseases that can lead to an early death, a major study has shown. While the goal of 10,000 daily steps has become firmly established in the public consciousness, an international team of researchers found even a modest amount of walking brings major benefits. British scientists said it finally 'debunked the myth' of 10,000 steps and should encourage people to try and hit the lower target. The major review of 57 studies involving 160,000 adults, which was published in The Lancet, concluded that for most conditions health benefits tended to level off beyond 7,000 steps. Hitting 7,000 steps a day was found to reduce all-cause-mortality by 47 per cent, cardiovascular disease by 25 per cent, cancer by six per cent, diabetes by 14 per cent, dementia by 38 per cent and depression by 22 per cent. Health benefits were also apparent from 4,000 steps when compared to 'inactive' people who walked just 2,000, the study led by the University of Sydney found. Every extra 1,000 steps brought better outcomes, researchers found. Commenting on the study, Steven Harridge, professor of human and applied physiology at King's College London, said: 'Humans are designed to be physically active – our evolutionary heritage as hunter gatherers. 'There has been debate about the amount of activity an individual should be doing with 10,000 steps as a generalised target, not well evidenced. 'This paper shows that 7,000 steps is sufficient for reducing the risk for most diseases covered, and 10, 000 steps does not confer much additional benefit.' According to World Health Organisation data, insufficient physical activity is the fourth most frequent cause of death in the world, with 3.2 million deaths a year related to physical inactivity. Many health organisations recommend hitting 10,000 steps a day, although there is little evidence for the target, which is believed to have arisen from a Japanese marketing campaign in the 1960s. In the run-up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the company Yamasa sought to capitalise on the sudden interest in fitness, so designed the world's first wearable step-counter. They called it the Manpo-kei, or '10,000-step meter'. The company appears to have chosen the figure at random, as a fun goal, but it has stuck ever since. The new paper found that for heart disease, walking more than 7,000 steps was beneficial, but for most conditions there was little gain from putting in more effort. Experts said it was still unclear why walking brings such striking benefits but said it is likely to increase cardiorespiratory fitness, which is known to be positively associated with better health and all-cause mortality outcomes. Commenting on the research, Dr Daniel Bailey, an expert in sedentary behaviour and health at Brunel University of London, said the 7,000 steps target was more achievable for many people than 10,000 steps. 'Just adding more steps from your starting point can have important benefits for health,' he said. 'This study adds to existing evidence by showing that the more steps people do, the less their risk of developing different health conditions. 'The finding that doing 5,000-7,000 steps per day is beneficial, is an important addition to the literature which helps to debunk the myth that 10,000 steps per day should be the target for optimal health.' The Alzheimer's Society also welcomed the study saying it demonstrated that inactivity is a major risk factor for dementia. Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at the charity said: 'It adds to the evidence that what's good for the heart is good for the head.'

Walking 7,000 steps a day is enough to boost health
Walking 7,000 steps a day is enough to boost health

The Independent

time16 hours ago

  • The Independent

Walking 7,000 steps a day is enough to boost health

Walking 7,000 steps a day may be enough to protect against a number of diseases, a new study suggests. While many people have the goal to get 10,000 steps in their daily routine, some find this target difficult to achieve. But new research suggests 'sizeable' health benefits – including a reduced risk of dementia, heart disease and premature death – can still be seen from fewer daily steps. Even modest step counts of 4,000 steps a day can reap benefits over very low levels of activity, experts found. But experts noted that '10,000 steps per day will still be better than 7,000 steps' – with the higher step count leading to more health benefits. The new study, led by academics from the University of Sydney in Australia, saw researchers examine data from dozens of studies from around the world, including in the UK, on tens of thousands of adults. People who walked 7,000 steps each day appeared to have a protective effect against a number of diseases including: a 25% lower risk of heart disease; a 14% reduced risk of type 2 diabetes; a 38% lower risk of dementia and 22% reduced risk of depression. The researchers also found that when people walked 7,000 daily steps, compared to walking 2,000 steps, they were 47% less likely to die during the follow-up periods of the studies analysed. And while the number of steps walked did not sway whether or not a person got cancer, people who walked more steps were significantly less likely to die from cancer – with 37% lower odds of cancer death compared to people who walked fewer steps. 'Although 10 000 steps per day can still be a viable target for those who are more active, 7,000 steps per day is associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health outcomes and might be a more realistic and achievable target for some,' the authors wrote in the journal Lancet Public Health. They added: 'Even modest daily step counts were associated with health benefits. '7,000 steps per day was associated with sizeable risk reductions across most outcomes, compared with the reference of 2,000 steps per day.' Commenting on the study, Dr Daniel Bailey, Reader – Sedentary Behaviour and Health, Brunel University of London, said: 'The finding that doing 5000-7000 steps per day is an important addition to the literature which helps to debunk the myth that 10,000 steps per day should be the target for optimal health. 'This study suggested that 5000-7000 steps per day can significantly reduce the risk of many health outcomes, but that does not mean you cannot get benefits if you don't meet this target. 'The study also found that health risks were reduced with each 1000 extra steps per day, up to a maximum of 12,000 steps per day. So just adding more steps from your starting point can have important benefits for health.' Dr Andrew Scott, senior Lecturer in clinical exercise physiology at the University of Portsmouth, added: 'In most cases the 10,000 steps per day will still be better than 7,000 steps, just by decreasing margins of health benefit return. 'More important than the exact number of steps, it demonstrates that overall, more is always better and people should not focus too much on the numbers, particularly on days where activity is limited. 'The steps per day is useful when people's exercise is weight-bearing, however cycling, swimming and rowing are not well-represented by the steps per day model.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store