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E-book
Author Turvey, Nigel D, 1948- author

Title Cane toads : a tale of sugar, politics and flawed science / Nigel Turvey
Published Sydney, N.S.W. : Sydney University Press, [2013]
©2013

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Description 1 online resource (xiv, 247 pages) : illustrations
Contents Preface: of toads and men -- The ancestors – fossil 41159 -- The apothecary’s toad -- The sweet grass -- Queensland sugar – Hope and Whish -- Ladybird fantasy -- The cane beetles -- Hawai‘i leads biological control -- Birth of a myth -- Toad fantasy -- Toads for Queensland -- War on Canberra -- Living with Bufo -- Cane toad wars -- Taking the Top End -- Bad, flawed and reckless
Summary Cane Toads is about good intentions, unintended consequences and of simple acts leading to catastrophic outcomes. It is about scientists so committed to solving a problem, serving their country, their leaders and the industry that employed them, that they are blinkered to adverse impacts
Before the birth of modern insecticides, farmers and gardeners used predatory and parasitic wasps and flies, insect-eating birds, lizards and toads as agents of biological control. In the late 19th century sugar cane scientists carried cane toads from Barbados to Puerto Rico, to Hawai'i and then Queensland to control pests. Toads were introduced to some 138 countries, and are now ranked among the world's most invasive species. Queensland's sugar scientists released the toad into cane fields in 1935. They were supported by cane growers, politicians, the nation's leading scientists, the premier of Queensland and the prime minister of Australia. Only a lone voice objected. In the following 70 years they spread as far as western NSW and Western Australia. This story is about good intentions, unintended consequences and of simple acts leading to catastrophic outcomes. It is about scientists so committed to solving a problem, serving their country, their leaders and the industry that employed them, that they are blinkered to adverse impacts. There are lessons to learn from the toad's tale. And as the tale shows, we still come perilously close to repeating the mistakes of the past. -- Publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Subject Bufo marinus -- Australia
Bufo marinus -- Control -- Australia
Toads -- Control -- Australia
Biological invasions.
Nonindigenous pests -- Control -- Australia
Sugarcane -- Diseases and pests -- Control -- Australia
Biological invasions
Bufo marinus
Nonindigenous pests -- Control
Sugarcane -- Diseases and pests -- Control
Australia
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781743323717
1743323719
9781743327906
1743327900