The Cane Toad And Its Impact On Australia

For many years Australia has been an isolated land, away in the bottom corner of the world, surrounded by thousands of kilometres of ocean at some points. This isolation has developed entire unique ecosystems across Australia, ones that are full of unique native animals and plants.
On the 26th January 1788, the First Fleet reached Sydney Cove, this event would change the fate of Australia forever. The British did not only introduce themselves and convicts into the new southern land, they also introduced many new animal and plant species into Australia and these new species all affected the ecosystems and animals that are native to Australia. The First Fleet directly brought a few species with them when they arrived in 1788; rabbits, goats, sheep, cows, horses, hogs and chickens were all aboard the First Fleet headed to Australia. The First Fleet also took two types of plant with them; the Spanish Reed and the Prickly Pear. These biotic factors all eventually had an impact on Australia.

Throughout the early history of Australia more species continued to be introduced by the settlers for several reasons.

One animal that has had a significant impact on Australia is the cane toad. The cane toad was introduced in 1935 by the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations to try and control the population of the native cane beetle and Frenchi beetle, these species of beetle were the biggest problem that the sugar cane farms faced as the larvae of these beetles fed on the roots of the sugar cane plants. So, against the advice of scientist, the Bureau released around 100 cane toads into wild around certain areas of Queensland. As seen in fig. 2, the cane toads spread quickly and directly had a large effect on the environment and, worst of all, there is no evidence that the cane toads affected the population of beetles in those

areas.