David Backhouse
Senior Lecturer (Convenor, Botany), Faculty of Arts and Sciences, School of Environmental and Rural Sciences
Qualifications
PhD
Contact
| Email: | dbackhou@une.edu.au |
| Room: | S2 |
| Phone: | 02 6773 2341 (or +61 2 6773 2341 overseas) |
| Fax: | 02 6773 3283 |
Additional:
Member (Plant protection - diseases) - Centre for Sustainable Farming Systems
Areas of Teaching
I teach mycology (the biology of fungi) and plant pathology in the following courses:
- BOTY 241/341 Fungi and Flowerless Plants
- BOTY 270/370 Fungi, Plants and the Environment
- AGRO 311 Plant Protection
- AGRO 420 Crop Protection
Research interests
My main research interests are in the ecology of soil fungi and in the epidemiology and management of plant diseases caused by soilborne fungi. Specific research projects currently in progress include:
- Epidemiology and management of crown rot of wheat
- Population genetics of soilborne diseases of cereals
- Effect of climate and climate change on the geographical distribution of fungi and plant diseases
- Biological indicators of soil health in cropping systems of northern NSW
Publications - some examples
Backhouse, D., and Nehl, D.B. (1999) Fractal geometry and soil wetness duration as tools for quantifying spatial and temporal heterogeneity of soil in plant pathology. Australasian Plant Pathology 28: 27-33
Saremi, H., Burgess, L.W. and Backhouse, D. (1999). Temperature effects on the relative abundance of Fusarium species in a model plant-soil ecosystem. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 31: 941-947
Backhouse, D., Burgess, L.W., Summerell, B.A. and Liddell, C.M. (1997). A species concept for Fusarium: the integration of information. Cereal Research Communications 25: 527-532.
Burgess, L.W., Backhouse, D., Swan, L.J. and Esdaile, R.J. (1997). Control of Fusarium crown rot of wheat by late stubble burning and rotation with sorghum. Australasian Plant Pathology 25: 229-233.
Backhouse, D. and Burgess, L.W. (1995). Mycogeography of Fusarium: climatic analysis of the distribution within Australia of Fusarium species in section Gibbosum. Mycological Research 99: 1218-1224.