Description:
A high-throughput and reliable seedling bioassay to screen wheat germplasm for crown rot resistance was developed. Single wheat seedlings were grown in square seedling punnets in a glasshouse and inoculated with a monoconidial Fusarium pseudograminearum isolate 10 days after emergence. The punnets were laid horizontally on their side and a 10-
Flowering, fruiting, germination and seed despersal of the newly emerging weed Solanum mauritianum Scop. (solanaceae) in the wet tropics of north Queensland
Description:
Solanum mauritianum (wild tobacco) has recently become a weed of major concern in some agricultural production areas, and tropical rainforest restoration sites, of the Atherton Tablelands, north Queensland. Until recently, little was known about the ecology of this species. A study was conducted to examine: Ii) the flowering, fruiting pattern, (ii) seed germination pattern, (iii) density of soil stored seed bank, and (iv) potential avian seed dispersers of S. mauritianum. Flowering and fruiting patterns were studied on-randomly selected plants within the study site over a period of 35 days. A germination study was performed on green (unripe) and yellow (ripe) fruits with seeds from green fruits germinating faster than seeds collected from yellow fruits. The density of genninable seeds in the soil seed bank was determined from 94 samples collected beneath the canopy of 24 randomly selected S. mauritianum plants. Of seedlings Ihat germinated, 73% were S. mauritianum and seedling density of S. mauritiallum averaged 16 000 seedlings per hectare. To determine the role of birds in the dispersal of S. mauritianum seeds, observations were made of all birds visiting eleven fruit-bearing plants. To examine the bird's excrement, birds were captured in mist-nets, their excrement collected and any seeds present identified. A total of 340 seeds from 15 plant species were obtained. Four tropical rainforest birds (Australian king parrots (
Description:
Solanum mauritianum (wild tobacco) has recently become a weed of major concern in some agricultural production areas, and tropical rainforest restoration sites, of the Atherton Tablelands, north Queensland. Until recently, little was known about the ecology of this species. A study was conducted to examine: Ii) the flowering, fruiting pattern, (ii) seed germination pattern, (iii) density of soil stored seed bank, and (iv) potential avian seed dispersers of S. mauritianum. Flowering and fruiting patterns were studied on-randomly selected plants within the study site over a period of 35 days. A germination study was performed on green (unripe) and yellow (ripe) fruits with seeds from green fruits germinating faster than seeds collected from yellow fruits. The density of genninable seeds in the soil seed bank was determined from 94 samples collected beneath the canopy of 24 randomly selected S. mauritianum plants. Of seedlings Ihat germinated, 73% were S. mauritianum and seedling density of S. mauritiallum averaged 16 000 seedlings per hectare. To determine the role of birds in the dispersal of S. mauritianum seeds, observations were made of all birds visiting eleven fruit-bearing plants. To examine the bird's excrement, birds were captured in mist-nets, their excrement collected and any seeds present identified. A total of 340 seeds from 15 plant species were obtained. Four tropical rainforest birds (Australian king parrots (
Description:
Effectiveness of 'Grain 96-1', a methyl anthranilate (methyl 2 aminobenzonate, MA) based bird repellent, was examined to quantify the reduction in consumption of treated oats. Field trials at Horsham, Victoria, demonstrated more birds, mainly Long-billed Corellas (Cacatua tenuirostris), were observed feeding on untreated compared to treated (0.4% and 0.8% w/w MA) oats. However, there was no significant difference in the quantity of 0.4% (w/w) MA treated oats consumed by birds compared to untreated. Treatment of oats at a higher concentration (0.8% w/w MA) significantly reduced the quantity consumed (t = 15.97, d.f. = 3, P<0.001) compared with untreated oats. Relationship of bird behaviour to the effectiveness of methyl anthranilate as a bird repellent is discussed.
Description:
The vegetation of Peery Lake area, Paroo-Darling National Park (32°18’–32°40’S, 142°10’–142°25’E) in north western New South Wales was assessed using intensive quadrat sampling and mapped using extensive ground truthing and interpretation of aerial photograph and Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite images. 378 species of vascular plants were recorded from this survey from 66 families. Species recorded from previous studies but not noted in the present study have been added to give a total of 424 vascular plant species for the Park including 55 (13%) exotic species. Twenty vegetation communities were identified and mapped, the most widespread being Acacia aneura tall shrubland/tall open-shrubland, Eremophila/Dodonaea/Acacia open shrubland and Maireana pyramidata low open shrubland. One hundred and fifty years of pastoral use has impacted on many of these communities.
Description:
Taxonomic circumscriptions of the charophyte taxa Chara fibrosa C.Agardh ex Bruzelius. and C. flaccida var. wightii A.Braun are revised, and both taxa are recognised at species rank, as C. fibrosa and C. wightii (A.Braun) Casanova. Both species are illustrated and a review of relevant morphological characters is also presented.
Description:
Data were collected and analysed from seven field sites in Australia, Brazil and Colombia on weather conditions and the severity of anthracnose disease of the tropical pasture legume Stylosanthes scabra caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Disease severity and weather data were analysed using artificial neural network (ANN) models developed using data from some or all field sites in Australia and/or South America to predict severity at other sites. Three series of models were developed using different weather summaries. Of these, ANN models with weather for the day of disease assessment and the previous 24 h period had the highest prediction success, and models trained on data from all sites within one continent correctly predicted disease severity in the other continent on more than 75% of days; the overall prediction error was 21.9% for the Australian and 22.1% for the South American model. Of the six cross-continent ANN models trained on pooled data for five sites from two continents to predict severity for the remaining sixth site, the model developed without data from Planaltina in Brazil was the most accurate, with >85% prediction success, and the model without Carimagua in Colombia was the least accurate, with only 54% success. In common with multiple regression models, moisture-related variables such as rain, leaf surface wetness and variables that influence moisture availability such as radiation and wind on the day of disease severity assessment or the day before assessment were the most important weather variables in all ANN models. A set of weights from the ANN models was used to calculate the overall risk of anthracnose for the various sites. Sites with high and low anthracnose risk are present in both continents, and weather conditions at centres of diversity in Brazil and Colombia do not appear to be more conducive than conditions in Australia to serious anthracnose development.
Description:
The arid and semi-arid southwest of New South Wales has received disproportionately less attention from botanists than other similar-sized geographic regions of the state. Recent work has extended our knowledge of three extremely rare plant taxa from this part of the state. Zygophyllum compressum (Zygophyllaceae) and Elachanthus glaber (Asteraceae) are restricted to gypseous rises within active saline groundwater discharge complexes with limited distribution in southwest New South Wales and occur within the plant community “Gypseous shrubland on rises and semi-arid plains” (ID253) which is listed as threatened (vulnerable) within the state. Eremophila crassifolia (Myoporaceae) is restricted to a few plants on a roadside and adjacent mallee vegetation approximately 35 km east of Wentworth. Based on IUCN criteria it is suggested that Eremophila crassifolia is critically endangered and Zygophyllum compressum and Elachanthus glaber endangered in New South Wales and all should be listed under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.
Description:
Charophytes in the genus Lamprothamnium exhibit a large amount of diversity, particularly in the examples from Australia, although little of that variation has been recognised at species level in the past. The Australian members of the genus are revised here on the basis of extensive new collections, examination of specimens in herbaria and comprehensive review of the literature and available type material. The existing species Lamprothamnium macropogon (A.Braun) Ophel, L. inflatum (Fil. & G.O.Allen ex Fil.) A.García & Karol and L. heraldii A.García & Casanova are retained, eight new species are described (L. australicum Casanova, L. beilbyae Casanova, L. capitatum Casanova, L. compactum Casanova, L. coorongense Casanova, L. diminutum Casanova, L. macroanthum Casanova and L. stipitatum Casanova) and two taxa variously treated at infraspecific rank in Lychnothamnus are transferred to Lamprothamnium at species rank (L. cockajemmyense Casanova, L. tasmanicum (A.Braun) Casanova). Neither L. papulosum (Wallr.) J.Groves nor L. succinctum (A.Braun) R.D.Wood are confirmed for Australia after examination of the type material of these species. Species are distinguished by the arrangement of the gametangia, morphology of the fertile whorls and characteristics of the oospores. Four of these species are dioecious and nine are monoecious, which supports published conjectures concerning the biogeography of charophyte species (Proctor (1980): J. Phycol. 16, 218–233, doi:10.1111/j.1529-8817.1980.tb03023.x).
Description:
The listed threatened plant taxa within the South Coast Region of New South Wales (Helensburgh to Batemans Bay, as designated by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service) are documented. Of the 100 NSW listed taxa, 69 are also listed by the Commonwealth, while two additional taxa are only listed by the Commonwealth. An analysis of the individual taxa and the 62 conservation reserves in the region, found that 30 taxa can with confidence be said to be adequately reserved, while 50 are assessed as inadequately reserved; for the remaining 22 taxa, reservation status is unknown. Examples of challenges for the conservation of threatened plants in the region are examined; these challenges have relevance well beyond the South Coast Region. Managing for individual plant species may be hampered by a lack of basic ecological information; this is particularly so for the rarer species such as orchids. One of the main areas where information is lacking is the response of most species to bushfire. Conservation on private land is becoming an increasingly important and challenging area for plant species conservation as the last large areas of public land are dedicated for one purpose or another. A more co-ordinated approach to conservation on private land may produce improved outcomes for many inadequately reserved taxa.
Description:
The vegetation of the Mount Murchison and Wilga areas, Paroo Darling National Park (latitude 31
Description:
This paper describes the scientific life of Father Zimmermann, Brazil's first diatomist. Father Zimmermann, a Jesuit priest born in Ehingen, Germany in 1871, studied theology in Britain in the early 20th century. His scientific life began in Portugal where, with other Jesuits, he founded the scientific journal Brotéria, for which he wrote several papers on diatoms. After the fall of the Portuguese monarchy in 1910, several conservative priests, including Zimmermann, immigrated to Brazil. In Brazil, he became a teacher at the Padre Antonio Vieira School in Salvador in the state of Bahia, where he taught a myriad of disciplines. In addition to his teaching and religious activities, along with his fellow priests, Zimmermann continued to edit Brotéria. By the end of his career in Portugal, Zimmermann had described a total of 69 new but not all valid diatom names. In 1913, Zimmermann began a series of articles entitled ‘Contribuição para o estudo das diatomaceas dos Estados Unidos do Brazil’ (Contribution to the study of diatoms of the United States of Brazil), in which he described two new genera and 49 new species from rivers, lakes, wetlands, reservoirs and beaches in the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul. In addition to his taxonomic descriptions, Zimmermann who was an accomplished naturalist, also wrote about diatom movements and evolution. His diatom studies were compiled in a book entitled Diatomées, which has never been published. Father Zimmermann's contribution to the study of diatoms deserves proper recognition. This paper aims to serve such purpose. Farther Zimmermann died in Salvador in 1950.
Description:
Detailed soil data has been collected in the Corangamite region of south-east Australia for over 80 years, as a testament to the productive value of the region’s agricultural soils. Soil science over that period has resulted in soil maps, soil investigation sites and archival materials that provide valuable baseline data for the analysis of trends over time. This legacy data has been brought together with contemporary data in the award-winning Soil Health Knowledge Base, an Internet portal based on spatial data infrastructure that interoperably federates data (open data, research data, industry data, sensor data, legacy data, crowdsourced data … any available data). The portal provides the best available data sources for research and consulting, as well as functions for both the private reward and the public good. The ultimate intent is to provide timely decision support for agricultural enterprises and catchment managers to protect, enhance and restore soil health.