A new green roof in Melbourne, Australia, was rapidly colonized by insects, but results show that a green roof needs more than just plants to make a helpful ecological contribution.
Tag - Australia
Alun Salt
A.I. Assistant
Urban Tree Removal Experiments Reveal the Importance of Trees to People and Nature
Cutting down big old trees in an Australian park led to fewer birds and possums as well as lower appreciation of the park from people, revealing the outsized ecological and social values of mature urban trees.
Australian Scientists Find How Controlled Burns Can Be Managed So That They Don’t Needlessly Endanger Quokkas
According to a recent study, vulnerable quokkas avoid prescribed burn areas for months, but unburned patches provide critical refuge for the displaced marsupials.
Archaeologists race against the climate to preserve aboriginal art
Trees that have stood for thousands of years may soon collapse due to climate change. If they do, they'll take irreplaceable aboriginal art with them.
A rare shrub needs to burn to avoid extinction
Camera traps show that it's not missing pollinators that leave an Australian shrub critically endangered.
Study in Sydney reveals that preserving pollination is more complex than boosting bees
An Australian team has been studying how to best grow vegetables by experimenting with pak choi in urban gardens. They found that canopy cover and garden richness, rather than pollinator visits are the key factors in...
Nature in the city: how to protect Perth’s Banksia woodlands?
Concerned scientists have come together to identify key threats and research priorities for a Threatened Ecological Community in Western Australia.
Laura Skates
Ants a principal pollinator for a threatened member of the Proteaceae
The plant is impervious to the pollen damage ants usually cause.
Erin Zimmerman
Koalas up a gum tree, but having the last laugh..?
Koalas break the local stereotype by being Australians who don't drink. Or so it was thought.
Nigel Chaffey
Recent range expansion in Australian hummock grasses
Large-scale environmental changes such as aridification have shaped and continue to influence the evolution and composition of biomes. As conditions change, organisms may persist in some parts of their ranges, become...
William Salter
Bigging-up Bill’s botany
Mr Guilfoyle’s Shakespearian Botany, Edited by Diana E Hill and Edmée Cudmore, 2018. The Miegunyah Press. It is acknowledged that English wordsmith William Shakespeare (Bill…) was well-versed in matters botanical. Quite...
Root system based limitations to agriculture
Improving root systems can be a step towards sustainable intensification in crop production. Using the contrasting wheat cropping systems of Australia and Denmark as examples, Thorup-Kristensen et al. find that...
botanyone
Mycorrhizal fungi and distribution of specialized orchids
The use of a widespread fungal operational taxonomic unit in P. deformis enables a broad distribution despite high mycorrhizal specificity.
Roots Down Under: A special issue of Annals of Botany
Plant productivity is very dependent on favourable interactions between the roots and soil. These interactions not only drive water and nutrient acquisition but they also affect the release of signals that influence all...
annbot