Threatened plant communities of Western Australia. 2 The seasonal clay-based wetland communities of the South West

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 287 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Gibson ◽  
G. J. Keighery ◽  
M. N. Lyons ◽  
B. J. Keighery
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Vernal Pools ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
The South ◽  
Weed Invasion ◽  
Saline Groundwater ◽  
South West

The communities of seasonal clay-based wetlands of south-west Australia are described. They are amongst the most threatened In Western Australia. It is estimated that >90% of the original extent of these communities has been cleared for agriculture, and the remaining areas, despite largely occurring in conservation reserves, are threatened by weed invasion and rising saline groundwater. Thirty-six taxa are identified as claypan specialists occurring in six floristic communities. Composition was strongly correlated with rainfall and edaphic factors. The most consistent attribute shared between the seasonal clay-based wetlands of south-west Australia, and the analogous vernal pools systems of California, Chile, and South Africa was the widespread conversion of these wetlands to agricultural systems. The south-west Australia wetlands had a richer flora, different lifeform composition, higher species richness but fewer claypan specialists than the vernal pools of California. The dissimilarity in the regional floras and vegetation types from which the pool floras were recruited explain these differences.

Phytophthora cinnamomi invasion, a major threatening process to conservation of flora diversity in the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. Shearer ◽  
C. E. Crane ◽  
S. Barrett ◽  
A. Cochrane
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Susceptible Plant ◽  
The South ◽  
South West ◽  
Indirect Impacts

The invasive soilborne plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands is a major threatening process in the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia, an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot. Comparatively recent introduction of P. cinnamomi into native plant communities of the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia since the early 1900s has caused great irreversible damage and altered successional change to a wide range of unique, diverse and mainly susceptible plant communities. The cost of P. cinnamomi infestation to community values is illustrated by examination of direct (mortality curves, changes in vegetation cover) and indirect impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics, the proportion of Threatened Ecological Communities infested, Declared Rare Flora either directly or indirectly threatened by infestation and estimates of the proportion of the native flora of the South-west Botanical Province susceptible to the pathogen. While direct impacts of P. cinnamomi have been poorly documented in the South-west Botanical Province, even less attention has been given to indirect impact where destruction of the habitat by the pathogen affects taxa not directly affected by infection. Current poor understanding and quantification of indirect impacts of P. cinnamomi through habitat destruction results in an underestimation of the true impact of the pathogen on the flora of the South-west Botanical Province. Considerable variation of susceptibility to P. cinnamomi among and within families of threatened flora and responses of taxa within the genus Lambertia show how classification within family and genus are poor predictors of species susceptibility. Within apparently susceptible plant species, individuals are resistant to P. cinnamomi infection. Intra-specific variation in susceptibility can be utilised in the long-term management of threatened flora populations and needs to be a high research priority. Current control strategies for conservation of flora threatened by P. cinnamomi integrate hygiene and ex situ conservation with disease control using fungicide. Application of the fungicide phosphite has proven effective in slowing progress of P. cinnamomi in infested, threatened communities. However, variation in plant species responses to phosphite application is a major factor influencing effective control of P. cinnamomi in native communities. A greater understanding of the mechanisms of action of phosphite in plant species showing different responses to the fungicide may provide options for prescription modification to increase phosphite effectiveness in a range of plant species. The range of responses to P. cinnamomi infection and phosphite application described for Lambertia taxa suggests that the genus would make an ideal model system to elucidate the mechanisms of resistance to P. cinnamomi and the effectiveness of phosphite against the pathogen.

scholarly journals Distribution of saltmarsh plant communities associated with environmental factors along a latitudinal gradient on the south-west Atlantic coast

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 888-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Isacch ◽  
C. S. B. Costa ◽  
L. Rodriguez-Gallego ◽  
D. Conde ◽  
M. Escapa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Latitudinal Gradient ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
The South ◽  
South West

Survey of feral honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies for Nosema apis in Western Australia

2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Manning ◽  
Kate Lancaster ◽  
April Rutkay ◽  
Linda Eaton
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Honey Bee ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Nosema Apis ◽  
The South ◽  
South West ◽  
Feral Populations ◽  
Significant Difference

The parasite, Nosema apis, was found to be widespread among feral populations of honey bees (Apis mellifera) in the south-west of Western Australia. The location, month of collection and whether the feral colony was enclosed in an object or exposed to the environment, all affected the presence and severity of infection. There was no significant difference in the probability of infection between managed and feral bees. However, when infected by N. apis, managed bees appeared to have a greater severity of the infection.

scholarly journals Our New Cathedrals: Spirituality and Old-Growth Forests in Western Australia

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Worth
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
The State ◽  
The South ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
The Past ◽  
South West ◽  
Old Growth Forests ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
Policy Proposals

Over the past 30 years in Western Australia (WA), there has been heated debate about the future use of the remaining karri and jarrah forests in the south-west of the State. This debate revolves around policy proposals from two social movements: one wants to preserve as much of the remaining old-growth forests as possible, and an opposing movement supports a continued

scholarly journals "Payneham Vale": integrated whole farm Planning

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
R. S. Watkins
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Natural Vegetation ◽  
The South ◽  
Farm Planning ◽  
South West ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Supplementary Feed ◽  
Eucalyptus Wandoo

IN 1908, Ron's grandfather, Issac Gray, took up an uncleared block of land 15 km north of Frankland in the south-west of Western Australia (see Fig. 1, Hobbs 2003). During that time he ran a few cattle in the bush and clearing of the native woodlands of Wandoo (white gum) Eucalyptus wandoo, J arrah E. marginata and Marri (Redgum) E. calophylla was slow and tedious. Ron's parents took over the farm in 1947, and with the advent of the bulldozer, clearing of Watkin's property and surrounding district began in earnest during the 1950s. Clearing continued as fast "as money permitted", until almost the last natural vegetation was knocked down in 1978 (Fig. 1). Annual pastures with some cropping (for supplementary feed) were the main source of fodder for sheep and cattle.

A new Altivasum Hedley, 1914 (Turbinellidae, Vasinae) from the coast of southern Western Australia

The Festivus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 212-217
Author(s):  
Merv Cooper ◽  
Stephen Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
The South ◽  
South West ◽  
Geographically Isolated

This paper presents a new Altivasum found off Jurien Bay, Western Australia at 60 m. This new species expands our understanding of the distribution, and in particular extends the northern range of Altivasum, in the South-west Marine Region. Altivasum pauladellaboscae n. sp. is more rhomboidal than A. hedleyi Maxwell and Dekkers, 2019, which is elongated, and has the formation of tubular spines on the shoulder of axial fold on the later whorls of the spire; these spines are not formed in A. pauladellaboscae n sp. Altivasum pauladellaboscae n sp. differs from A. profundum Dekkers and Maxwell, 2018 in having acute shoulder nodules. The South Australian, A. flindersi Verco, 1914 lacks the fibriated subsutural band found in A. pauladellaboscae n. sp. Altivasum clarksoni Maxwell and Dekkers, 2019 is geographically isolated and morphologically distinct, being more elongated and fibriated. This paper brings the number of described Altivasum species to five

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