Herbarium specimens provide historical evidence of Cardiaspina jerramungae (Hemiptera: Psylloidea, Aphalaridae) outbreaks on Eucalyptus occidentalis in the Lower Great Southern of Western Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-177
Author(s):  
Janet D Farr
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Eucalyptus Occidentalis

The flora of ultramafic soils in the Australia–Pacific Region: state of knowledge and research priorities

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antony van der Ent ◽  
Tanguy Jaffré ◽  
Laurent L'Huillier ◽  
Neil Gibson ◽  
Roger D. Reeves
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Ultramafic Soils ◽  
High Concentration

In the Australia–Pacific Region ultramafic outcrops are both widespread and extensive, covering thousands of km2. Soils derived from ultramafic bedrock impose edaphic challenges and are widely known to host highly distinctive floras with high levels of endemism. In the Australia–Pacific Region, the ultramafics of the island of New Caledonia are famed for harbouring 2150 species of vascular plants of which 83% are endemic. Although the ultramafic outcrops in Western Australia are also extensive and harbour 1355 taxa, only 14 species are known to be endemic or have distributions centred on ultramafics. The ultramafic outcrops in New Zealand and Tasmania are small and relatively species-poor. The ultramafic outcrops in Queensland are much larger and host 553 species of which 18 (or possibly 21) species are endemic. Although New Caledonia has a high concentration of Ni hyperaccumulator species (65), only one species from Western Australia and two species from Queensland have so far been found. No Ni hyperaccumulator species are known from Tasmania and New Zealand. Habitat destruction due to forest clearing, uncontrolled fires and nickel mining in New Caledonia impacts on the plant species restricted to ultramafic soils there. In comparison with the nearby floras of New Guinea and South-east Asia, the flora of the Australia–Pacific Region is relatively well studied through the collection of a large number of herbarium specimens. However, there is a need for studies on the evolution of plant lineages on ultramafic soils especially regarding their distinctive morphological characteristics and in relation to hyperaccumulation.

Archibald Menzies's visit to King George Sound, Western Australia, September–October 1791

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric W. Groves
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Herbarium Specimens

This paper gives a daily account of an eighteenth-century naval surgeon/botanist's visit to King George Sound, Western Australia, from 29 September to 11 October 1791, followed by a list of the herbarium specimens extant in various British herbaria.

I.—On Isoetes australis S. Williams, a New Species from Western Australia. Part I. General Morphology

1944 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Williams
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
Rock Pools ◽  
General Morphology ◽  
Granite Outcrops ◽  
A New Species ◽  
Adult Plants

Material of a very small and distinctive species of Isoetes was sent by Miss Alison Baird in 1934 to Professor J. Walton, who kindly handed it over to me for examination. This species, hitherto undescribed, is here named Isoetes australis. The material, which consisted of plants of all ages from two-leaved sporelings up to adult plants, had been collected in 1930 from rock pools in granite outcrops at Bruce Rock, 150 miles inland from Perth, Western Australia.The following description is mainly based on Miss Baird's material, but I later received air-dried plants of the same species which had been grown by Professor T. G. B. Osborn in the Laboratory at Sydney. These plants had originally been collected by E. T. Bailey from the Bruce Rock locality in 1934. They proved to be viable and commenced growth within a few days when placed in water, and I was able to keep one of them alive for a period of two years, though only in a depauperate condition. Professor Osborn also sent me herbarium specimens, collected in the same locality by Bailey, and some of these plants, which had been completely dry for six months or longer, proved viable, though I was unable to grow them on for more than a few months.

The Eriochilus dilatatus (Orchidaceae) complex in Western Australia: subspecies taxonomy is not supported by consistent differences in morphology or distribution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark C. Brundrett ◽  
Timothy A. Hammer
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Leaf Morphology ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Leaf Size ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
Taxonomic Confusion ◽  
Leaf Size And Shape ◽  
Western Australian

A detailed study of taxonomic features of the Eriochilus dilatatus (Orchidaceae) complex (white bunny orchids) in Western Australia found that there were no consistent differences among most subspecies when herbarium specimens or living plants were compared. These subspecies were originally segregated primarily by differences in leaf size and shape and the number of flowers produced, but a critical examination of herbarium specimens found that these features were highly inconsistent within taxa. These features were also found to be highly variable over time and space within populations of living plants. The distribution patterns, habitat preferences and flowering times of these taxa were found to overlap, even for subspecies brevifolius and orientalis, which occupy the northern and eastern limits of the distribution of this species. Eriochilus dilatatus subsp. magnus and subsp. multiflorus were shown to be synonyms of subsp. dilatatus, whereas subsp. undulatus and subsp. orientalis are synonymised under subsp. brevifolius. As a result of this study, the two recognised subspecies are subsp. dilatatus and subsp. brevifolius, which can be readily separated by plant height, flower numbers and leaf morphology, except for a few intermediate plants where ranges overlap. New keys and descriptions to these taxa are provided. The reasons for previous taxonomic confusion in this group and in many other Western Australian orchids are discussed and research approaches to resolve these issues are suggested.

Navigating the floral Milky Way: the taxonomy of the microgeophytic triggerplants (Stylidium petiolare and allies: Stylidiaceae)

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliet A. Wege
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
Taxonomic Review ◽  
Summer Dormancy ◽  
Conservation Concern

Stylidium petiolare Sond. and allies (Stylidiaceae) are a group of diminutive triggerplants from southern Western Australia that have evolved small corms capable of significant desiccation during summer dormancy. A taxonomic review of these microgeophytes has identified 14 taxa, of which S. cornuatum Wege, S. scintillans Wege and S. xanthellum Wege are newly described and S. asteroideum F.L.Erickson & J.H.Willis and S. rubricalyx F.L.Erickson & J.H.Willis are reinstated. S. emarginatum subsp. exappendiculatum Lowrie & Carlquist and S. emarginatum subsp. decipiens Carlquist are elevated to species level and their respective distributions significantly expanded following the assessment of herbarium specimens and field survey. Revised descriptions are provided for S. emarginatum Sond., S. insensitivum Carlquist, S. obtusatum Sond., S. periscelianthum F.L.Erickson & J.H.Willis, S. petiolare Sond., S. pulchellum Sond. and S. udusicola Lowrie & Kenneally. S. bolgartense F.L.Erickson & J.H.Willis is retained as a synonym of a broadly defined S. obtusatum, and S. petiolare var. paucifoliatum Sond. is newly placed into synonymy under S. xanthellum. Lectotypes are selected for S. asteroideum, S. emarginatum, S. petiolare, S. petiolare var. paucifoliatum, S. pulchellum and S. obtusatum. S. emarginatum var. macranthum E.Pritz. is newly placed into synonymy under S. emarginatum, with a neotype designated. S. scintillans, discovered during surveys of mining leases in the Yalgoo region, is considered Threatened in Western Australia, whereas S. asteroideum, S. cornuatum, S. exappendiculatum (Lowrie & Carlquist) Wege, S. periscelianthum and S. rubricalyx are all listed as being of conservation concern. Further field survey and collections of the microgeophytic triggerplants are required to refine the taxonomy presented herein and to better understand the distribution and conservation status of these taxa.

Persistence of giants: population dynamics of the limpet Scutellastra laticostata on rocky shores in Western Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 646 ◽  
pp. 79-92
Author(s):  
RE Scheibling ◽  
R Black
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Size Structure ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Maximum Size ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Rocky Shores ◽  
Adult Size ◽  
Decadal Time Scale

Population dynamics and life history traits of the ‘giant’ limpet Scutellastra laticostata on intertidal limestone platforms at Rottnest Island, Western Australia, were recorded by interannual (January/February) monitoring of limpet density and size structure, and relocation of marked individuals, at 3 locations over periods of 13-16 yr between 1993 and 2020. Limpet densities ranged from 4 to 9 ind. m-2 on wave-swept seaward margins of platforms at 2 locations and on a rocky notch at the landward margin of the platform at a third. Juvenile recruits (25-55 mm shell length) were present each year, usually at low densities (<1 m-2), but localized pulses of recruitment occurred in some years. Annual survival rates of marked limpets varied among sites and cohorts, ranging from 0.42 yr-1 at the notch to 0.79 and 0.87 yr-1 on the platforms. A mass mortality of limpets on the platforms occurred in 2003, likely mediated by thermal stress during daytime low tides, coincident with high air temperatures and calm seas. Juveniles grew rapidly to adult size within 2 yr. Asymptotic size (L∞, von Bertalanffy growth model) ranged from 89 to 97 mm, and maximum size from 100 to 113 mm, on platforms. Growth rate and maximum size were lower on the notch. Our empirical observations and simulation models suggest that these populations are relatively stable on a decadal time scale. The frequency and magnitude of recruitment pulses and high rate of adult survival provide considerable inertia, enabling persistence of these populations in the face of sporadic climatic extremes.

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