Author Archives: Jürgen

Fire blog 3: Floral wonderland – not weeds!

Flinders Chase is likely to transform into floral wonderland in the springs of 2020 and 2021. In particular many short lived ephemerals will germinate from dormant seed, grow quickly, flower and then disappear in a year or two until the next fire. Some good examples are:

Kangaroo Island cress — Irenepharsus phasmatodes Hewson, has small white, but strongly fragrant flowers, it occurs only on Kangaroo Island.

Irenepharsus phasmatodes growing on Kangaroo Island. Photo: SA Seed Conservation Centre.

False tobacco — Apalochlamys spectabilis J.H.Willis, has pungent smelling leaves and large spike of many flowers, it grows in dunes and other sandy soils.

Apalochlamys spectabilis. Photos: SA Seed Conservation Centre & R. Taylor (inset).

Oondooroo — Solanum simile F.Muell, has distinctive lush green foliage and blue flowers, it is often associated with mallee eucalypt woodlands.

Solanum simile at Mount Remarkable National Park. Photo: SA Seed Conservation Centre.

All these three species were growing together along the Snake Lagoon to Rocky River mouth walk in 1993 after a fire, with specimens lodged in the State Herbarium collection.

These species are sometimes mistaken as weeds because of their appearance and life cycle.

Contributed by State Herbarium botanist Martin O’Leary.

Super seaweed?

Seaweeds − best called algae as they are not usually pest plants − are increasingly newsworthy. Browse through Chinatown food stores and they can be found advertised both as tasty additives to Asian cuisine and as healthfoods, providing Omega oils, iodine and potassium supplements to diets. If you find a number from 400 to 407 listed on your chocolate bar, milk drink, can, bottle or jar of food then the substance it denotes comes from a brown or a red alga. These algal additives keep food from separating out and looking “gluggy”.

Algae farm ponds in Whyalla, South Australia, used to produce β-carotene. Photo: CSIRO.

The bright red colour of some canned foods has almost certainly been improved by the addition of an extract of single-celled green algae that have oversized red eyespots made of carotene, similar to the stuff in carrots. It should be listed on the can as 160a.

A while back, information on green algae that can be cultured in order to extract biofuel was newsworthy, although the viability of such a scheme has its sceptics.

Recently, articles appeared about a red alga that lowers methane production by bacteria in ruminant livestock (cattle, sheep, goats) in Australia. Methane far exceeds the warming effects of CO2 on the atmosphere, so any decrease in the contribution of methane to the air by millions of ruminants would be most useful.. There are numerous articles available on this possibility but also some warnings about the alga’s potential toxicity.

Asparagopsis taxiformis (LEFT) and A. armata (RIGHT), Cape Peron, Western Australia. Photo: J. Huisman.

Magnified branches of A. armata: on the left, a fluffy vegetative branch, at right, a specialised, barbed grappling branch. Photo: B. Baldock.

So, what is this new “seaweed star”? A fluffy Red alga, about 250 mm tall, widespread in southern Australian and warm to tropic seas globally, probably introduced to the Mediterranean and Atlantic seas. It is Asparagopsis.

There are possibly 3 species, but one has been recorded only in 1945, so we can concentrate on the two common ones – Asparagopsis taxiformis and A. armata – that are being researched as methane suppressants.

Serious divers will recognise encounters with A. armata, its specialised barbed branches clinging annoyingly to wetsuits. Magnified, the effectiveness of the barbs in dispersing this species that lives attached to other algae – an epiphyte – can be appreciated. A. taxiformis is attached to hard surfaces, and has no barbed branches.

A surprising structural feature of both species is that they are made of threads or filaments, best seen under the microscope at tips of plants before the addition of cells that wrap or corticate the initial threads. These filaments can be found internally, even in mature branches, if a lengthwise section is investigated microscopically.

Asparagopsis armata, apical filaments (LEFT) and section through a mature branch (RIGHT). Photo: B. Baldock.

Perhaps more surprising about the two species is that they are sexual stages only. In Asparagopsis taxiformis both female and male structures are produced on the one plant, i.e. it is monoecious. Asparagopsis armata supposedly has separate male and female plants, a dioecious condition, but some question the reliability of this fact.

Asparagopsis taxiformis under the microscope: egg-shaped, coloured female structures with apical openings (cystocarp, LEFT) and small, cigar-shaped, white male structures near branch ends (spermatangial heads, RIGHT). Photo B. Baldock.

You may know that practically all Red algae have a life cycle that alternates between a sexual stage and an asexual or spore-plant stage. In the case of an Asparagopsis species, the spore stage is tiny, unobtrusive, epiphytic and so different to the sexual stages that originally it was thought to be a separate genus – Falkenbergia. It too has a thread-like construction, but largely lacks the cortication of the sexual phase.

Both stages of Asparagopsis – sexual and asexual – have been identified here and in the Mediterranean. Both sexual and asexual stages produce the methane inhibiting substance, bromoform. As the name implies, bromoform is analogous to chloroform (substitute Cl with Br in the formula). It too has a sweet, antiseptic smell like chloroform and has been synthesised in the past for industrial uses, including as a solvent, fire retardant and sedative. It may however have harmful effects on ozone, if released into the atmosphere, and possible carcinogenic effects.

Falkenbergia rufalanosa, the spore stage of Asparagopsis armata (LEFT), and viewed under a polarising microscope (RIGHT). Photo: B. Baldock.

As an economic retardant to ruminant methane production there are a lot of scientific and economic considerations to be made. Cropping of sporadic, naturally occurring populations of Asparagopsis would not be a viable proposition, but, fortunately plants can be grown vegetatively, so the focus of research now seems to be on aquaculture and the feasibility of doing this in vast saltwater land ponds required for the production of the quantities that would be required.

Commercial interests aside, Asparagopsis, with its intricate anatomy and cryptic life history, remains a fascinating red alga and worthy of investigation.

For additional descriptions and illustrations of species, see the following Algae revealed fact sheets:

  • Falkenbergia – Step 7b and Figs 22-24 in the Filamentous red algae Master Key (2.6mb PDF)
  • Asparagopsis armata (0.7mb PDF)
  • Asparagopsis taxiformis (0.5mb PDF)

Written by State Herbarium Hon. Research Associate Bob Baldock.

Fire blog 2: The significance of the 2019/20 SA bushfires

Throughout the decades the staff at the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium have collected and curated plant specimens from all over the State. This enables the State Herbarium to document the native and introduced plant species that occur in South Australia.

The Herbarium’s collections contains more than one million plant specimens from all over the world; of these, more than 600,000 are South Australian plant specimens. In the early 2000s the State Herbarium of South Australia along with all other Australasian herbaria catalogued their Australian native plant collections and shared the data via a free online database, called the Australasian Virtual Herbarium.

This publicly available data based on the physical specimens in the herbarium collection allows current and future botanists to understand our flora in an ever growing way. Here, I have generated biodiversity assessments of the South Australian flora presented as maps of high diversity areas using all of the information in these collections.

By dividing South Australia into 10km grid cells, it is possible to calculate, which areas in the State contain the greatest number of plant species (richness), and which ones contain the greatest number of plants that are unique to South Australia (endemism). These maps show that both the Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island are two significant floral diversity areas for South Australia.

The maps present results that display one of the reasons why the fires that occurred in late 2019 and early 2020 may be a concern for the future of South Australia’s plant biodiversity. We can visually observe some of the reasons for concern by overlaying the locations of the past summer’s fires onto maps of South Australian plant species richness and South Australian plant endemism (see below, using data from NASA FIRMS).

Richness

The figure below is a map of South Australian plant species richness. The majority of areas that contains the most species (i.e. the areas in red) is higher mountain regions such as the Flinders Ranges and the Adelaide Hills, as well as the Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, and the south-east.

A species richness analysis of South Australian plants using plant records from all Australasian herbaria collected since 1802. Grid cells are 10 × 10 km2. Where the fires of 2019/2020 occurred are the brown dots. The inset box shows Kangaroo Island and the Adelaide Hills and the dots represent fire areas of December 2019 and early January 2020. It can be seen that many of the high plant diversity cells of the western and northern parts of Kangaroo Island have been severely impacted by the fires.

Zooming in on the fire areas of Kangaroo Island and the Adelaide Hills, it can be seen that the fire has occurred in areas that contain some of the highest number of plant species in the State. The Adelaide Hills fires have burnt across a smaller number of the map grid cells in comparison to the Kangaroo Island fire. The Adelaide Hills fires still occurred in areas of high plant diversity.

The Kangaroo Island fires burnt across the majority of species rich cells on the western half of the island, but it is also important to note that many of the species that grow on the western end of Kangaroo Island are very different to those that grow on the eastern side of the island (which was mainly unburnt).

To analyse this in more detail, the second measure becomes important, i.e. endemism.

Endemism

South Australia has three significant concentrations of plant endemism – Kangaroo Island, Adelaide Hills and south-eastern South Australia. As can be seen in the figure below, the map cells with significant endemism in the western region of Kangaroo Island have been impacted by the fires. Part of the significant Adelaide Hills endemism has been burnt in the fires. The endemism area in the South-East of the State has not been affected by fire so far.

An endemism richness analysis of South Australian plants using plant records from all Australasian herbaria collected since 1802. Grid cells are 10 × 10 km2. Where the fires of 2019/2020 occurred are the brown dots. The inset box shows Kangaroo Island and the Adelaide Hills. South Australia has three significant concentrations of plant endemism – Kangaroo Island, Adelaide Hills and South-eastern South Australia. As can be seen the significant endemism cells of western Kangaroo Island have been impacted by the fire. Part of the significant Adelaide Hills endemism has been burnt in the fires.

It will be important that during the remainder of this autumn, no more fires occur in areas of high diversity or endemism. In particular, fire in the south-eastern part of South Australia would be problematic for plants that are unique to South Australia, even though some of these plants occur in Victoria on the other side of the State border.

Recovery of native vegetation

There have been significant bushfires in the past, e.g. there was a major fire on Kangaroo Island in 2007 that burnt most of the western side of the island. The Ash Wednesday fires of 1983 in the Adelaide Hills was also a significant fire event. In those instances the vegetation recovered over time.

As the cooler and wetter weather in autumn and winter continues, plants will begin to recover and germinate. Many Australian natives are adapted to recovering from fire and the eucalypts will soon start sprouting leaves from their epicormic buds or lignotubers, while grass trees will send up new shoots. Some plants are advantaged by fire and there will be mushrooms, mosses, sundews, and orchids that will appear over the forest floor in numbers.

As for some of the rare and endemic species on Kangaroo Island, we won’t be able to say for certain until it is safe enough to re-enter the areas where they occur, and probably until next spring, when flowering begins and plants can properly be identified; or even a year or two after that.

We have plant lists for many parts of Kangaroo Island which have been collated over the years through the work of the Kangaroo Island community, students, State Herbarium staff, the S.A. Seed Conservation Centre and many volunteers. These lists and locations will assist with understanding the recovery processes of the fire affected areas over the coming years.

Remarkable Rocks on Kangaroo Island post-fire (10 Jan. 2020). Photo: DEW.

Written by Andrew Thornhill, State Herbarium of South Australia & The University of Adelaide.

Fire blog 1: Recovery after fire

Xanthorrhoea semiplana subsp. semiplana flowering in Cox Scrub Conservation Park after fire. Photo: D. Murfet, SA Seed Conservation Centre.

Fire has been part of the Australian environment for a long time. Parts of the country have burned very regularly (such as grasslands, heathlands, savannahs), while other areas experiences fire rarely (e.g. tall mountain ash forests in Victoria), or almost never (e.g. rainforests in the tropics or some alpine areas in Tasmania).

Most Australian plants are fire-adapted and have strategies to cope with fire. Some re-sprout after fire, with green shoots bursting from blackened stems; for others, fire stimulates flowering, while other species take advantage of bushfires to germinate.

Well known examples of plants that survive fires well are:

There are also some fungi and mosses that will respond quickly to fires. However, there are also species that take a long time to recover or never do. For example, mistletoes and other epiphtes will not re-sprout when the host tree burns and many cryptogams (lichens, fungi & mosses) will take decades to re-establish important soil crusts.

Should fires occur too frequent, regeneration is also hampered, as the soil seed bank will be depleted. The severity of fires also affects the ability of plants to recover.

Post-fire landscapes need time to recover, so we need to adopt a “wait and see” approach. Often one, two or even three growing seasons are necessary to be able to establish, which species have recovered from fire and which ones not. While there will be much regeneration in the burned areas, identification of seedlings and young plants is very difficult and often botanists need to wait for these to flower to be certain of their identity.

Removal of weeds and prevention of weed spread is also very important to help native vegetation to thrive after a fire. But again, weed identification can be very difficult if there are only small seedlings present. Often, it may be better to wait until potential weeds grow larger or even until they start flowering, so their identity can be confirmed. This will prevent the “weeding” of native seedlings, i.e. of exactly the plants that we want to come back (see also AMLR fact sheet on woody weeds and fire; 2.3mb PDF).

More information can be found on our list of fire-related publications and websites. Soon, we will also post further blog articles about the fire response of certain species and groups of plants.

Banksia ornata cone releasing seeds after fire. Photo: D.Murfett, SA Seed Conservation Centre.

Compiled by State Herbarium botanist Juergen Kellermann.

State Herbarium temporary closure

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the declaration of a public health emergency in South Australia, the State Herbarium of South Australia and the Library of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium will close its doors to visitors from next week, Monday, 23 March 2020. We will get back to normal operating procedures once we have been advised that it is appropriate to reopen.​ 

Volunteers and Hon. Associates will also not be working in the building during this time. Some staff may work from home or only come in once or twice per week. If you want to contact the State Herbarium or individual staff members, please do not phone, but send an email.

Click here for a message of the Director of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium, Dr Lucy Sutherland.

The general email address of the State Herbarium of South Australia is stateherbsa@sa.gov.au.

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically. A novel coronavirus, named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019. The illness caused by this virus has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Image: A. Eckert & D. Higgins