(see our post for info on the 2016 SA NRM Science Conference)

The SA Natural Resource Management Science Conference is underway at The University of Adelaide. An impressive range of people are attending the conference including regional staff from across the state, scientists, researchers, university staff and students and members of the public. Herbarium staff, volunteers and Friends are in attendance. There is an interesting assortment of herbarium posters on display in the Maths Lawn West marquee providing interesting material to peruse whilst munching on a muffin during the breaks, although most people are chatting and enjoying a catchup with their colleagues from around the state.

The opening plenary talks challenged our assumptions about the state of natural resources in South Australia, Prof Corey Bradshaw presented a number of lines of evidence that we have shifted our baseline expectation for what healthy ecosystems look like. Prof Chris Daniels highlighted the integrated nature of NRM region usage of science to deliver on-the-ground management activities through the NRM acting as a research provider, partner and user. Chief Botanist—Prof Michelle Waycott—presented the opening talk of the Coasts and Marine session highlighting the status of seagrasses in South Australia. Congratulations to DEWNR’s SA NRM Research & Innovation Network coordinator, Dr Jennie Fluin and her team for putting together a great program with hundreds of attendees.

Pimelea husseyana was named after Jessie Hussey by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1894; it is now called Pimelea phylicoides. This specimen collected in 1897.

This week, Lisa Waters from the State Herbarium gave a presentation to a group of 50 primary school teachers about her research on the 19th century plant collector and amateur botanist Jessie Hussey. She was invited by Prof. Martin Westwell (Flinder Centre for Science Education in the 21st Century, Flinders University), who is currently Scientist in Residence at the Department for Education and Child Development (DECD), working with teachers on the science curriculum, with particular emphasis on the Science as a human endeavour strand.

Jessie Hussey lived from 1862–1899 in Port Elliot. Her passion for botany helped her to make a significant and pioneering contribution to the knowledge of South Australia’s terrestrial and marine flora during the 1890s. She became a respected collaborator of many leading national and international botanists and phycologists.

Lisa is researching the life and work of Jessie Hussey for over 5 years. In 2012 she travelled to Europe on a Churchill Fellowship, to visit herbaria in Sweden, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland, where specimens collected by Jessie Hussey are held, as well as many of the letters she wrote to overseas scientists.

“Jessie’s story, and Lisa’s own story of investigating Jessie’s life and work, provided us with inspiring examples of how science can really come alive and be much more meaningful when we hear the personal stories involved.“ — Prof. Martin Westwell

The answer is 418 … at present. A recent review by State Herbarium botanist Peter Lang reveals that South Australia currently has 418 endemic vascular plant taxa (species, subspecies & varieties): these are native plants that occur naturally nowhere else. Some have a relatively wide distribution that happens to be contained within the State borders, but most are restricted to smaller areas. The number of such endemic taxa changes as new species are described and our knowledge of plant distributions improves.

A similar question may be posed for each of the 13 botanical regions (as used by the State Herbarium of South Australia). The chart shows the percentage for taxa that are confined to a single botanical region only. Two regions, Kangaroo Island (KI) and Eyre Peninsula (EP), stand out as having the highest percentage of regionally endemic plants. The presence of mountain ranges and restricted habitats, as well as isolation by sea levels both past and present, appear to promote the development of locally endemic flora.

Pictured are examples of two South Australian endemic plants: Anthocercis angustifolia, endemic to the Mt Lofty and Flinders Ranges, and Prostanthera calycina (West Coast Mintbush), endemic to western Eyre Peninsula.

Prostanthera calycina

Anthoceris angustifolia

Recently, State Herbarium botanist Peter Lang has compiled the numbers of vascular plants occurring in the wild in South Australia for 2013.  There are 4,940 taxa (= species, subspecies & varieties) in the state, of which 1,267 taxa (25.6%) are naturalised alien plants (weeds). A further 232 taxa (4.7%) are questionably naturalised: these are, for example, plants that are found in cultivation and have escaped, but it is not proven whether they will maintain their wild populations. Including these the total for alien taxa is 1,499 (30.3%), or almost one third of plants found in the State.

The graph below depicts the numbers of plants for each of the 13 botanical regions (as used by the State Herbarium). The lowest number of introduced taxa is found in the NW (North Western) region of the State, with only 5.9% of naturalised and questionably naturalised plants. The SL (Southern Lofty) region, which includes Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula, has the highest number of alien plants, 46.4%. As expected, more remote regions, away from large settlements, have fewer naturalised and questionably naturalised taxa.

Weeds are not only introduced through agricultural practices, but also escape from gardens. Plants listed as questionably established highlight potential weeds of the future and warrant monitoring or control, to prevent them becoming established.

Click here to see the original data.

Numbers of native (incl. questionably native), naturalised and questionably naturalised plants in South Australia (as of 11 Dec. 2013)