The State Herbarium of South Australia sits 15 km inland from the nearest sea and houses over one million, mostly dried, specimens. So why are we posting about World Oceans Day?

Despite our terrestrial location, the herbarium is home to significant collections of marine flora (seagrasses) and macroalgae (seaweeds). Not only that, but we are also helmed by seagrass expert and Chief Botanist Michelle Waycott.

FROM THIS: In situ photo of Metamastophora flabellata, being collected by volunteer Fiona McQueen on a collecting trip to Yorke Peninsula. Photo: F. McQueen.

TO THIS: Fiona collecting a part of Sarcomenia delesserioides from Pondalowie Bay to become a herbarium specimen. Photo: F. McQueen.

Treasure trove

The State Herbarium of South Australia is known to contain plant specimens, including the seagrass families, but its world-renowned algal collection may not be common knowledge to the general public. Housed within the herbarium are examples of all 10 South Australian species of seagrass and almost 1300 species of marine macroalgae! This algal species diversity is partly because the seaweeds in the Southern Ocean and its Great Southern Reef have the highest levels of species richness and endemism in the world and partly because of Prof. H.B.S. Womersley’s lifetime work in compiling the six-volume Marine Benthic Flora of Southern Australia with his team at the University of Adelaide and at the State Herbarium.

Of the more than one million specimens in the herbarium, at least 1500 are seagrasses, and close to 100,000 are seaweeds. But don’t mistake these relatively small specimen numbers for insignificance. Quite oppositely, seagrasses and seaweeds are vital to most oceanic functions.

TO HERE: The herbarium’s wet lab where algal specimens are prepared, mounted, studied and identified. Photo: J. Barrett.

Specimens of significance

World Oceans Day is designed to remind people of the importance of the world’s oceans and to encourage them to care enough to engage in marine protection. And so they should. The ocean covers 70% of the planet and supports every other organism. While many factors and organisms are at play, when it comes down to it, the functions of our oceans are very much a product of the plants and algae within:

AND FINALLY: The mounted specimens, which were floated onto a preparatory sheet before spending time in the drier and being attached to their final herbarium sheets.

• The vast majority of the planet’s oceanic oxygen is created by microalgae (phytoplankton), macroalgae (seaweeds) and plants (seagrasses). Naturally, photosynthesisers are also effective storers of carbon.
• Not only do the number of seagrass and seaweed species contribute to oceanic diversity, but these species also feed, house and protect countless other marine organisms.
• Both algae and seagrasses are the start of many food chains, nourishing animal groups as diverse as shellfish, crustaceans, birds, fish, marine mammals and even us.

These are but a few blips on the radar of seagrass and seaweed functionality and importance. Unfortunately, our marine ecosystems are in decline. Seagrass meadows are especially in dire straits… and dire gulfs, and dire bays.

A strong foundation

This is where the State Herbarium comes in. Our taxonomical knowledge creates foundational information on species and their distribution, abundance, and history. This provides a baseline of data that allows changes to be noticed and tracked over time.

The specimens in our collection are barcoded and databased. The complete datasets (including species name, collecting location and date, etc.) are sent to the Australasian Virtual Herbarium for broader use by anyone with an interest and Internet access.

Not only does our collection comprise the actual reference specimens, but also a wealth of associated data on species descriptions and locations. When collected and stored over time (the earliest seaweed in our collection is from 1799!) our specimens and data can allow scientists to identify and document change, as well as plan for restoration.

When next June rolls around and World Oceans Day pops into your head, I hope you think of our secret sea of marine specimens housed in The Old Tram Barn (2.7mb PDF) in the middle of an urban capital city, and remember our contribution to ocean conservation and public education.

Compiled by State Herbarium staff member Jem Barrett.

Area of severe stringybark dieback, with drooping she-oaks (Allocasuarina verticillata) being the only living trees. Photo: G. Keppel.

Dieback of trees due to drought is becoming increasingly common: Climate change is producing droughts that are hotter and more intense, and this can push trees beyond the limits of what they can tolerate. However, we still know little about the ultimate causes of tree mortality and how dieback progresses through time. Led by researchers Gunnar Keppel, MSc student Udo Sarnow and Stefan Peters from UniSA, in collaboration with Chief Botanist Michelle Waycott, State Herbarium of South Australia molecular botanist Ed Biffin, as well as Greg Guerin from The University of Adelaide, dieback of an isolated population of red stringybark (Eucalyptus macrorhyncha) in Spring Gully Conservation Park was investigated.

What will happen to this isolated population of eucalypts as droughts intensify under climate change? It’s not looking good but there is hope! Read more about the findings of this project on the Biodiversity in Oceania BLOG and in this research paper, published two weeks ago:

G. Keppel, U. Sarnow, E. Biffin, S. Peters, D. Fitzgerald, E. Boutsalis, M. Waycott & G.R. Guerin (2023). Population decline in a Pleistocene refugium: Stepwise, drought-related dieback of a South Australian eucalypt. Science of the total Environment  876: 162697.

Adelaide’s micro-gallery Flaneur at the corner of Gawler Place and Fisher Place, Adelaide. Photo: A. Thornhill.

Last October was a big month for moss and at the State Herbarium of South Australia we “officially” renamed the month Soft Moss Rocktober. It began at the start of the year when I was asked if I could come up with a potential trivia night for the Nature Festival. Almost instantly I came up with the name Mosstermind and so the spores of the world’s first moss-based trivia night were released. A week later I was asked if I could create a moss art exhibition to be housed in Gallery Flaneur during Nature Festival week. I approached an artist I know who wished to remain unknown and so the An.Annie.Moss project was born.

Over the winter months I began working on different art pieces with An.Annie.Moss and gathered ABC Radio Drive host Jules Schiller to be the mosster of ceremonies for Mosstermind. At the same time our student volunteer Bonnie was spending time in the Adelaide Hills making new collection records of mosses for both the Adelaide Hills region as well as the State.

Fast forward to the start of spring and the artwork and trivia night question were almost done. To complement An.Annie.Moss art I found a second-hand dolls house to convert into a minature art gallery building. I completely dismantled it, sanded off all of the original paper and then bought new wallpaper, roofing and floor to make it look like a proper gallery. An.Annie.Moss also began sculpting moss and the exhibit kept expanding. On 7 Oct. 2022, An.Annie.Moss was launched in Gallery Flaneur and stayed there for three weeks. It was complemented by little terracotta pots filled with the moss that was in the paintings.

Jules Schiller (left) and Andrew Thornhill (right) on stage during Mosstermind. Photo: A. Thornhill.

Then, on the 12 Oct. 2022, we held Mosstermind at The Gov to a sold out audience of 160 people. The night was a great success and many of the contestants soon realised that not all of the questions were about the moss plant. Jules, the mosster of ceremonies, wowed the crowd with his moss knowledge and the puns flowed all night. There have even been requests for a Mosstermind 2 for the 2023 festival but we will have to wait and see how things unfold before we can say it will be back.

Small terracotta pots filled with mosses for the An.Annie.Moss exhibition. Photo: A. Thornhill.

While Soft Moss Rocktober is long over, the moss-events are continuing. An.Annie.Moss is now on display in the Museum of Economic Botany all through summer. If you missed the chance to see it during the Nature Festival then you have another chance to go and enjoy the macro-micro art.

Compiled by botanist Andrew Thornhill
(State Herbarium of South Australia
& The University of Adelaide)

View overlooking Foulden Maar showing the now infilled crater and mining pit. Photo: J. Conran.

Next week, the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Adelaide is hosting the Australian launch of a new publication on of New Zealand’s best known (and controversial) fossil localities, co-authored by State Herbarium Research Affiliate Dr John Conran (The University of Adelaide).

D.E. Lee, U. Kaulfuss & J. Conran (2022). Fossil treasures of Foulden Maar: A window into Miocene Zealandia. (Otago University Press: Dunedin, NZ).

Foulden Maar in Otago, New Zealand, a now infilled former lake, is home to an amazing record of life on Earth and is a paleontological site of international significance. Formed by a violent one-off volcanic eruption 23 million years ago, it comprises tens of thousands of undisturbed annual layers that record the changing life and ecosystems in and around a small, deep volcanic crater lake that existed for more than 130,000 years at the very beginning of the Miocene. The site is unsurpassed in the Southern Hemisphere. Continue reading →

The State Herbarium of South Australia published two articles online in its journal Swainsona today, 30 Aug. 2022.

Botanic Gardens Maintenance Worker Roy Haskett, Technical Assistant Ron Hill and Director Noel Lothian, summit of Mt Woodroffe, Musgrave Ranges, S.A. during collecting expedition, June 1958. Photo: BGSH.

(1) L. Haegi, Botany and science at Adelaide’s Botanic Gardens since the founding of the State Herbarium (4.5mb PDF)

This paper is published in Vol. 30 of Swainsona, the Special Issue to celebrate 60 years State Herbarium of South Australia. Hon. Research Associate Laurie Haegi presents a history of science and research at the Botanic Garden of South Australia in the areas of plant propagation, germination studies, plant diseases and plant pathology, identification of ornamental plants and seed banking. A focus of the article is the period from 1948, when Noel Lothian became Director of the Botanic Gardens, to today. The paper was the result of a presentation given during the Symposium celebrating the Herbarium’s birthday, which was part of the 2016 NRM Science Conference.

(2) M. Hislop & A.J.G. WIlson, A taxonomic update of Stenanthera (Ericaceae: Epacridoideae: Styphelieae), including description of a third species from Western Australia, an updated description of S. pungens and an Australia-wide key to species (0.5mb PDF)

Stenanthera lacsalaria, a new species from W.A. Illustration Hung Ky Nguyen.

The second article is published in Vol. 36 of Swainsona, the regular volume for this year. The authors review the epacrid genus Stenanthera, which occurs in W.A., S.A., N.S.W., Victoria and Tasmania. They publish a new species endemic to W.A., Stenanthera lacsalaria and provide an updated, more detailled description of S. pungens.

To access content of all volumes of Swainsona and the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens since Vol. 1 (1976), please visit the journal’s web-site at flora.sa.gov.au/swainsona or the Swainsona back-up site.