Things are never as simple as they appear…

Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite ’em, And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum. And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on; While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on. Augustus De Morgan, A Budget of Paradoxes (1872) This […]

International Volunteer Day 2016

International Volunteer Day is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly and is held each year on December 5. It is a day for volunteers and volunteer based organizations to celebrate their efforts, to share their values, and to showcase the difference they make in their communities. International Volunteer Day once again provides the opportunity […]

Plant* of the Month: Dec. 2016

DEWNR‘s last Park of the Month for 2016 is Canunda National Park on the South Australia’s south-eastern shore. Fittingly, the State Herbarium has chosen an alga, Sarcothalia radula (Esper) Edyvane & Womersley, as Plant* of the Month (even though technically speaking, red algae are not plants). [* = and other organisms traditionally studied by botanists] Bigger and […]

Plant of the month: Nov. 2016 (1)

For November, DEWNR has chosen a pair of neighbouring parks on Kangaroo Island as Parks of the Month: Seal Bay Conservation Park and Kelly Hill Conservation Park. The State Herbarium of South Australia has also chosen two Plants of the Month for November 2016. For Seal Bay, the Phycology Unit suggested the alga Sarcomenia delesserioides Sonder. Where is […]

Life at the sea: A winter wonder

Laver – a delicate red alga favoured as the wrapping around rice for sushi has appeared in a distinct, dark band of growth on boulders of the artificial breakwater of the Sea Rescue Marina(Barcoo Inlet), near West Beach, Adelaide. The species is Porphyra lucasii Levring. Uninspiring at first glance, a sheer, purple, frilly blade about […]