The first chapter of my PhD is out! 🌱🔥 We looked at whether fatty acids (a common seed oil) changed composition across fire-prone and fire-free habitats + dormancy-breaking temperatures in physically dormant seeds! (1/2) @markooiecol.bsky.social @ryantangney.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/aob/...

The "living fossil" Wollemi pine🌲can self-fertilise! New research from #CharlesSturtUni shows this critically endangered conifer produces viable seeds without cross-pollination - which helps explain their low genetic diversity in natural systems 🧬 Open access paper 🔗 buff.ly/l3yG5Rt

Riverbank erosion in SW Australia exposed previously undocumented root clusters in Kingia australis. Research by Lamont et al. suggests these novel 'kingioid roots' enhance water and nutrient uptake rather than storage, linking with seasonal root-cluster types🫚 Paper here 🔗 buff.ly/Hi3BxLE

🌱 New research from The Australian PlantBank reveals how 4 threatened Australian Grevillea species respond to temperature changes. Good news, 3 species show resilience to future warming, but G. iaspicula prefers cooler conditions & may struggle with climate change. Read more 🔗 buff.ly/b4pbbgv

Are you eligible for APC-free #OpenAccess? 🌱 Researchers from institutions with agreements in place between their library and CSIRO Publishing can publish #OA in our journal without needing to pay Article Processing Charges (APCs). Find your institution: www.publish.csiro.au/journals/ope...

Traits such as spines & water storage vessels allow #cacti to thrive in #aridecosystems. These traits are also useful indicators of #ecosystemintegrity. Paredes Cubas & colleagues from @universidadjaen explore 12 standardised measures of functional traits in #Cactaceae 🌵🔗https://buff.ly/Rc1J5K4

Quantifying the life history (fire tolerance) of six shrub and tree species reveals the historical, highly variable fire history of #banksia #woodlands in south-western #westernaustralia, according to Russel Miller and colleagues from @murdoch.edu.au doi.org/10.1071/BT23...

The germination success of tussock grass #Themeda triandra, a keystone species of many #grassland #ecosystems is hampered by variable seed quality and a lack of standardised germination protocols, according to Marne Durnin and colleagues from University of Adelaide 🌱 doi.org/10.1071/BT24...

🌿 How did plants respond to postglacial warming near Tasmania’s treeline? New research by Astorga et al. shows that some species survived the Last Glacial period locally, while others, like fire-adapted shrubs, arrived much later. Read more in Australian Journal of Botany 🔗 doi.org/10.1071/BT24...

In New Caledonia’s rainforests, the rare monocarpic tree Cerberiopsis candelabra may owe its success to fast seasonal growth and high juvenile survival. Salmon et al. tracked 134 individuals for 18 months, revealing traits that may help them thrive after disturbance 🌱 🔗Read more: buff.ly/CUN2V5V

Finite resources, lots of species requiring conservation. @saltandbrine.bsky.social asks the question - how far do we go for each plant species? A simple question generating deep thought! #ICCB2025

We're delighted to announce the reappointment of @jwmorganecology.bsky.social and @markooiecol.bsky.social as Co-Editors-in-Chief of Australian Journal of Botany! Their continued leadership ensures the journal remains at the forefront of botanical research in Australia and beyond 🌱 📖

The stunning Southwest Australian Floristic Region is #biodiversityhotspot - and a hotspot of equally diverse plant pollination strategies. Mark Brundett and colleagues from Uni. Western Austalia catalogue pollination mechanisms of > 8800 species doi.org/10.1071/BT23...

Freshwater biota rely on #silicon, often from rock weathering. But in #Argentina, the sedge Schoenoplectus californicus is providing an important #ecosystemservice as a key silicon source to freshwater ecoystems. Mara De Rito & colleagues, Uni. Nacional de Mar del Plata-CIC doi.org/10.1071/BT23...

A surprising discovery was made by CSIRO botanists which revealed the daisy fleabane (thought to be a rare Australian species) is an introduced plant! Molecular data suggests it likely hails from the Northern hemisphere as it is not distinctly different from the widespread bitter fleabane. 🔗⬇️

Addition and removal experiments by McDougall et al. in subalpine grassland within Kosciuszko National Park reveal that the invasive Ox-eye daisy affects grassland diversity. Luckily, undisturbed communities seem resilient to the daisy's invasion despite its abundance. 🔗 ⬇️

New paper out! After the 2019-2020 #fires in Australia our team undertook #IUCN Red List assessments of fire affected #plant species, to handle the volume we undertook paired rapid and full assessments and compared their accuracy 1/4 doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...

New paper open access in @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... Cit sci data quality is a hot topic, and assumptions about ID accuracy are often made without evidence. We decided to test identification accuracy for a WA plants @inaturalist.bsky.social dataset

BEES is now on Bluesky. Looking forward to sharing the latest news and research from staff and students.

Five of our journals are now on Bluesky! Aus J Botany: @ausjbotany.bsky.social 🌱 Aus J Chem: @ausjchem.bsky.social 🧪 Aus J Primary Health: @ausjph.bsky.social 🩺 Reproduction, Fertility & Development: @repfertdev.bsky.social 🥚 Wildlife Research: @wildliferesearchj.bsky.social 🐾

We're seeking Associate Editors to join the #AusJZoology editorial board! Associate Editors help manage the peer review process, uphold the journal's high publication ethics, and contribute to the publication of impactful zoological research. Find out more: www.publish.csiro.au/zo/Expressio...

How will the spread of varroa impact feral bees and the pollination of native plant species? Our paper in @AusJBotany.bsky.social asks that question. Led admirably by @tomlebreton.bsky.social with @saltandbrine.bsky.social and Amy-Marie Gilpin #UNSWScience www.publish.csiro.au/BT/BT24020

Fire ecology database for documenting plant responses to fire events in Australia by José Rafael Ferrer-Paris, Ada Sánchez-Mercado, David Keith @willcornwell.bsky.social @markooiecol.bsky.social et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

To get started we are launching a citizen science project on iNaturalist where anyone can contribute images of honeybees or native pollinators visiting native flowers so we can have a baseline for how flower visitation changes before and after varroa mite reaches different parts of the country 4/5

There is a huge need for more research on pollination in native species and support for existing work. Collection of baseline data is crucial as is monitoring already threatened species. There may also be unexpected impacts arise through interactions with other threats like fragmentation or fire 3/5

We found a decline in feral honeybees will be good news for some plants and bad news for others. But we found major gaps in our knowledge of how honeybees influence native plant pollination and pollinators. The loss of feral honeybees due to varroa mite is an opportunity to fill these gaps 2/5

Varroa mite arriving in Australia has been a big worry for agriculture and bee keeping but it will also result in a massive decline in feral honeybee populations. This will affect many native plant species visited by honeybees, our new paper aimed to understand what those effects might be 1/5

Western Sydney University PhD scholarship round is now open [Australian & New Zealand citizens|residents only] If you are interested in doing a PhD on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, fungal ecology & related topics then get in touch with me. www.westernsydney.edu.au/schools/grs/...

Another Advanced Field Biology field course completed up at the UNSW Smith's Lake field station. The ⁦‪students looked at the impacts of different fire histories on plants, caught and identified bats and other critters and generally got out into the wild 😊 #ecology #fieldwork

Hey plant people! Did you know that @jmorganecology and I are Editors-in-Chief of the Australian Journal of Botany (pictured here looking out to AJB's bright future😊)? Come say hi at #ESAus2024 to talk paper ideas or the planned Special Issue on post-fire recovery

Do you have #SeedTrait #germination data? SeedArc wants you to submit them! Lydia Guja put out the call at #ESAus2024, but SeedArc is looking for data from anywhere in the world (especially underrepresented areas from the existing database). More info: www.unioviedo.es/seedarc/inde... 🧪🌾🌏

For those who saw @tomlebreton.bsky.social talk about threat mitigation to #ozflora at #ESAus2024 on Day 1 and are interested to know more, here's the paper conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

👋🏼🦋 Nice to be heading in along the Yarra on day 3 of #ESAus2024 - the biggest @ecolsocaus.bsky.social conference yet!