Murdoch Branch will be hosting three excellent WA students who research questions crucial to survival of the iconic WA plant species. Louise Croeser looks at Marri, Sarah Randall investigates Banksias and Corey tries to understand how drying climate affects their reproductive resilience.
Louise: Marri has been suffering from a canker disease for a number of years now. This canker disease is caused by an endemic fungus and the question arises why would an endemic fungus have such a devastating effect on Marri? Louise investigated the possibility that marri’s health and vigour is compromised by another pathogen, the introduced root pathogen Phytophthora. This work was is part of her PhD project at Murdoch University. Louise will present her findings to public on 4th August 2016.
Sarah: Six Banksia species were looked at across 300 different sites between Kalbarri and Albany. Sarah employed an army of volunteers to go back to the sites that were surveyed 25 years ago for the Banksia Atlas. Subsequently she compared the present data with the 25 years old data and and tried to draw conclusions on how resilient Banksias are when facing climate change and urbanization processes. Sarah will present the very fresh finding from her Honours project at the University of WA on 4th August 2016.
Corey: WA serotinous plants (that is plants that store their seeds in their canopy) are facing the challenge of persisting in a climate that is becoming hotter and drier, with more frequent fires. By looking at the new and historic data collected in the mid-west (Jurien Bay – Mt Adams), Corey tries to find an answer on how has the reproductive resilience of the iconic WA species changed and how will further increases in temperature and decreases in rainfall continue to impact them in the future.
The door opens at 7.30 with $3 raffles that can win you something natively interesting :) See you there. Check where, what and who is coming on our Facebook Event Page.