This disastrous event staggered me : reconstructing the botany of Ludwig Leichhardt on the expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, 1844-45

Ludwig Leichhardt had to abandon a large and important collection of botanical specimens during his Expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington. Here we attempt to assess the significance of the lost collection by identifying the botanical references in his detailed published journal from the journey. From Leichhardt’s description of the plants and their habitats, and with our accurate knowledge of current distribution, it has been possible, in most cases, to identity his botanical references to a single species. In other cases there is lower degree of certainty. Well over one hundred of the species recorded in Leichhardt’s journal would have been new to science at the time if specimens had survived. The record does identify some potential locations for species that would represent range extensions and suggests an indigenous status for a number of plant species that where previously considered exotic. Certainly Leichhardt was a talented botanist and his significant contribution to Australian natural science should be recognised

A taxonomic account of Livistona R.Br. (Arecaceae)

A taxonomic account of the palm genus Livistona is presented. Thirtysix species are recognised. Taxonomic and nomenclatural changes are applied to a number of species. Livistona rotundifolia (Lam.) Mart. is treated as a highly variable species, with L. rotundifolia var. luzonensis\ud Becc., L. rotundifolia var. microcarpa (Becc.) Becc., L. rotundifolia var. mindorensis (Becc.) Becc. and L. robinsoniana Becc. placed as synonyms; L. fengkaiensis X.W.Wei & M.Y.Xiao is placed under L. speciosa Kurz;\ud Livistona chinensis var. subglobosa (Hassk.) Becc. is placed under L. chinensis (Jacq.) R.Br. ex Mart.; Livistona tonkinensis Magalon is placed under L. saribus (Lour.) Merr. ex A.Chev.; and Livistona kimberleyana A.N.Rodd is placed under L. lorophylla Becc. A neotype is proposed for\ud L. saribus, and lectotypes are chosen for L. altissima Zoll., L. beccariana Burret, L. hoogendorpii Hort. ex Teysm. & Binn. ex Miq., L. olivaeformis (Hassk.) Mart., L. subglobosa (Hassk.) Mart., L. tonkinensis Magalon, L.\ud woodfordii Ridl., and Chamaerops biroo Siebold

Distribution and population structure of the vulnerable riparian palm Livistona lanuginosa A.N.Rodd (Arecaceae) in the Burdekin River catchment, north Queensland

This study investigated the distribution and population structure of Livistona lanuginosa, a vulnerable palm that is mainly restricted to riparian areas in the Burdekin River catchment. The known population, though dispersed, is composed of small and isolated sub-populations which are located entirely on pastoral leases. Mapping of the occurrence of L. lanuginosa indicates that distribution is primarily linear in the riparian zone along first and second order streams, as well as associated flood zones. A total of 510 adult plants, recorded at the eight sites surveyed, suggests that the overall population size is limited. The population structures at four sites indicate a stable population at those sites, whilst the population structures at the other four sites indicate unstable and senescent populations. The greatest proportion of individuals is in the seedling stage, thus indicating that sufficient viable seed is being produced and that conditions for germination and the development of seedlings are favourable. However, prominent gaps in life stage classes at some sites suggest that recruitment is limited or is not taking place at those sites, and this situation is reflected in high numbers of intermediate life stage classes and adult palms compared to seedlings and lower life stage classes. Livistona lanuginosa remains largely unprotected from livestock and fire, and other exogenous disturbances throughout its limited range, and the small total population size makes it vulnerable to rapid decline given unfavourable natural conditions

The late Quaternary decline and extinction of palms on oceanic Pacific islands

Late Quaternary palaeoecological records of palm decline, extirpation and extinction are explored from the oceanic islands of the Pacific Ocean. Despite the severe reduction of faunal diversity coincidental with human colonisation of these previously uninhabited oceanic islands, relatively few plant extinctions have been recorded. At low taxonomic levels, recent faunal extinctions on oceanic islands are concentrated in larger bodied representatives of certain genera and families. Fossil and historic records of plant\ud extinction show a similar trend with high representation of the palm family, Arecaceae. Late Holocene decline of palm pollen types is demonstrated from most islands where there are palaeoecological records including the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, the Hawaiian Islands, the Juan Fernandez Islands and Rapanui. A strong correspondence between human impact and palm decline is measured from palynologicalproxies including increased concentrations of charcoal particles and pollen from cultivated plants and invasive weeds. Late Holocene extinctions or extirpations are recorded across all five of the Arecaceae subfamilies of the oceanic Pacific islands. These are most common for the genus Pritchardia but also many sedis fossil palm types were recorded representing groups lacking diagnostic morphological characters

Proiphys infundibularis (Amaryllidaceae), a new species from the Townsville region of Queensland

Jones, D.L. & Dowe, J.L. (2001). Proiphys infundibularis (Amaryllidaceae), a new species from the Townsville region of Queensland. Austrobaileya 6 (1): 121- 126. Proiphys in Australia comprises four species, P.amhoinensis (L.) Herbert, P.cunninghamii(Aiton ex Lindl.) Mabb., P. albo(R.Br.) Mabb. and P.infundibularis D.L Jones & Dowe sp. nov., all occurring in eastern Queensland with P. alba also found in northern Western Australia and P. cunninghamii in northern New South Wales. A key is provided for identification of the Australian species of the genus. Three of the four species (not including P.alba) are illustrated. Notes on the habitat and ecology of P. infundibularis are included

Arecaceae

[Extract] The aim of this paper is to report on the first palm to have become semi-naturalized in South Africa, namely\ud Livistona chinensis (Jacq.) R.Br. ex Mart. This palm\ud is also considered as naturalized in some parts of the\ud United States of America (Butts 1959; Oppenheimer\ud 2003) and Mauritius (Maunder et al. 2002). The palm\ud was introduced to South Africa as an ornamental during\ud the early 1900s and has hitherto been widely planted\ud throughout the eastern coastal regions of South Africa\ud due to its availability, vigour and hardiness (Esterhuyse\ud et al. 2001)

Mapping structural parameters and species composition of riparian vegetation using IKONOS and Landsat ETM+ data in Australian tropical savannahs

Government agencies responsible for riparian environments are assessing the utility of remote sensing for mapping and monitoring vegetation structural parameters. The objective of this work was to evaluate Ikonos and Landsat-7 ETM+ imagery for mapping structural parameters and species composition of riparian vegetation in Australian tropical savannahs for a section of Keelbottom Creek, Queensland, Australia. Vegetation indices and image texture from Ikonos data were used for estimating leaf area index (R-2 = 0.13) and canopy percentage foliage cover (R-2 = 0.86). Pan-sharpened Ikonos data were used to map riparian species composition (overall accuracy = 55 percent) and riparian zone width (accuracy within +/- 3 m). Tree crowns could not be automatically delineated due to the lack of contrast between canopies and adjacent grass cover. The ETM+ imagery was suited for mapping the extent of riparian zones. Results presented demonstrate the capabilities of high and moderate spatial resolution imagery for mapping properties of riparian zones