Transfer of three species of Cayratia Juss., to Causonis Raf.(Vitaceae)

Phylogenetic studies have shown that Cayratia Juss is not monophyletic. Cayratia s.str. is now confined to those species with a U-shaped endosperm rather than a T-shaped endosperm. The latter are now in three genera Causonis Raf., Pseudocayratia J. Wen, L.M. Lu & Z.D. Chen, together with an undescribed African genus. As a result, new combinations are required for three species occurring in Australia: Causonis clematidea (F. Muell.) Jackes, C. eurynema (B.L.Burtt) Jackes and C. maritima (Jackes) Jackes. Cayratia japonica (Thunb.) Gagnep., and Cayratia trifolia (L.) Domin, have been transferred to Causonis, as Causonis japonica (Thunb.) Raf., and Causonis trifolia (L.) Mabb. & J. Wen

Hibbertia Andrews (Dilleniaceae, Guinea Flowers) in North Queensland, Townsville area to the tip of Cape York Peninsula

Currently, thirty species of Hibbertia Andrews (Dilleniaceae, Guinea Flowers) are recognised in North Queensland in an area extending from Townsville to the tip of Cape York Peninsula. However, there is no key to their identification. The aim of this paper is to provide a key to recognised species/taxa, both described and undescribed, using a modified key format. Similar species are grouped together, and short descriptions provided for ease of comparison. Distinguishing features are highlighted to facilitate use by anyone interested in plants. The genus in the area is under-collected

Review of the Leaf Essential Oils of the Genus Backhousia Sens. Lat. and a Report on the Leaf Essential Oils of B. gundarara and B. tetraptera

A review of the leaf oils of the 13 species now recognised in the genus Backhousia is presented. This review carries on from, and incorporates data from, an earlier (1995) review of the then recognised eight species. The leaf oils of two new species of Backhousia, B. gundarara and B. tetraptera are reported for the first time. B. gundarara contains a mixture of mono-and sesquiterpenes, with α-pinene (14%) and spathulenol (11%) being the main members. In B. tetraptera, the principal component of the mainly terpenoid leaf oil is myrtenyl acetate (20–40%). The review also incorporates the two species of the genus Choricarpia, which have been subsumed into Backhousia, viz. B. leptopetala and B. subargentea. Due to its history in Backhousia, Syzygium anisatum, which has been transferred out of Backhousia, is included in the review for historical reasons

Phylogenetic revision of Backhousieae (Myrtaceae): Neogene divergence, a revised circumscription of Backhousia and two new species

Backhousieae is a small tribe of Myrtaceae composed of two genera (Backhousia and Choricarpia) endemic to Australia. Phylogenetic analyses (parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian) were performed on a combined chloroplast (matK, trnH–psbA, trnC–psbM, trnL–F, rps16) and nuclear (internal transcribed spacers) dataset for all nine species of Backhousia, two species of Choricarpia and two undescribed species. Backhousieae is monophyletic; however, Choricarpia is embedded within Backhousia. In all analyses there were four strongly supported clades containing two to four taxa, with no support for relationships among clades, and the relationships of B. bancroftii and B. citriodora remain unresolved. Bayesian relaxed-clock molecular dating indicated that the Backhousieae has been potentially present in rainforest across Australia for more than 50 million years. The current distribution of Backhousia is inferred to be largely due to the contraction of Australian rainforest in the Neogene. New combinations in Backhousia are made for the two species of Choricarpia, and B. gundarara and B. tetraptera are described as new species. B. gundarara is known only from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, widely disjunct from the remaining Backhousia in eastern Queensland and New South Wales, and appears to be a lineage isolated by increasing aridity during the Miocene

Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas

The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon¹⁻³. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses⁴⁻⁹. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the world’s major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve ‘health’: about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.Keywords: Ecology, Environmental scienc

Studies in Australian Myrsinaceae: Tapeinsperma Hook.f.

In Australia, there are three species recognised in the genus Tapeinosperma. One new species T. pallidum Jackes is from North Queensland and one new combination and reinstatement, T. repandulum (F.Muell.) Jackes, is a species that occurs in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. Descriptions, an identification key, illustrations and distribution maps are provided for each species

A revision of Dolichandrone (Bignoniaceae) in Australia

The genus Dolichandrone (Fenzl) Seem. (Bignoniaceae) has been revised for Australia. Five species and one subspecies are recognised and described. Dolichandrone occidentalis Jackes is newly described, as well as a new subspecies D. alternifolia subsp. variabilis Jackes. A key to the species and distribution maps are provide

Taxonomic revision of Australian Myrsinaceae: Ardisia Sw. and Tetrardisia Mez

In this revision of Ardisia Sw., in Australia, eight species are recognized. This includes Ardisia sanguinolenta Blume which occurs on Christmas Island and other non-\ud Australian areas, and two introduced and naturalised species A. crenata Sims and A. elliptica Thunb. Five species are restricted to Queensland and northern New South Wales. Ardisia brevipedata ?var. depauperata Domin is newly recognized as the species Ardisia depauperata (Domin) Jackes. Ardisia bifaria is again included in the genus Tetrardisia as T. bifaria (C.T.White & W.D.Francis) C.T.White. Descriptions, illustrations and distribution maps of all Australian mainland species are provided, as\ud well as a species identification key

Hibbertia ferox Jackes (Dilleniaceae), a new species from the White Mountains area of north Queensland

[Excerpt] The genus Hibbertia Andrews was traditionally divided into sections based on the arrangement of the androecium; however, Horn (2009) divided the species into two subgenera based on a molecular phylogenetic analysis. All the species with needle-like, ericoid leaves are in Hibbertia subgenus Hemistemma (Thouars) Horn. These taxa also have revolute leaf margins which hide the undersurface of the leaf except for the midrib