A new species of Cyathodes (Epacridaceac) from Tasmania

Cyathodes nitida (subfamily Styphelieae) is a new species, endemic to Tasmania

Lichens of buttongrass (Gymnoschoenus) moorland in Tasmania

Eighty-nine lichen species are recorded from buttongrass (Gymnoschoenus) moorland in Tasmania. Of these, Hypocenomyce australis, Ochrolechia frigida, Placynthium nigrum, Protoblastenia rupestris, Siphulastrum triste and Trapeliopsis colensoi are new records for Tasmania. Over 70% of the species have Southern Hemisphere distributions, analogous to that of the majority of the vascular flora. However, 25% of the species also occur in the Northern Hemisphere, mostly in ecologically related blanket bogs or moors. A preliminary classification of lichens in twelve broad moorland vegetation types is presented. Favoured habitats for lichens include peat, rotting sedge tussocks or stumps, loose stones and large rock outcrops. Although most moorland lichen species arc widespread in other Tasmanian vegetation formations, repeated, frequent fires are seen as a major threat to their long-term survival within the moorland ecosystem

New species in the family Epacridacea

Three Tasmanian endemic species from the Epacridaceae are considered. Specific status has been given to Monotoca scoparia var. submutica and a new variety, Monotoca submutica var. autumnaZis, is described. In addition, descriptions for two recently di scovered species, Cyathodes penduZosa and Epacris navicuZaris, are included

Additions to the Epacridaceae in Tasmania

Three new taxa are described from the Epacridaceae, including a new species from each of Cyathodes and Epacris, and a subspecies from Monotoca. All are endemic to Tasmania

A contribution to an inventory of lichens from South Sister, northeastern Tasmania

A lichen survey at South Sister, northeastern Tasmania, has yielded 234 taxa. The following 16 are recorded from Tasmania for the first time: Acarospora veronensis A. Massal., Arthothelium macounii (G. Merr.) WJ. Noble, Austrolecia antarctica Hertel, Bacidia wellingtonii (Stirt.) D.J. Galloway, Buellia griseovirens (Turner & Borrer ex Sm.) Almb., Coccocarpia pellita (Ach.) Mull. Arg., Hafellia subcrassata Pusswald, H xanthonica Elix, Hypocenomyce scalaris (Ach.) M. Choisy, Illosporium carneum Fr., Lecidella pruinosula (Mull. Arg.) Kantvilas & Elix comb. nov., Lecidella sublapicida (Knight) Hertel, Lepraria eburnea J .R. Laundon, Micarea denigrata (Fr.) Hedl., Mycoblastus campbellianus (Nyl.) Zahlbr. and Mycoporum antecellens (Nyl.) R.C. Harris. The survey represents the first of its kind for any dolerite peak in Tasmania, and serves as a benchmark for future studies. Aspects of the distribution and ecology of the flora, the occurrence of rare, threatened or otherwise unusual species, and significant range extensions are discussed. The effect of metal-rich run-off from galvanised structures is identified as a potential threat to the flora values of the site

A descriptive ecology of the vegetation in the lower Gordon River basin, Tasmania

The vegetation of the Lower Gordon Ri vel' Basin consists of rainforest, sclerophyll forest, scrub and sedgeland-heath, each of which is composed of a number of plant communities forming an intricate mosaic. Field studies conducted over three summer seasons suggest that differential fire regimes are the primary determinants of the composition, structure and distribution of the major vegetation types. Climatic, topographic and edaphic factors play a relatively minor role except through their interaction with the fire regime. The observed patterns and processes in the major vegetation types can be interpreted readily in terms of vegetation succession and ecological drift, but the ubiquity of diffuse ecotones argues against the occurrence of stable fire cycles

Epacris curtisiae, a new species from northwestem Tasmania

A new species of Epacris is described. It is restricted to northwestern Tasmania where it is a prominent component of heathland vegetation on peaty soils

A framework for initialising a dynamic clustering algorithm: ART2-A

Algorithms in the Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) family adapt to structural changes in data as new information presents, making it an exciting candidate for dynamic online clustering of big health data. Its use however has largely been restricted to the signal processing field. In this paper we introduce an refinement of the ART2-A method within an adapted separation and concordance (SeCo) framework which has been shown to identify stable and reproducible solutions from repeated initialisations that also provides evidence for an appropriate number of initial clusters that best calibrates the algorithm with the data presented. The results show stable, reproducible solutions for a mix of real-world heath related datasets and well known benchmark datasets, selecting solutions which better represent the underlying structure of the data than using a single measure of separation. The scalability of the method and it's facility for dynamic online clustering makes it suitable for finding structure in big data

Foliage insect diversity in dry eucalypt forests in eastern Tasmania

Species numbers and composition of the insect fauna occurring on trees and shrubs were studied in dry eucalypt forests in eastern Tasmania over nine years. In all, 1164 named and putative species representing 17 orders and 157 families were collected. The bulk of the species belonged to the orders Coleoptera (28%), Hymenoptera (25%), Hemiptera (18%), Lepidoptera (14%) and Diptera (10%). Of the species collected, 388 -- about one-third -- were identified at least to genus or species level. These included 21 named species not previously listed in the Tasmanian insect fauna and 90 undescribed species. A list of 22 host plants for 171 insect species was compiled from records of 132 insect species observed feeding during the study and from previous records ofinsect/host plant associations for 39 insect species found on the study plots. Most insects were feeding on eucalypts (127 insect species) and acacias (38 species). The most widely distributed and commonly collected species were several well-known pests of eucalypts: Gonipterus scutellatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Uraba lugens (Lepidoptera: N octuidae), Amorbus obscuricornis (Hemiptera: Coreidae), Chaetophyes compacta (Hemiptera: Machaerotidae) and Eriococcus coriaceous(Hemiptera: Eriococcidae). Host plants supporting the richest insect fauna were Eucalyptus amygdalina (74 species), E. obliqua (64), E. viminalis (46), Acacia dealbata (35), E. dalrympleana (33), E. sieberi (31), E. delegatensis (30), E. pulchella (24) and E. globulus (19). The broad-striped ghost moth, Fraus latistria Walker (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae), was collected during the study. This species is classified as 'rare' on the list of Tasmania's threatened fauna and the collection established a new locality record