May 10, 2024 | News
QTPN Project Manager Paul Donatiu has provided his first monthly update on how the network is progressing. A summary of the update is:
DESI Threatened Species Operations are currently working with the Stanthorpe Rare Wildflower Consortium to draft Recovery Action Plans (RAP) for Eucalyptus dalveenica and Grevillea scortechinii subsp. scortechinii, two critically endangered species. A multi species RAP which includes 12 plant species for Blacktown Tableland and adjacent state forests has been initiated.
Paul visited Trees for Evelyn and Atherton Tablelands (TREAT) and the QPWS Nursery at Lake Eacham in North Queensland. You can find out more about TREAT at: https://www.treat.net.au/.
In exciting news, we have also welcomed our first 10 member organisations to the network! We would like to thank them for their support.
To learn more about the QTPN, visit: https://www.anpc.asn.au/queensland-threatened-plant-network/
For information on joining the QTPN or other enquires, Paul can be contacted at: qtpn@anpc.asn.au
May 10, 2024 | News
Early bird conference registration and abstract submission for APCC14 are now available here.
Get in before July 26 to take advantage of our early bird pricing!
The conference will be held in Toowoomba, Queensland, from 13-17 October 2024 at the Oaks Toowoomba Hotel. Receive a 12% discount to stay at the Oaks! Just book via the Hotel’s website and enter the promo code OUREVENT.
Partner with us to make the conference even better! You can view our Partnership Prospectus here (pdf link). At the moment we are particularly looking for Bursary funding to support students and Traditional Owners to attend. The conference also provides an excellent opportunity to promote the profile of your organisation, including your involvement in plant conservation, to attendees from across Australia.
For more information about the conference, visit https://www.anpc.asn.au/conferences-apcc14/
Mar 4, 2024 | News
Almost 800 native plant species are listed as threatened under Queensland legislation; of these, more than 70 per cent are endemic to the state. Many of these face complex threats such as climate change, habitat loss and altered fire regimes. Some have been the subject of innovative and cross-disciplinary research and on-ground recovery, with this work being led by community-based environmental groups, First Nations people, Herbaria, State Government and QPWS Rangers managing the conservation estate.
To build upon these efforts, we would like to warmly announce the establishment of the Queensland Threatened Plant Network (QTPN) – a collaborative project brought about by the Queensland Government’s Threatened Species Program (TSP) and the Australian Network for Plant Conservation (ANPC). Through its vision of Queenslanders supporting threatened species to prosper in self-sustaining populations, now and into the future, the TSP has a strong focus on enabling and facilitating all Queenslanders to participate in threatened species recovery, a vison that ANPC shares. Essentially, QTPN aims to provide support to groups contributing to threatened plant recovery across the State, and to facilitate the formation of partnerships among those conserving our native flora.
Androcalva (Commersonia) inglewoodensis – Critically Endangered, Credit: Jason Halford
For those based in Queensland, this is an exciting opportunity for you and your organisation to become involved in a network working to achieve shared goals and outcomes through a collective, informed, and collaborative approach to advance threatened plant recovery in Queensland.
More information about the QTPN, including the benefits of membership, can be found at our new QTPN website.
Sarcochilus fitzgeraldii – Vulnerable, Credit: Paul Donatiu
Feb 15, 2024 | Events Category, News
Mark those calendars and keep the 13-17th October free because the ANPC will be holding the 14th Australasian Plant Conservation Conference (APCC14) in Toowoomba, Queensland.
We’re looking forward to seeing you all in the Garden City!
Keep checking our newsletter and social media channels for updates when more information becomes available.
Jan 29, 2024 | News
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria and La Trobe University scientists are working hard to protect the Critically Endangered Sphaerolobium acanthos (Grampians Globe-pea).
Growing up to 1 m tall, this spiny shrub has vibrant flowers that are bright orange, but can range from yellow to red in colour.
Sphaerolobium acanthos is restricted with less than 200 individuals remaining in the Gariwerd National Park in Victoria. As part of ongoing conservation work, populations of S. acanthos are being surveyed with genetic studies underway to inform seed collections and propagation for future reintroduction.
The species is thought to be pollinated by native bees, and pollinator studies are helping to establish exactly what these pollinators are so that suitable reintroduction sites can be found to save the plant from extinction.
The Grampians Globe-pea is threatened by animal browsing, habitat loss, and dieback caused by the pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi (Cinnamon fungus).
This research is funded by Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action‘s Nature Fund. The ‘Preventing the extinction of Victoria’s threatened flora’ project is led by Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria in partnership with La Trobe University, Australian Network for Plant Conservation, DEECA, Trust for Nature, Wimmera Catchment Management Authority, Nillumbik Shire, ENVITE, Bairnsdale & District Field Naturalists Club, Friends of the Grampians Gariwerd, WAMA Botanic Gardens, Halls Gap Botanic Gardens and the Australasian Native Orchid Society Victorian Branch.
Images supplied by La Trobe University
Jan 5, 2024 | News
Xerochrysum palustre (The Swamp Everlasting)
This beautiful golden everlasting daisy is endemic to south-eastern Australia (https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/xerochrysum_palustre). It grows in seasonal or permanent wetlands and swamps scattered from near Portland in western Victoria to Bairnsdale in the east, also occurring in NSW and Tasmania. It is perennial, grows 30-100 cm tall and has showy flowers up to 5 cm across which appear from November to March. It dies off in late summer, and resprouts in winter-spring, depending on rain. The Swamp Everlasting is listed as Critically Endangered under Victoria’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988, and as Vulnerable under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 reflecting a range of threats to the long-term persistence of populations, including land clearing, altered hydrology, weed invasion and grazing.
- Flower seeding – Supplied RBGV
The National Recovery Plan for Xerochrysum palustre (2011) estimated that there were 35 wild populations remaining. With the passage of time and following a recent revision of the genus (see Collins et al. 2022. Australian Systematic Botany 35, 120-185) which reclassified some alpine populations as a new species, Xerochrysum andrewiae, the current number and extent of populations of X. palustre is unclear. It is also difficult to estimate the number of plants and health of populations because of its rhizomatous growth form. As part of the ‘Preventing the extinction of Victoria’s threatened flora’ project, RBGV staff are conducting surveys across its range and collecting material for genetic analysis to characterise diversity in remnant populations. Seeds are also being collected which will be used to grow plants to bolster populations, and act as insurance collections for long-term storage in the Victorian Conservation Seedbank at RBGV, Melbourne.
- RBGV volunteer assisting with seed collection – Supplied RBGV
This research is funded by DEECA Victoria’s Nature Fund. The ‘Preventing the extinction of Victoria’s threatened flora’ project is led by Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria in partnership with La Trobe University, Australian Network for Plant Conservation, DEECA, Trust for Nature, ENVITE, Bairnsdale & District Field Naturalists Club, Friends of the Grampians Gariwerd, Wimmera CMA, Nillumbik Shire, Halls Gap Botanic Gardens and the Australasian Native Orchid Society Victorian Branch.
Feature image: Xerochrysum palustre (supplied RBGV)
