PRESIDENT’S REPORT - 2007
The objective of the Australian Flora Foundation is to ‘Foster
research into the biology and cultivation of Australian plants'. Progress
in the past 12 months is illustrated by the final reports received.
•
Dr Kirby’s final report (1991) on microbial symbionts of Sturt’s
Desert Pea was missing from our files, but he has kindly supplied a
replacement. His work showed that the symbionts are resistant to high
temperatures (30 min at 120°C).
•
Webster and Woodrow’s (2005) final report was delayed while the
authors published in refereed journals. The study ‘Genetic diversity
and plant propagation in the rare rainforest tree, Ryparosa kurrangii’ showed
that cassowary gut passage significantly improved seed germination,
from 4% to 92%. This opens the way to an efficient method for propagating
this rare tree.
•
Delpratt and Shears’ (2006) final report ‘The effect of
nitrogen fertility and mowing frequency on the persistence of twelve
Australian perennial forbs in a planted grassland community’ showed
that the survival of forbs in grassland communities was poor, but was
enhanced by annual mowing and harvesting of the communities, and by
not providing nitrogenous fertiliser.
•
Ashford and Palmer’s (2007) final report ‘Germination,
establishment and mycorrhizal synthesis in the Epacrid Woollsia
pungens’ describes
methods for propagating Woollsia from seed, and showed that for most
vigorous growth the seedlings needed to be in growing medium inoculated
with mycorrhiza isolated from plants growing in the wild.
•
Orsheg’s (2007) final report ‘Seed longevity and viability
in several plant species of Box-Ironbark Forests’ examined patterns
of in situ and ex situ seed longevity, dormancy and viability decay
over three years for eight species. The report showed that the soil
longevity of soft-seeded species rarely exceeded 12 months, but for
hard seeded species usually exceeded 3 years. Given that fire events
in these forests are becoming more rare, this suggests the likelihood
of long term changes in species composition.
The full final reports, as well as nearly all previous final reports
and publications arising from them, can be accessed on the Foundation
website at http://www.aff.org.au.
New research grants have been awarded to Dr Margaret Johnston, University
of Queensland, for ‘An evaluation of the temperature and daylength
requirements of Australian potted colour species’
to Carola Kuramotto De Bednarik, Australian National University, for ‘The
relative importance of fire regimes, environmental gradients and climate
change for rainforest distribution in the Sydney region’
and to Dr Peter Wilson and Dr Maurizio Rossetto, Royal Botanic Gardens
Sydney, for ‘Reproductive biology of the Magenta Lilly Pilly
(Syzygium paniculatum).and its implications for conservation’.
A significant activity this year has been the installation of a new
executive, consisting of Peter Goodwin, President; Ian Cox, Secretary;
Jenny Jobling, Treasurer and Vice Presidents Richard Williams and Charles
Morris. Apart from a few hiccups, the transition has gone smoothly.
Jenny has been a very active Treasurer, and apart from managing the
financial transition to the new executive, has been able to provide
reports which clearly show past and future commitments on grants.
Peter Goodwin, President
26th November 2007
PRESIDENT'S REPORT - 2005
This was given as a verbal report to the Annual General
Meeting.
PRESIDENT'S REPORT - 2005
Another year has ended on a sad note with the recent
death of Mr. William (Bill) Payne a founding member and Councillor of
the Foundation who was the driving force behind the formation of the
AFF back in the early 1980's. Bill is known to many for his lifetime
of championing the appreciation of our Australian native plants, not
least as an active member of the Australian Plants Society (previously
SGAP) and editor of Australian Plants for many years.
The most significant achievement for this year has been the continuing
improvement of the AFF Web site for which we are indebted to Peter Goodwin
and his team. Peter has also done a sterling job in tracking down many
of the grant final reports and publishing them on the web site. Recently
he established the Foundation's own independent web URL [http://www.aff.org.au/
] so that the site can be updated efficiently. The support of UQ School
of Agronomy and Horticulture in hosting the original site is acknowledged
with appreciation.
Thanks also to Ian Cox for taking on the task of compiling our Newsletter.
This has been difficult to sustain in the past but with Peter's commitment,
and help from people submitting suitable material, hopefully we can
keep the volumes flowing. This printed Newsletter goes out to all members
and complements the Web site.
The Foundation continues to promote interest in native plants research
by awarding Young Scientist Prizes to students presenting the best papers
on native plant research at selected national conferences. In memory
of Val Williams, who died last year, we now have the Val Williams Prize
to be awarded to the best student presentation at the Biennial Wildflower
Conference.
We have completed another round of awarding AFF Research Grants with
three new projects approved for funding in 2006 (see the Web site for
details). Thank you once again to the Scientific Committee for scrutinising
the applications. Since its inception the AFF has funded 73 projects
totaling $429,000. Considering none of the grants contribute to the
researchers' salaries, and all the host research institutions provide
additional resources, the total value of the research fostered by the
Foundation would be several million dollars. .
So once again, thank you to all the ongoing supporters of the Foundation,
including members and donors, and of course the members of Council who
make it all happen. While we must continue to work to sustain and grow
the Foundation, we can be justly proud of its achievements to date.
We are indeed 'Fostering Research into the Biology and Cultivation
of the Australian Flora'.
Professor Richard Williams, President
Top
PRESIDENT'S REPORT - 2004
The year 2004 has seen mixed blessings for the AFF. We
were saddened by death of Val Williams
early in the year. Val was a strong and active supporter of the Foundation.
On the brighter side, we gained Professor Acram Taji (from University
of New England, Armidale) and have recently been joined by Dr Elwyn
Hegarty who replaces lan Cox as the ASGAP liaison' person. lan continues
as a Councillor and Elwyn was co-opted to Council membership at the
August meeting and has accepted nomination for election at the AGM.
A major achievement was the launching of the AFF Web site http://www.aghort.uq.edu.au/aff/.
This Web site has continued to grow under the guidance of Peter Goodwin.
One of the challenges has been to compile all the research reports dating
back to the early days of the Foundation. With the various changes in
office bearers and the relocation of the files over the years, the records
are incomplete. It has also been difficult to contact some of the researchers,
especially since many were postgraduate students at the time of their
grants and have since moved on to jobs.
Bill Payne is also working on a related site that will provide a central
database of articles and papers relevant to the conservation or cultivation
of Australian flora. This site will be linked to the AFF main site and
provide a forum for material in addition to research reports ratified
by the AFF.
Three new AFF Research Grants were selected by the Council for funding
in 2005, after ratification by the AGM. Christine Cargill will investigate
the 'Biology and cultivation of Revwattsi fragile'. Alan Lymbery
will extend his research into 'the impact of secondary salinisation
on riparian flora'. Jodi Price will be documenting the impact of land-use
on Red Gum woodlands.
As in previous years, two prizes will be awarded for best student paper
and best poster on research into the native flora, presented at the
annual conference of the Ecological Society'.
Once again I wish to thank the members of Council and all our financial
supporters who have kept the Foundation going for another year.
Professor Richard Williams
Top
