Category Archives: Plants

Te Papa Researcher awarded a Rutherford Fellowship

20 November 2012 – 3.09pm

Dr Lara Shepherd, who’s been working with us on genetics research since January 2012 has just been awarded a prestigious Rutherford Fellowship.

Dr Lara Shepherd at the Garden of the Sleeping Giant, Nadi, Fiji. Photo: Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie, Wellington

Dr Lara Shepherd at the Garden of the Sleeping Giant, Nadi, Fiji. Photo: Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie, Wellington

Only 10 fellowships are awarded each year, with a total of $8 m granted. The fellowships are awarded on the basis of the excellence of the candidates work as well as the research topic they propose.

Lara’s project is to explore the influence of human activity on evolutionary processes for New Zealand species. This includes further work on plants brought by Maori to New Zealand during early colonisation and the changes in these plants since that time. She’ll also examine how data on species changes can be used to better manage conservation of species and prevent population losses.

By Susan Waugh | Also posted in Biodiversity, Birds | Tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

Where to find new species?

13 November 2012 – 9.54am

Where would you go to find a new species?

Perhaps somewhere remote and little-visited, especially if it is ecologically unusual – New Caledonia maybe…

Well, instead, how about inside Te Papa’s collections, because that’s where I first discovered a new species of Gleichenia tangle fern.

Biodiversity-treasure – inside one of Te Papa’s two botany collection stores. Te Papa has over 250 000 dried plant specimens. Copyright Te Papa.

A lot of biodiversity remains to be documented, particularly amongst smaller plants and animals, and micro-organisms.  But in a well-explored country like New Zealand, it is uncommon to find a clearly distinct new species of fern or seed plant.  Instead, taxonomists like myself spend a lot of time with statistical and/or genetic analyses trying to determine whether similar things are sufficiently different to be classified as separate species.

A tangle of tangle ferns – the new species growing intermixed with Gleichenia dicarpa, western South Island. Photo Leon Perrie, Te Papa.

You might, then, appreciate my surprise and excitement at finding an obviously different species while inspecting Te Papa’s specimens of Gleichenia.  The differences were so great, I thought I was hallucinating.  I was using a microscope at the time, but the differences are evident to the naked eye once you know what to look for.

I’ve now checked through New Zealand’s three biggest botanical collections – Landcare Research, Auckland Museum, and Te Papa.  Between them they hold several hundred Gleichenia specimens, but just 13 of the new species (only 2 of Te Papa’s 250 specimens of Gleichenia are the new species).

Using these collections I’ve been able to determine:
• how to distinguish the new species from the other species of Gleichenia in New Zealand (and Australia).
• where it occurs – it appears restricted to just three regions of New Zealand.
• how common it is – apparently not very.

This is a clear demonstration of the value of such collections – they document our biodiversity.  I knew a lot about this new species without even stepping outside.

A paper establishing a scientific name for the new species will be published soon.  I’ll then post on how to distinguish the new species.

Why has this new species not been detected before?  There’s no doubt that tangle ferns are a difficult group, and they’ve probably been neglected.  There is still much to learn about the boundaries between the presently recognised species in New Zealand - Gleichenia alpina, G. dicarpa, and G. microphylla - and I’m working on that too.

Images associated with some of Te Papa’s Gleichenia specimens.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Biodiversity, Ferns | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Ferns of New Caledonia that are very different to those in New Zealand

2 November 2012 – 12.18pm

You’ll never have seen anything like these New Caledonia ferns in New Zealand, unless you’ve been to a very interesting garden (which I’d love an invitation to!). These are photos from my recent fern collecting trip.

Dipteris conjugata. This is a very distinctive species with its un-fern like, c. 1 metre wide fronds. It is can be common on sunny, roadside banks. The same species occurs in south-east Asia to Australia and Fiji. The closest relatives in New Zealand – and it is a distant relationship – are Gleichenia, Sticherus, and Dicranopteris. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Dipteris conjugata. The spore-producing structures (sporangia) occur in clusters (sori) spread over the underside of the frond. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Austrogramme marginata. You can be forgiven for thinking this is an Asplenium birds-nest fern. But the resemblance is only superficial, and it is actually in the Pteridaceae family! The closest relative in New Zealand is probably Anogramma (and/or Pteris). Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Drynaria rigidula. A so-called basket fern. These are epiphytic ferns that have some of their fronds modified (centre of the photograph) to catch litter and organic debris, which on decomposing provides nutrients to the plant. Widespread through south-east Asia and the tropical Pacific. The closest relatives in New Zealand are Pyrrosia and Microsorum. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Prosaptia contigua. Looks a bit like New Zealand’s Ctenopteris heterophylla except the reproductive structures are clustered into cups at the apices of the frond segments. Widespread through south-east Asia and the tropical Pacific. The closest relatives in New Zealand are Ctenopteris and Grammitis. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Stromatopteris moniliformis. A fascinating fern for anyone interested in fern evolution. This is the only species in the genus Stromatopteris, and its relationships were intensely debated. Now classified in the Gleicheniaceae, along with the following genera found in New Zealand: Dicranopteris, Gleichenia, and Sticherus. I saw Stromatopteris only in the maquis vegetation, where it was one of very few ferns present. At the base of the image on the left is a young Dracophyllum. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Selaginella hordeiformis (?). A lycophyte rather than a fern. No Selaginella are native to New Zealand, but misfortunate conservationists and gardeners may be familiar with the introduced Selaginella kraussiana. Despite the latter’s diminutive stature, it carpets the floor of wet forests (and gardens), choking regeneration. New Caledonia is home to several Selaginella species that produce erect ‘fronds’, although none as big as Fiji’s Selaginella viridangula which can be over 1.5 m tall! Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Tectaria sinuata. New Zealand is seemingly too cold for this large group of ferns. The closest relative in New Zealand, is believe it or not, the epiphytic Arthropteris. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Biodiversity, Ferns, Field trips, Pacific | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

New Caledonian ferns with close relatives in New Zealand

31 October 2012 – 8.28am

A lot of New Caledonian species belong to fern genera that also occur in New Zealand. Some look very similar to New Zealand species, whereas others are quite different!  Here’s a few from my recent trip.

Cyathea albifrons. Like New Zealand’s silver fern (Cyathea dealbata), the fronds are white underneath. But the two species are not closely related. Cyathea albifrons was the dominant tree fern in the forested serpentine areas that we visited. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Cyathea intermedia. I’ve seen competing claims about whether New Zealand’s Cyathea medullaris or New Caledonia’s Cyathea intermedia was the world’s tallest tree fern. Having now seen them both, my vote is with Cyathea intermedia; easily. Majestically massive. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Dicksonia thyrsopteroides. Superficially similar to New Zealand’s Dicksonia squarrosa (wheki), but it is less hairy and the different-looking fertile parts of the frond are distinctive (see below). Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Dicksonia thyrsopteroides. The fertile parts of the frond, right and centre, look very different to the sterile parts, to the far left. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Trichomanes laetum. What a cute little fuzz ball! According to my books, laetum is Latin for attractive or joyful. The closest relative in New Zealand is Trichomanes elongatum. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Hymenophyllum rolandi-principis. There are lots of Hymenophyllum species in New Zealand, but I think none so elegant as this. Grows as an epiphyte in high altitude forest. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Adiantum novae-caledoniae. I suspect our DNA analyses will confirm this as being very closely related to Adiantum cunninghamii, A. fulvum, and A. viridescens of New Zealand, and Adiantum silvaticum of Australia. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Asplenium oligolepidum. An uncommon epiphyte. Preliminary DNA analyses have suggested that its relationship to New Zealand’s Asplenium oblongifolium and Asplenium obtusatum is not as close as one might suspect from its looks. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Blechnum obtusatum. Common around streams. A very handsome fern that could make a wonderful garden plant. Recalls somewhat Blechnum fluviatile or Blechnum durum, but unpublished DNA analyses indicate the closest New Zealand relatives are probably those currently classified as Doodia. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Blechnum corbassonii. A fairly common forest fern. Part of a group of New Caledonian Blechnum ferns that I found difficult to work with, but which are apparently related to Blechnum novae-zelandiae. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Blechnum diversifolium. Unusual for a Blechnum in that the frond is twice-divided. Blechnum fraseri in New Zealand does the same, and perhaps they’re related. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Sticherus montaguei. Reasonably common at the margins of upland forests. Up close it looks like Sticherus flabellatus, but it is much, much bigger. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Biodiversity, Ferns, Field trips, Pacific | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

New Caledonian ferns shared with New Zealand

29 October 2012 – 3.20pm

About 35 species of fern are found in both New Caledonia and New Zealand. That’s about 13% and 18% of the total species in each area.  Almost all of these are widespread species that are also found elsewhere in the Pacific (and beyond).

Here’s a few of them that I saw during my recent field work in New Caledonia:

Dicranopteris linearis is one of the world’s most widespread ferns. In New Zealand it is only found at geothermal sites in the central North Island, but it is widespread through the Pacific. In New Caledonia it is abundant where the vegetation is recovering from disturbance, such as in the Melaleuca savannah. From the morphological diversity present in New Caledonia, I suspect more than one species is present. Dicranopteris is distinguished from the related Gleichenia and Sticherus by the naked stems below the frond-forks. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Lycopodiella cernua is a lycophyte rather than a fern. It is often found with Dicranopteris linearis, at sites where the vegetation has been disturbed.  It gets much bigger in New Caledonia than in New Zealand. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Schizaea dichotoma, fan fern. This is just a young, unfurling frond. The red colour doesn’t last. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Tmesipteris sigmatifolia, fork fern. Grows on tree fern trunks. Seemed common in New Caledonia. Largely restricted to kauri forest in New Zealand, although other species are widespread. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Histiopteris incisa, water fern. A relative of bracken (Pteridium esculentum), but generally found at wetter sites. New Caledonian plants have a ‘tougher’ look compared to those in New Zealand. Photo Leon Perrie. (c) Te Papa.

Gleichenia dicarpa, tangle fern. Up close, New Caledonian plants look very different to those from New Zealand. We were already working on a taxonomic revision of this species. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Biodiversity, Ferns, Field trips, Pacific | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

New Caledonian plants

26 October 2012 – 2.37pm

Below are photos of some of the botanical/landscape highlights from the recent expedition to New Caledonia that I participated in. But first, a bit of background:

New Zealand and New Caledonia both sit on the (largely) submerged continent Zealandia, which separated from Australia and the rest of Gondwana some 60-80 million years ago.

Wikipedia’s page on Zealandia.

Both New Caledonia and New Zealand are regarded as biodiversity hotspots. However, New Caledonia, despite a land area less than 10% of New Zealand’s, has far more species of indigenous vascular plants (very approximately 3300 cf. c. 2500). This probably reflects New Caledonia’s tropical setting; tropical areas generally have more species than temperate areas.

Endemism, where organisms are restricted to a particular area, is high for both New Caledonia and New Zealand, at about 75-80% amongst indigenous seed plants.

A large portion of New Zealand’s indigenous plants are found in its alpine zone. New Caledonia has no alpine zone, but it does have very different rock types which support very different plant communities.

Amborella trichopoda is a rather unprepossessing shrub to look at. In fact, with its leaves often smothered by bryophytes, it’s rather scungy. However, it fascinates botanists because it is the most distantly related of all living flowering plants, at least according to some evolutionary analyses. It is only found in New Caledonia. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Wikepedia’s page on Amborella trichopoda.

By contrast, Parasititaxus usta is freakily striking, indeed alien-like. Also only found in New Caledonia, it is the world’s only parasitic conifer, and has no need for green chlorophyll. It belongs to the podocarp family, along with the likes of New Zealand’s rimu and totara. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Wikepedia’s page on Parasititaxus usta.

New Caledonia is renowned for its abundance of araucarians: Araucaria and Agathis. They seem to be nearly everywhere. In this picture is, I believe, Araucaria montana, near the summit of Mont Do and surrounded by Nothofagus/beech. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

I’ve seen a lot of New Zealand’s magnificent kauri, Agathis australis, so it was fascinating to see some of the diversity of Agathis in New Caledonia. Many New Caledonian Agathis also appear to be known as kauri (or kaori). The Agathis species on Mount Panie, known as Dayu Biik (not pictured), is subject to dieback similar to that being experienced by the New Zealand kauri. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

The New Zealand kauri dieback website.

Pictures of New Caledonia Agathis from the Endemia website.

Even some of the other plants look like araucarians. These Araucariaceae mimics are: at left, the cedar Neocallitropsis pancheri, in the Cupressaceae, and; at right, a species of Dacrydium, with male cones, in the Podocarpaceae, and a reasonably close relative of New Zealand’s rimu! Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

The Nothofagus, or southern beeches, in New Caledonia belong to a tropical sub-group, and do not look anything like the species in New Zealand. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Mountainous (sub-?) tropical rainforest abounds in some parts. This is Aoupinie. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Short, shrubby vegetation, called maquis, dominates large areas, especially in the south on the serpentine soils. This is Dzumac. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Dracophyllum verticillatum in flower in the maquis vegetation beside the road up Mont Do. Dracophyllum species only occur in New Caledonia, Australia, and New Zealand. Thanks to Phil Garnock-Jones for the species identification. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Juan embracing the Lilliputian conifer ‘trees’ of the maquis vegetation. These are Neocallitropsis pancheri, at Montagne Des Sources. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

As I knelt to collect a fern, I was stunned to find myself surrounded by pitcher plants, Nepenthes vieillardii. The ‘pitchers’ are traps for catching insects. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

The large areas covered by Melaleuca trees are very reminiscent of Australia. But they are also testament to one of the major threats to New Caledonia’s vegetation – fire. The fern Dicranopteris linearis flourishes amongst the Melaleuca regeneration. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

New Caledonia has a higher GDP per capita than New Zealand, principally due to nickel and copper mining. Mining operations are widely evident. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Another threat to New Caledonia’s vegetation is browsing by introduced deer and pigs. Conservation International are trialling using the amount of browse on the fern Orthiopteris firma to monitor the effectiveness of animal control projects. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Biodiversity, Field trips, Pacific | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

Going (Lady) Gaga over ferns

26 October 2012 – 8.48am

USA fern taxonomists have created a minor stir after re-classifying a group of central American ferns into a new genus named Gaga, after the singer Lady Gaga.

Abstract of the article formally naming the new genus Gaga.

Youtube video of the taxonomists discussing their research.

The researchers say the naming for Lady Gaga was in honour of “her articulate and fervent defence of equality and individual expression in today’s society”, linking the celebration of diversity within humans to the study of the intricate diversity in this group of ferns. Further, the Gaga ferns contain a stretch of DNA with the nucleotides GAGA that distinguish them from their close relatives. Lady Gaga also once wore a costume resembling a fern gametophyte (presumably not knowingly), and these taxonomists are apparently big fans of her music.

The rock fern, Cheilanthes sieberi, a New Zealand relative of the newly re-named Gaga ferns. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

The 19 species of Gaga ferns were previously classified in the genus Cheilanthes. However, DNA analyses of evolutionary relationships have shown that Cheilanthes is composed of a multitude of unrelated groups, which are therefore undergoing extensive re-classification; Gaga is but one example. From our own research and that of others, it appears that the Cheilanthes in New Zealand are true Cheilanthes and won’t be re-classified.

Abstract of our paper examining the generic classification of New Zealand Pteridaceae, including Cheilanthes.

Naming new species or genera after people is not the ‘done thing’ amongst (most) New Zealand plant taxonomists. The following words I read as a student still resonate strongly with me:

[taxonomists should] “base new names on character states or distinctive habitats that assist in distinguishing a new taxon from its near relatives” (Webb & Edgar 1999).

Utility over sycophancy, perhaps?

That said, sometimes it is hard to come up with a new, unique name, particularly in groups of organisms that contain a lot of undescribed species. Te Papa’s snail expert, Bruce Marshall, has 5 genera and more than 20 species named after him.

What if we were to extend the taxonomic honouring of celebrity to New Zealand – Dobbynii or Finnii, or Irenei or Danii anyone?

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Biodiversity, Ferns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

New Caledonia fern collecting

25 October 2012 – 2.46pm

I’m just back from three weeks collecting ferns in New Caledonia.

For a place so close to New Zealand (shorter flight time than to Australia), I knew very little about New Caledonia. I expect that is true for many New Zealanders, and it presumably reflects our very different cultures, not least being the language difference (French predominates in New Caledonia, and English* in New Zealand).

New Caledonia is not an independent country but a special collectivity of France. Nouméa, its largest city, is like a piece of France transplanted to the tropical Pacific. The original Melanesian character is perhaps most strongly retained in the (north-)east.

Wikipedia page on New Caledonia.

Wikipedia page on the indigenous Kanak people.

Some of Te Papa’s existing collections from New Caledonia.

We stayed in villages during some of our trip. Here at Bas Coulna, before we left to climb Mount Panié, we had a traditional-type hut. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Funded principally by a grant from the USA’s National Science Foundation, our collecting expedition was led by Matt von Konrat (Field Museum), Blanka Shaw (Duke University), and Louis Thouvenot, who was our guide and translator (none of the others in the expedition had been to New Caledonia before or spoke French, although Juan’s Spanish was useful on many occasions). The main goal was to collect Frullania liverworts, but we variously collected mosses, liverworts, and lichens – these are all small plants that are often neglected. I was invited along to collect ferns.

Interview with Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat programme about the expedition.

Blog post on similar expedition to Fiji in 2011.

The black stems, each only about 1 mm wide, of a Frullania liverwort creeping over a white lichen on the trunk of a mangrove tree. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

New Caledonia is home to about 270 ferns and lycophytes. That’s more than New Zealand, despite a land area less than 10%. About 35% of New Caledonia’s ferns and lycophytes are endemic (i.e., only found there), which is very high for a tropical Pacific island. However, the last comprehensive account is from 1969, and it is clear that much revision is needed. A reflection of this is that there are (at least) two species of new tree fern needing scientific description. During the three week expedition, I made 232 collections, of at least 160 different species. These include new species, new records for New Caledonia, and rediscoveries (species not recorded for a long time).

Te Papa’s updated checklist of Fiji’s ferns, which I hope to replicate for New Caledonia.

The Endemia website includes photos of many of New Caledonia’s ferns, and is an excellent photographic resource about New Caledonia’s biodiversity

In coming days I’ll post about some of the plants I saw, particularly, of course, the ferns.

Trip leader Matt von Konrat collecting Frullania liverworts up a mangrove. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Collecting near Tinou. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

All available space in our lodgings was often given over to drying specimens. Louis’s bed is somewhere under these paper packets. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

On our way to Mount Panié. We were fortunate to have horses carry our packs for the first part of the trek. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Maurice, one of our guides for Mount Panié, using a wreath of the fern Paesia rugosula to complement the shade of his cap. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Albeit clearly exhausted, here’s proof that I did make it to the summit of Mount Panié, New Caledonia’s highest point at 1629 m above sea level. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

The expedition couldn’t have been the success it was without the assistance of many, especially Louis Thouvenot, as well as the Nouméa herbarium, the government land managers, the Kanak land owners and guides, and our contacts at Dayu Biik, Conservation International, and Société Calédonienne d’Ornithologie.

* I can note that the so-called ‘English’ speech of the two (monolingual) New Zealanders was constantly belittled by the other members (all multilingual) of the expedition, none of whom spoke English as a first language. Matt and I weren’t sure what to make of this.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Biodiversity, Bryophytes, Ferns, Field trips, Pacific | Tagged , , , , | Comments (10)

Unravelling the secrets of a 200-year-old European Orchid collection

12 October 2012 – 11.37am

Te Papa’s collection of pressed, dried plant specimens includes samples of native and exotic species collected in New Zealand and other parts of the world. Many of the foreign specimens currently in the collection were brought into New Zealand in the late 1870s to be used as reference material and to assist with the identification of exotic species and to compare with the native species being discovered.

About 28000 specimens were purchased from the British Museum by the first director of Te Papa’s predecessor, the Colonial Museum, Sir James Hector. This collection, known as the Thompson-Baker Herbarium, included samples of mosses, liverworts, marine algae, ferns and other plants. To date, only a small part of this large collection has been adequately curated and many of the specimens are still stored between the same paper sheets or newspaper pages they were placed in by their collectors or previous owners.

Close up to one of the newspapers used to separate and store these plant specimens. Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

During the last three months Joyce Colussi-Mas has been working at Te Papa as a volunteer helping with the curation of the orchid specimens in the Thompson-Baker Herbarium. Joyce has carefully mounted over 500 specimens of European orchids on acid-free card, protected by a flimsy (thin paper sheet) and placed any loose labels, with information such as scientific name, place and date of collection, collector, into small cellophane envelopes and attached them to the card. Jonathan Frericks, MSc student at Victoria University of Wellington, also helped to mount some of these orchids.

Te Papa volunteer Joyce Colussi-Mas transcribing collection details from the labels attached to each orchid specimen. Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

The collection includes terrestrial orchids collected in countries such as France, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Russia. Some of the labels are written in Latin, German or French. Luckily, Joyce’s first language is French and all those notes from orchids collected in France or Belgium are being translated into English.

This label is from a specimen collected in the forests of Pechbusque (southern France) in May 1806. The label reads: Ophrys tephrosanthos Vill. var petalis fusco-punctatis. Bois de Pechbusque, Mai 1806. Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

Collection records of c.100 specimens have been examined so far and it seems most of these orchids were collected between the late 1770s and 1870s. Until now, one of the oldest orchid specimens we have found was collected on 16 July 1768. This orchid specimen is about 244 years old.

Fragrant orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea) collected on a hill side near Gottingen (Germany) in 1768. Back then this species was known as Orchis conopsea. The label reads: Orchis conopsea L. in der Lieth bei Mariengarten bei Göttingen. Translated by A. Zeller. Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

After studying the labels of each specimen we will know what species and how many different species of orchids are in the Thompson-Baker Herbarium, where and when these orchids were collected, and who the main collectors were. We already know that J. G. Baker, one of the owners of this collection, was a curator at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (UK) and contacting this institution will be our next step to find out more about the origin and stories behind these orchids.

Orchis alata collected in France, 1st May 1867. Photo CA Lehnebach, © Te Papa.

By Carlos A. Lehnebach | Also posted in Biodiversity, Orchids | Comments (1)

Going International, Part II – What caught my eye at two recent botany meetings

24 September 2012 – 6.20pm

Here are just a few of the many highlights from the two international botany conferences I recently attended: Botany 2012 (Columbus, OH, USA) and  Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology 2012 (German Botanical Society 21st International Symposium, Mainz, Germany).

  • Plant identification goes visual, interactive and mobile

Plant identification keys are useful when you want to identify an unknown plant specimen to a species. Traditionally, keys have been found in books or other printed media, and have used written, verbal descriptions as choices that user must make (see an example here for Plantago from the 1961 New Zealand Flora). When using a conventional key, a user must proceed down the key and finally “key out” or identify the plant specimen of interest.

But keys are becoming increasingly interactive, making use of specialised computer software and including photos and drawings to aid identification (see for example Key to the Flowering Plant Genera of New Zealand). Keys are also becoming exteremely mobile, with the development of smart phone applications for plant identification (such as Leafsnap for the USA). I saw one talk by Alexander Krings about the development of these great apps for the Flora of North Carolina. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to have such mobile plant identification apps for the New Zealand flora?

I also attended a hands-on workshop about so-called “visual keys“, which rely exclusively on photos and other visual aids. At the workshop, which was run by Bruce Kirchoff from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, we were divided into groups whose task was to create our own visual key for oak tree leaves using only a set of images. Then other workshop participants tested our group’s visual key by keying out leaves from another set of images. The workshop was fun and challenging, would be a great exercise for high school or university biology courses, and got me thinking about different ways I might create plant ID keys, especially for the forget-me-nots I am currently working on.

  • DNA Sequencing: The Next Generation

Use of so-called “Next Generation Sequencing” in (NGS) evolutionary biology research was a dominant theme at both conferences I attended. (And even though this might sound more like something from a certain television programme from the 1980s and 90s, I can assure you I was attending botany conferences, not sci-fi conventions!) The relatively new technology of NGS allows sequencing of large portions of the genome quickly, giving us orders of magnitude more DNA data from the organisms we study and allowing researchers to understand them better and answer more interesting questions about them.

In fact I have come to Oldenburg, Germany to learn and perform NGS methods to study the evolution of certain polyploid New Zealand and European Veroncica species (more on that later). By the way, on the conference field trip to “Mainzer Sand”, I saw my first European Veronica species in its native habitat, check it out (with thanks to Aaron Liston for the photos):

Heidi Meudt on the botanical field trip to the "Mainzer Sand", at the “Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology" meeting, the 21st International Symposium of the German Botanical Society (DBG) , Sept. 2012. I am kneeling just behind the European plant species Veronica spicata. Photo by Aaron Liston.

Heidi Meudt on the botanical field trip to the “Mainzer Sand”, at the “Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology” meeting, the 21st International Symposium of the German Botanical Society (DBG) , Sept. 2012. I am kneeling just behind the European plant species Veronica spicata. Photo by Aaron Liston.

Veronica spicata flowers from the "Mainzer Sand", Mainz, Germany. Sept. 2012. Photo by Aaron Liston.

Veronica spicata flowers from the “Mainzer Sand”, Mainz, Germany. Sept. 2012. Photo by Aaron Liston.

Veronica spicata fruits from the "Mainzer Sand", Mainz, Germany. Sept. 2012. Photo by Aaron Liston.

Veronica spicata fruits from the “Mainzer Sand”, Mainz, Germany. Sept. 2012. Photo by Aaron Liston.

By Heidi Meudt | Also posted in Biodiversity, Field trips, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (1)
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