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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · 4d

The Australian model is the way to go. Compulsory voting (very high voter turnout), preferential voting and an independent electoral commission.

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Reposted by Simon Heyes

Ryan @lost-in-botany.bsky.social · 11d

Tiny Daisy Island in a sea of yellow sand! The Mossy Sunray #Hyalosperma demissum, part Gnaphalieae tribe, many of this genera looks like a showy everlasting but some like this one dont scream Aster at first glance! Up close tho they are a really cute species worthy of getting down to ground level!

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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · 11d

The range of habitats this species grows in is just fantastic. Here it is in a grassland in south-west Victoria.

Hyalosperma demissum growing in an inter tussock space in a temperate grassland

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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · 12d

I spent last week demonstrating in Natimuk with over 80 second year botany students. Inch flora galore and a new one for me was Centrolepis cephaloformis (new favourite? Maybe). By far the highlight was watching the green veil come down for the students and watching them become budding botanists 🌏

A small green plant surrounded by white sand grains. Centrolepis cephaloformis is a tiny annual plant in the Restionaceae family. Found in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

Small red succulents growing amongst leaves and twigs on a fine sandy substrate. This small annual is Crassula colorata

A small flower head surrounded by green leafy bracts. This is Actinobole uliginosa an annual in the Asteraceae (daisy) family

Centrolepis strigosa an annual in the Restionaceae family

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Inna Osmolovsky @innaosmol.bsky.social · Jul 8

🌎 My first paper is out in @globalchangebio.bsky.social ! We propose the Interaction Opportunists Hypothesis: changes in biotic interactions may drive species downhill, equatorward, or to shallower waters under #ClimateChange. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #RangeShifts #Ecology

Counterintuitive Range Shifts May Be Explained by Climate Induced Changes in Biotic Interactions

Climate change is expected to drive species uphill, poleward or into deeper waters. Yet many are shifting in toward the equator, downhill or to shallower waters, which is opposite to the expected dir...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Simon Heyes

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · Sep 3

Riverbank erosion in SW Australia exposed previously undocumented root clusters in Kingia australis. Research by Lamont et al. suggests these novel 'kingioid roots' enhance water and nutrient uptake rather than storage, linking with seasonal root-cluster types🫚

Paper here 🔗 buff.ly/Hi3BxLE

A dense, intricate cluster of golden-brown roots and rootlets from the grasstree Kingia australis, displayed against a white background. The cluster shows a complex branching structure with a main parent root extending horizontally, from which hundreds of fine secondary roots and rootlets emerge in all directions, creating a dense, bushy appearance. Photo credit: Byron Lamont.

The text on the image reads: "An eroding riverbank exposed the hidden root systems of the grasstree, Kingia australis."

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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · Sep 1

Tony Benn had a name for politicians like Starmer and Albo

youtu.be/VBvMQPiDZ3k?...

Reposted by Simon Heyes

CSIRO Publishing @csiropublishing.bsky.social · Sep 1

Wattle you know... it's National #WattleDay, so we have three facts that may surprise you.

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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · Aug 30

Back when I was younger this sort of stuff would have ended a Ministers job

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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · Aug 30

What the hell are ministers doing pumping themselves out to the highest bidders anyway.

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Reposted by Simon Heyes

Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · Aug 21

New paper looking at hybrid origin of a rare endemic shrub from my co-supervisor, Susan Hoebee's lab. A first publication for many of the authors, represents work completed during Mark Clifton's hons and a collaboration between researchers at La Trobe and community groups 🌏🧪

doi.org/10.1007/s105...

Genomic evidence for a hybrid origin of the critically endangered shrub Callistemon kenmorrisonii (Myrtaceae) and persistence involving extreme clonality - Conservation Genetics

Narrow range endemic species are often threatened by stochastic events due to their localised distribution. Many of these species also have small population sizes where demographic and genetic threats...

doi.org

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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · Aug 21

New paper looking at hybrid origin of a rare endemic shrub from my co-supervisor, Susan Hoebee's lab. A first publication for many of the authors, represents work completed during Mark Clifton's hons and a collaboration between researchers at La Trobe and community groups 🌏🧪

doi.org/10.1007/s105...

Genomic evidence for a hybrid origin of the critically endangered shrub Callistemon kenmorrisonii (Myrtaceae) and persistence involving extreme clonality - Conservation Genetics

Narrow range endemic species are often threatened by stochastic events due to their localised distribution. Many of these species also have small population sizes where demographic and genetic threats...

doi.org

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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · Aug 17

I've got a paper in draft on the effects of the Mesostoa galls but from a different population near the Grampians NP. I was planning to drafting something documenting at least three different populations I've found.

Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · Aug 16

Back in Australia and on the hunt for cool galls (my new hobby). First two are Uromycladium paradoxae, a gall forming rust fungi in Acacia paradoxa. The second two are rather special. They're Mesostoa kerri, a species of Braconid gall wasp and a major range extension for this species 🧪 #ecology

Uromycladium paradoxae gall are caused by a species of rust fungus. This species is host specific the Kangaroo Thorn (Acacia paradoxa).

Old brown woody growth (Uromycladium paradoxae gall) in a shrub (Acacia paradoxa) with small green phyllodes and prominent prickly stipules.

This is an old stem gall of Mesostoa kerri. Female wasps oviposit along the stem and these woody galls form. There can be hundreds of wasps in a gall and they generally appear to emerge in September. Galls were first described from a single site in South Australia and not recorded elsewhere until we found them back in 2017. They're host specific in Banksia marginata.

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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · Aug 8

I asked the new PhD level ChatGPT a question and can conclude that it is still as dumb as a brick.

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Reposted by Simon Heyes

Lars Brudvig @lars-brudvig.bsky.social · Aug 8

Today we wrapped up the 10th summer of vegetation surveys in our KBS prairie restoration (reconstruction) experiment, testing how the geographic origin and species diversity of seeds used to initiate restoration affects long-term ecological dynamics

@kelloggbiostn.bsky.social @kbslter.bsky.social

Purple coneflower, big bluestem, etc in a prairie reconstruction at Kellogg Biological Station

Yellow coneflower, big bluestem, etc in a prairie reconstruction at Kellogg Biological Station

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Reposted by Simon Heyes

🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · Aug 1

This red & black color combo is sure to catch the eyes of birds. The shiny black seeds of Cojoba arborea contrast with the red valves of the legume, but neither is edible. The seeds are hard & indigestible. They’re pure deception. #Fabaceae #dispersal #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a dangling, open legume pod. The interior of the pod is bright red and displays shiny black seeds. Photo by Scott Zona CCBYNC2.

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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · Jul 30

I've had COVID and tested daily while symptomatic and only two of the tests came back positive. Had other instances where I was sure I had COVID (loss of taste/smell) and all the time the tests came back negative the entire time. I'd say preferably both.

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Reposted by Simon Heyes

🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · Jul 26

Here’s a monocarpic rainforest legume tree. This is Tachigali versicolor, which has a spectacular buttressed trunk. After reproducing (& producing wind-dispersed fruits), the whole tree dies. Both photos by Reinaldo Aguilar CCBYNCSA2 #Fabaceae #monocarpy #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of the base of a rainforest tree and its massive buttress roots.

Aerial photo of a single, dead, leafless tree surrounded by green, living trees.

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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · Jul 24

The number of different gall forming wasp species on Oak trees blows my mind. They're absolute super hosts for a some wonderful different galls. These are just a few I've run into near my parents place in Wigan, Lancashire.

A cluster of acorns with wrinkled green-brown galls on them. These are surrounded by oak leaves with my hand holding them.

The galls belong to the gall forming wasp, Andricus quercuscalicis.

In the top left a gall about the size of a thumbnail is growing from a small stem. The gall has green scales with brown margins and resembles an artichoke flower bud.

This is Andricus foecundatrix and is easily the most common gall. Most trees appear to host this gall and is easily my favorite so far.

Perfectly round marble like galls with a few brown blemishes.

Andricus kollari or the Marble wasp gall.

An image of the underside of an oak leaf. There are a number of small light brown galls with a raised ring around the outside and a small depression in the middle.

I'm not so sure what species this is but I'm pretty sure it's a Neuroterus or the Spangle gall wasps.

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Reposted by Simon Heyes

Dean Nicolle @deannicolle1.bsky.social · Jul 21

Caught a flock to 20-odd yellow-tailed black cockatoos shredding the large woody fruits of Eucalyptus youngiana and the branches of drooping she-oaks at the arboretum.

They certainly are efficient at shredding fruits and branches in search of seeds and grubs!

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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · Jul 8

So I live in Australia and we have a number of Pittosporum here. The one outside my old house attracted all sorts of birds that consumed the seed. Could never see what they got out of them because they ain't sweet and I can't imagine they would provide much sustenance.

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Simon Heyes @simondheyes.bsky.social · Jul 8

There are a number of Australian Acacia that also have very resinous stems and leaves.

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Reposted by Simon Heyes

Dean Nicolle @deannicolle1.bsky.social · Jul 4

Following on from my earlier post, here are a few more sites, this time from east of Adelaide (Murray Bridge, Monarto, Callington), showing the impacts of the 'green drought'.

And these are all considered to be relatively drought tolerant species - mallee box, sheoaks, Callitris, olive trees...

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Reposted by Simon Heyes

Dan Warren's Greatest Hits.m3u @danlwarren.bsky.social · Jul 3

Posting because I have a lot of friends who might want to reach out but afaik literally none of them use Mastodon.

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