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Mark Ooi @markooiecol.bsky.social · 7d

I was wondering the same!

Reposted by Mark Ooi

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · Aug 27

The "living fossil" Wollemi pine🌲can self-fertilise! New research from #CharlesSturtUni shows this critically endangered conifer produces viable seeds without cross-pollination - which helps explain their low genetic diversity in natural systems 🧬

Open access paper 🔗 buff.ly/l3yG5Rt

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

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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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · 29d

🌱 New research from The Australian PlantBank reveals how 4 threatened Australian Grevillea species respond to temperature changes. Good news, 3 species show resilience to future warming, but G. iaspicula prefers cooler conditions & may struggle with climate change.

Read more 🔗 buff.ly/b4pbbgv

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · Jul 14

Are you eligible for APC-free #OpenAccess? 🌱

Researchers from institutions with agreements in place between their library and CSIRO Publishing can publish #OA in our journal without needing to pay Article Processing Charges (APCs).

Find your institution:
www.publish.csiro.au/journals/ope...

CSIRO PUBLISHING | Journals

Read and Publish

www.publish.csiro.au

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

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

Traits such as spines & water storage vessels allow #cacti to thrive in #aridecosystems. These traits are also useful indicators of #ecosystemintegrity. Paredes Cubas & colleagues from @universidadjaen explore 12 standardised measures of functional traits in #Cactaceae 🌵🔗https://buff.ly/Rc1J5K4

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · May 23

Quantifying the life history (fire tolerance) of six shrub and tree species reveals the historical, highly variable fire history of #banksia #woodlands in south-western #westernaustralia, according to Russel Miller and colleagues from @murdoch.edu.au doi.org/10.1071/BT23...

Plant life-history data as evidence of an historical mixed-severity fire regime in Banksia Woodlands

Context The concept of the fire regime is central to understanding and managing fire-prone ecosystems globally, and information on past regimes can provide useful insights into species disturbance…

doi.org

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · Jun 6

The germination success of tussock grass #Themeda triandra, a keystone species of many #grassland #ecosystems is hampered by variable seed quality and a lack of standardised germination protocols, according to Marne Durnin and colleagues from University of Adelaide 🌱 doi.org/10.1071/BT24...

Variable seed quality hampers the use of Themeda triandra (Poaceae) for seed production, agriculture, research and restoration: a review

Themeda triandra (Forssk.) is a tussock grass of international importance for its keystone role in grassy ecosystems and, hence, is often a focus for seed production, research and ecological…

doi.org

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · Jun 25

🌿 How did plants respond to postglacial warming near Tasmania’s treeline?
New research by Astorga et al. shows that some species survived the Last Glacial period locally, while others, like fire-adapted shrubs, arrived much later.
Read more in Australian Journal of Botany 🔗 doi.org/10.1071/BT24...

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · Jul 2

In New Caledonia’s rainforests, the rare monocarpic tree Cerberiopsis candelabra may owe its success to fast seasonal growth and high juvenile survival. Salmon et al. tracked 134 individuals for 18 months, revealing traits that may help them thrive after disturbance 🌱
🔗Read more: buff.ly/CUN2V5V

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Mark Ooi @markooiecol.bsky.social · Jun 17

Finite resources, lots of species requiring conservation. @saltandbrine.bsky.social asks the question - how far do we go for each plant species? A simple question generating deep thought! #ICCB2025

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · Jun 13

We're delighted to announce the reappointment of @jwmorganecology.bsky.social and @markooiecol.bsky.social as Co-Editors-in-Chief of Australian Journal of Botany!
Their continued leadership ensures the journal remains at the forefront of botanical research in Australia and beyond 🌱 📖

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · Apr 27

The stunning Southwest Australian Floristic Region is #biodiversityhotspot - and a hotspot of equally diverse plant pollination strategies. Mark Brundett and colleagues from Uni. Western Austalia catalogue pollination mechanisms of > 8800 species doi.org/10.1071/BT23...

Pollination strategies are exceptionally complex in southwestern Australia – a globally significant ancient biodiversity hotspot

Context The Southwest Australian Floristic Region has exceptional plant evolutionary complexity for fire, nutrition and pollination traits.Aims Our aim was to allocate pollination strategies to all…

doi.org

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · Apr 28

Freshwater biota rely on #silicon, often from rock weathering. But in #Argentina, the sedge Schoenoplectus californicus is providing an important #ecosystemservice as a key silicon source to freshwater ecoystems. Mara De Rito & colleagues, Uni. Nacional de Mar del Plata-CIC doi.org/10.1071/BT23...

Schoenoplectus californicus (Cyperaceae) amorphous silica contribution to the silicon cycle in pampean shallow lakes: an analysis of spatio-temporal variation and silicon–lignin relations

Context Phytoliths constitute an important source of silicon in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Schoenoplectus californicus (C.A.Mey.) Soják (Cyperaceae) is an important phytolith producer.Aims…

doi.org

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · May 7

A surprising discovery was made by CSIRO botanists which revealed the daisy fleabane (thought to be a rare Australian species) is an introduced plant! Molecular data suggests it likely hails from the Northern hemisphere as it is not distinctly different from the widespread bitter fleabane.
🔗⬇️

Origins of the rare Australian daisy Erigeron conyzoides and its implications for biological control research and conservation management

Context Confidence in risk analyses for weed biological control (biocontrol) agents is underpinned by knowledge of the phylogenetic associations between the target weed and off-target plant species,…

doi.org

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Australian Journal of Botany @ausjbotany.bsky.social · May 11

Addition and removal experiments by McDougall et al. in subalpine grassland within Kosciuszko National Park reveal that the invasive Ox-eye daisy affects grassland diversity. Luckily, undisturbed communities seem resilient to the daisy's invasion despite its abundance.

🔗 ⬇️

Ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare Lam.) invasion has only a small effect on the diversity of a subalpine grassland

Context Ox-eye daisy (OED; Leucanthemum vulgare) has invaded subalpine communities in Australia.Aims We evaluated the effect of OED on subalpine grassland diversity in Kosciuszko National Park…

doi.org

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Tom Le Breton @tomlebreton.bsky.social · May 12

New paper out! After the 2019-2020 #fires in Australia our team undertook #IUCN Red List assessments of fire affected #plant species, to handle the volume we undertook paired rapid and full assessments and compared their accuracy 1/4

doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Thomas Mesaglio @thebeachcomber.bsky.social · Mar 17

New paper open access in @plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Cit sci data quality is a hot topic, and assumptions about ID accuracy are often made without evidence. We decided to test identification accuracy for a WA plants @inaturalist.bsky.social dataset

Expert identification blitz: A rapid high value approach for assessing and improving iNaturalist identification accuracy and data precision and confidence

Citizen science data are increasingly used in research and conservation, so assessing and improving data accuracy is important. We recruited 50 experts to review a dataset of Western Australian plant....

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

UNSW Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences @unswbees.bsky.social · Mar 27

BEES is now on Bluesky. Looking forward to sharing the latest news and research from staff and students.

Sunset at Fowlers Gap. Photo by R. Freeman

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

CSIRO Publishing @csiropublishing.bsky.social · Mar 13

Five of our journals are now on Bluesky!

Aus J Botany: @ausjbotany.bsky.social 🌱
Aus J Chem: @ausjchem.bsky.social 🧪
Aus J Primary Health: @ausjph.bsky.social 🩺
Reproduction, Fertility & Development: @repfertdev.bsky.social 🥚
Wildlife Research: @wildliferesearchj.bsky.social 🐾

The covers of five journals, Australian Journal of Primary Health, Australian Journal of Botany, Reproduction, Fertility and Development, Wildlife Research, and Australian Journal of Chemistry.

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

CSIRO Publishing @csiropublishing.bsky.social · Mar 10

We're seeking Associate Editors to join the #AusJZoology editorial board!

Associate Editors help manage the peer review process, uphold the journal's high publication ethics, and contribute to the publication of impactful zoological research.

Find out more: www.publish.csiro.au/zo/Expressio...

Australian Journal of Zoology: evolutionary, molecular and comparative zoology.

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Mark Ooi @markooiecol.bsky.social · Mar 11

How will the spread of varroa impact feral bees and the pollination of native plant species? Our paper in @AusJBotany.bsky.social asks that question. Led admirably by @tomlebreton.bsky.social with @saltandbrine.bsky.social and Amy-Marie Gilpin #UNSWScience www.publish.csiro.au/BT/BT24020

Implications of varroa mite establishment for Australian plants and their persistence

The European honeybee (Apis mellifera) is a highly abundant introduced pollinator with widely established feral populations across a large proportion of Australia. Both managed and feral populations c...

www.publish.csiro.au

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Tim Curran @timcurran.bsky.social · Mar 9

Fire ecology database for documenting plant responses to fire events in Australia

by José Rafael Ferrer-Paris, Ada Sánchez-Mercado, David Keith @willcornwell.bsky.social @markooiecol.bsky.social et al.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Fire ecology database for documenting plant responses to fire events in Australia - Scientific Data

Scientific Data - Fire ecology database for documenting plant responses to fire events in Australia

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Tom Le Breton @tomlebreton.bsky.social · Mar 11

To get started we are launching a citizen science project on iNaturalist where anyone can contribute images of honeybees or native pollinators visiting native flowers so we can have a baseline for how flower visitation changes before and after varroa mite reaches different parts of the country 4/5

Honeybee visitation and native plant pollination Australia

Honeybee visitation and native plant pollination Australia What insect pollinators are visiting flowers in your area? Are the pollinators European honeybees or are they something else? As varroa mite ...

www.inaturalist.org

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Reposted by Mark Ooi

Tom Le Breton @tomlebreton.bsky.social · Mar 11

There is a huge need for more research on pollination in native species and support for existing work. Collection of baseline data is crucial as is monitoring already threatened species. There may also be unexpected impacts arise through interactions with other threats like fragmentation or fire 3/5

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