Elevated Cupressaceae pollen appear a week earlier than reported last year (2024). Overall, a wet winter this year and the prospect of above average rainfall and warm temperatures in the September to November period (BOM forecast) point to a challenging hay fever season ahead.
It seems a little early to start talking about the pollen-hay fever season in Canberra, but over the weekend we saw the first hint of elevated pollen levels in Cupressaceae pollen (Cypress pine family) - 14 grains/m3 - still LOW, but hinting at the beginnings of elevated levels to come.
See the full paper here, led by Matthew Adeleye, with images of remnant pedestals left after the peat fires.
Adeleye, M.A., et al. (2025) Palaeoecological Analyses Reveal Recent Fires Have Destroyed Late-Holocene Peat Deposits in Tasmania's Largest Ramsar Reserve. Austral Ecology, 50: e70087
Adeleye, M.A., et al. (2025) Palaeoecological Analyses Reveal Recent Fires Have Destroyed Late-Holocene Peat Deposits in Tasmania's Largest Ramsar Reserve. Austral Ecology, 50: e70087
Our latest paper on degradation of peatland systems on King Island (Lutruwita/Tasmania) shows how vulnerable peatlands are under current land management practices. Is the sudden loss if ~4000 years of peat from this site a “canary in the coal mine” for Tasmania/Australia?
doi.org/10.1111/aec....
doi.org/10.1111/aec....
Palaeoecological Analyses Reveal Recent Fires Have Destroyed Late‐Holocene Peat Deposits in Tasmania's Largest Ramsar Reserve
Australian peat-forming wetlands, including those in Tasmania's largest Ramsar reserve—Lavinia State Reserve (LSR), are under threat from climate change, wildfires and human activities. A palaeoecolo....
doi.org
Migrating bogong moths use the stars and Earth’s magnetic field to find ancestral summer caves each year
theconversation.com/migrating-bo...
theconversation.com/migrating-bo...
Bogong moths use a stellar compass for long-distance navigation at night
Each spring, billions of Bogong moths migrate up to 1,000 km
They use stellar cues and the Earth’s magnetic field for long-distance nocturnal navigation towards a specific destination.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Each spring, billions of Bogong moths migrate up to 1,000 km
They use stellar cues and the Earth’s magnetic field for long-distance nocturnal navigation towards a specific destination.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Bogong moths use a stellar compass for long-distance navigation at night - Nature
Every spring, Bogong moths use the starry night sky as a compass to navigate up to 1,000 km towards their alpine migratory goal.
www.nature.com
#ICCB2025 great to be able to present alongside Ramya Bala Prabhakaran, Meghna Agarwala, and Patrick Moss in the “using Palaeoecology for Fire Management and Landscape Conservation” session today (organised by Ramya).
#ICCB2025 Looking forward to presenting “Palaeoecological records from peat mounds in Tasmania as a tool to advance endangered bird research and inform conservation strategies” as part of the Palaeoecology and Conservation Biology session on Thursday June 19, 2.15 PM - 3:15 PM, Meeting Room P4
Connections and collections: The pope, the prime minister and the ethics of diplomatic gift exchange by @anu-chl.bsky.social Research Fellow Dr Katherine Aigner and Prof Kylie Message-Jones www.abc.net.au/religion/pop...
Connections and collections: Pope Leo, the PM and the ethics of diplomatic gift exchange - ABC Religion & Ethics
Contemporary gifts made by Indigenous artists carry the legacy of colonisation. The ethics of gift exchange need to be discussed more openly — which might include public discussion about how and why c...
www.abc.net.au
by Neil Pederson — Reposted by: Simon Haberle, Benjamin I. Cook
Does climate play a role in tree longevity?
A paleo study in Georgia suggests that might be a possibility: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
A paleo study in Georgia suggests that might be a possibility: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Another great deep-time palynology paper by Mike MacPhail from the ANU PalaeoWorks Lab @palaeoworks.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Fossil pollen from Goat Paddock Crater, Kimberley Plateau, are restricted to the Late Cretaceous Epoch.
=> meteor impact during/before the Mesozoic.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Fossil pollen from Goat Paddock Crater, Kimberley Plateau, are restricted to the Late Cretaceous Epoch.
=> meteor impact during/before the Mesozoic.
Reposted by: Simon Haberle
Pollen grains from 123 million years ago show the grooved shape characteristic of eudicots. The findings, from the Lusitanian Basin of Portugal, are the earliest known tricolpate pollen and provide insight into the diversification of flowering plants. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Was extinction of New Zealand's avian megafauna an unavoidable consequence of human arrival?
Using process-explicit ecological models, the authors show that Moa persistence was not compatible with even low rates of hunting.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Using process-explicit ecological models, the authors show that Moa persistence was not compatible with even low rates of hunting.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Was extinction of New Zealand's avian megafauna an unavoidable consequence of human arrival?
Human overexploitation contributed strongly to the loss of hundreds of bird species across Oceania, including nine giant, flightless birds called moa.…
www.sciencedirect.com
The dust originated from drought-stricken parts of SA and VIC as a strong cold front past over SE Australia. Observations from Canberra Airport reported haze overnight, with visibility reduced to 5-6 km for more than one hour as the dust blew over the ACT.
www.weatherzone.com.au/news/hazy-mo...
www.weatherzone.com.au/news/hazy-mo...
Hazy morning in eastern NSW as outback dust reaches Tasman Sea
A huge dust storm whipped up in South Australia on Monday has swept over Sydney and other areas of NSW on Tuesday morning.
www.weatherzone.com.au
Wondering what was in the air during the dust storm that passed over Canberra this week?
Our daily pollen monitoring slide collected on the morning of the 27/5/25 shows the dense brown particles captured over the event. The fine particles of dust can be seen at 400x magnification.
Our daily pollen monitoring slide collected on the morning of the 27/5/25 shows the dense brown particles captured over the event. The fine particles of dust can be seen at 400x magnification.
Reposted by: Simon Haberle, Allan D. McDevitt
The FIRST International Conference on Palaeogenomics will happen in Stockholm, Sweden, June 23-26, 2026!
Topics will encompass all corners of ancient DNA research, from humans to wildlife and sediments🧬🦣💀🦠
Save the dates ✅
Check the website icp2026.palaeogenomics.org and follow us for updates!
Topics will encompass all corners of ancient DNA research, from humans to wildlife and sediments🧬🦣💀🦠
Save the dates ✅
Check the website icp2026.palaeogenomics.org and follow us for updates!
by Simon Haberle — Reposted by: John W. Williams
Great podcast by Madeleine Bessel-Koprek, ANU PhD student, with a fascinating discussion about her research on reconstructing the past vegetation and fire history of Long Island (Tasmania).
Outreach stretching 16,750km to the southern shores of Long Island (New York, USA)!
spotify.link/aRpInNUeCTb
Outreach stretching 16,750km to the southern shores of Long Island (New York, USA)!
spotify.link/aRpInNUeCTb
Episode 203: Madeleine Bessell‑Koprek and the Paleoecology of Long Island, Australia
The Long Island History Project · Episode
spotify.link
Reposted by: Simon Haberle
Supper happy to announce that Dael Sassoon’s documentary Echoes of the Rainforest will be screened at this year’s @egu.eu conference, at the GeoCinema session in room E1 on Tuesday 29 April, 18:50-19:20. Please come along and spread the word for a good turnout! #EGU #MSCA @geo3bcn-csic.bsky.social
by Catherine J. Frieman — Reposted by: Simon Haberle
>50,000-year-old worked tree resin from the Raja Ampat islands, north-west of New Guinea. Resin was used by ancient humans for fire-lighting, hafting tools and constructing boats. This is the oldest example of tree resin processing outside of Africa!
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Reposted by: Simon Haberle
Check it out! New speleothem magnetism paper from semi-arid Australia. Led by postdoc Tom Mallet in my #ARC-DECRA www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Humans in Africa’s wet tropical forests 150 thousand years ago.
The onset of human occupations at Bété I found to be ~150 ka, linking them with Homo sapiens. Plant wax biomarker, stable isotope, phytolith and pollen analyses all point to a wet forest environment.
rdcu.be/ebrSR
The onset of human occupations at Bété I found to be ~150 ka, linking them with Homo sapiens. Plant wax biomarker, stable isotope, phytolith and pollen analyses all point to a wet forest environment.
rdcu.be/ebrSR
The summer Elm pollen season is well underway this year with an early start in late January and EXTREME levels experienced over the last few day.
Extended and elevated tree pollen seasons in winter and summer are becoming increasingly common in Canberra.
Extended and elevated tree pollen seasons in winter and summer are becoming increasingly common in Canberra.
Congratulation to Annika Herbert, @palaeoworks.bsky.social and @ciehf.bsky.social postdoc fellow, on her first sole-author publication!
A review of the potential of using magnetic susceptibility to create records of ancient Australian bushfires. Enjoy!
www.publish.csiro.au/WF/WF24093
A review of the potential of using magnetic susceptibility to create records of ancient Australian bushfires. Enjoy!
www.publish.csiro.au/WF/WF24093
The potential of using magnetic susceptibility to identify past wildfires in Australia
Fully understanding the causes and frequency of wildfires has never been more important than it is today, with potentially thousands of lives at risk from wildfire smoke in Australia alone. Until now ...
www.publish.csiro.au
Reposted by: Simon Haberle
Who wants to go hunting for ancient forests with me in the Canadian Rockies? 🧪⚒️https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/ancient-forest-melting-ice-1.7443094
Ancient forest uncovered by melting ice in the Rocky Mountains | CBC Radio
A nearly 6,000-year-old forest is once again seeing daylight after millennia hidden under ice in the Rocky Mountains. A team of scientists from Montana State University uncovered the ancient forest wh...
www.cbc.ca
Reposted by: Simon Haberle
#Australian #ornithologists, can you see benefits in collaboration with a palynologist to better understand bird habitats, movement, migration, diet/feeding strategies, by using pollen analysis? (dm me for the paper, if you can't get past paywall) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... 🧪🦉🦆🦅🦜
Pollen analysis as a tool to advance avian research and inform conservation strategies
Ornithologists use many methods to advance understanding of birds and inform conservation strategies. These include field methods (e.g. censusing, ringing), laboratory analysis (e.g. molecular taxono...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Still can’t shake the sneezing and wheezing this summer?
One of the reasons may be the onset of She Oak (Casuarina) and Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia) summer pollen season - a very CBR phenomenon.
This year (and last year) we saw a much earlier onset of these allergenic tree pollen in Canberra
One of the reasons may be the onset of She Oak (Casuarina) and Chinese Elm (Ulmus parvifolia) summer pollen season - a very CBR phenomenon.
This year (and last year) we saw a much earlier onset of these allergenic tree pollen in Canberra
New paper just published in Data Science Journal led by Annika Herbert “Collaborative Effort Towards a FAIR and OPEN Indo-Pacific Pollen Database (IPPD)”
The IPPD is a collection of Australian, Southeast Asian, and Oceanian Quaternary pollen records
datascience.codata.org/articles/10....
The IPPD is a collection of Australian, Southeast Asian, and Oceanian Quaternary pollen records
datascience.codata.org/articles/10....
Collaborative Effort Towards a FAIR and OPEN Indo-Pacific Pollen Database (IPPD) | Data Science Journal
The CODATA Data Science Journal is a peer-reviewed, open access, electronic journal, publishing papers on the management, dissemination, use and reuse of research data and databases across all researc...
datascience.codata.org
Chinese Elm tree or Ulmus parvifolia pollen is increasing in Canberra this week marking the beginning of the late summer-autumn pollen season. If you are experiencing hay fever symptoms this might be the culprit!