Past Events
Field Trip on Saturday 19th of May 2012, 10:00 AM (12 years ago)
Contact: Dunedin Botanic Garden | botanic@dcc.govt.nz | (03) 477 4000
A workshop conducted by Alice Lloyd-Fitt, propagation specialist, Dunedin Botanic Gardens. Alice will talk about the collection of seed from New Zealand native plants. She will show how it is processed, stored and sown. She will also show how to propagate native plants from cuttings. We have arranged to have a display of cultivated New Zealand alpines in conjunction with the workshop. Place: Propagation Department at the Dunedin Botanic Gardens. Meet at the upper visitors car park off Lovelock Avenue, Dunedin Botanic Gardens.
Talk / Seminar on Wednesday 16th of May 2012, 12:30 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Trish Fleming | trish.fleming@botany.otago.ac.nz | (03) 479 7577
A Botany Dept seminar by Olivia Sawrey, MSc Candidate. Union St Lecture Theatre, Cnr Union St West & Great King St.
Talk / Seminar on Wednesday 16th of May 2012, 12:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Trish Fleming | trish.fleming@botany.otago.ac.nz | (03) 479 7577
A Botany Dept seminar by Vicky McGimpsey, MSc Candidate. Union St Lecture Theatre, Cnr Union St West & Great King St.
Talk / Seminar on Wednesday 9th of May 2012, 12:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Trish Fleming | trish.fleming@botany.otago.ac.nz | (03) 479 7577
A Botany Dept seminar by Lorna Little, PhD Candidate. Union St Lecture Theatre, Cnr Union St West & Great King St.
Field Trip on Saturday 21st of April 2012, 09:00 AM (12 years ago)
Contact: David Lyttle | djl1yttle@gmail.com | (03) 454 5470
A proposed joint trip with Forest and Bird. Details to be announced.
Talk / Seminar on Wednesday 18th of April 2012, 05:20 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: David Lyttle | djl1yttle@gmail.com | (03) 454 5470
At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.
Notice on Wednesday 11th of April 2012, 12:00 AM (12 years ago)
Contact: Allison Knight
Entry forms are available from the Department of Botany Office, or can be downloaded from the BSO website.
Field Trip on Saturday 24th of March 2012, 08:30 AM (12 years ago)
Contact: Allison Knight
The Knights are stewards of some of the last remaining native vegetation on the banks of the Clutha River from the lakes to the sea. Their 228 ha block opposite Birch Island and the Blue Mountains encompasses a surprising variety of ecosystems. On the river flat and stream sides kahikatea, totara, matai & pokaka grow amongst gnarly old beech trees, with a broadleaf/divaricating shrub understory. In places the podocarps dominate, higher up there are almost pure stands of Nothofagus solandri and N. menziesii. Stands of huge old kanuka are evidence of early milling. On the sunniest northerly faces are remnants of original dry land shrub and kowhai community, including the uncommon Teucridium parvifolium. John, Allison and Ben worked hard last year to build a 2 km long fence to protect examples of these communities from browsing and foraging animals. They hope this new biodiversity reserve will encourage regeneration of the understory and allow vulnerable plants to re-establish. Come and help to create a base-line species list, clear around the fence-line or just look around. Wear strong footwear with good grip for the steep slopes. Bring pen, hand-lens, lunch etc. 113 km drive each way. Return late afternoon. Rain-date Sunday.
Talk / Seminar on Wednesday 21st of March 2012, 05:20 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: David Lyttle | djl1yttle@gmail.com | (03) 454 5470
A talk by Rod Morris. Rod will present a 50 min powerpoint on the plants and animals (many of them poorly known or scientifically undescribed) that are at risk from the 'Escarpment Mine' proposal put forward by Australian mining company Bathurst Resources.
Rod writes: "Until now my career has been in film-making and wildlife photography, and I have not felt the need to become an activist as well, however after visiting Stockton, NZ's largest open-caste coal mine near Denniston 18 months ago, I became increasingly troubled at what I see happening—ecological destruction proposed on a massive scale, and all in one of NZ's most important areas for biodiversity.
I wrote an article for the August 2010 issue of Forest and Bird magazine about my impressions of Stockton and I have been collaborating with F & B on publicising the hidden biodiversity of the Denniston, and the threat open caste mining poses since then. Your members will also have read an evocative piece more recently on the Denniston by Debs Martin in the latest (Feb 2012) issue of F&B."
At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.
Social Event on Friday 2nd of March 2012, 12:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: David Orlovich | david.orlovich@otago.ac.nz
BBQ to welcome new botany/ecology students and new BSO members. At the front lawn, Botany House Annex, Great King Street (across the road from the main Botany building). Sausage sandwiches and drinks provided free by the Botanical Society of Otago. All BSO members welcome!
Talk / Seminar on Wednesday 15th of February 2012, 05:20 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Bastow Wilson | bastow@otago.ac.nz | (03) 479 7572
A talk by Zaal Kikvidze from The University of Tokyo co-authored with M. Suzuki,1 Y. Shimono,2 M. Sukeno3 and G. Kudo3 (1The University of Tokyo; 2Kyoto University; 3Hokkaido University).
Abstract
Desert-like landscapes, created by recent volcanic activity (volcanic deserts) or directional, strong and frequent winds (often in alpine areas), are not uncommon for Japanese archipelago. In these severe environments we can see primary successions (such as colonisation of exposed, bare ground, facilitative effects among plants). Only a few tolerant species can colonise these harsh environments. Among them are plants that can function as foundation species, which actually initiate the process of primary succession and facilitate invasions of other, less tolerant species at later stages of succession. The signature of the presence of these foundation species can be seen in strongly non-random spatial distributions of other members of plant communities, some species strongly associated with the foundation species, but other neutral or even not occurring with the pioneer colonisers. We present two examples of such communities—(i) Polygonum cuspidatum moss and Cirsium purpuratum thistles as facilitators of successions in volcanic desert of Mt. Fuji, central Japan; (ii) Pinus pumilum pines and the low shrub Diapensia lapponica in alpine deserts of Hokkaido, northern Japan. We also show that facilitative effects includes transmissions of mycorrhizal fungal infections from one species to another.
At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.
Social Event on Wednesday 7th of December 2011, 07:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Bill Wilson | rdwilson-dn@xtra.co.nz | (03) 477 2282
Always a fun and popular event! This year we return to the fabulous Asian Restaurant, 43 Moray Place, Dunedin. Make sure you let Bill Wilson know if you'd like to come.
Field Trip on Saturday 3rd of December 2011, 07:00 AM (12 years ago)
Contact: Geoff Rogers | bogpine@xtra.co.nz | (03) 454 5732
We will base ourselves at Omarama and spend one day visiting the bog pine dominated rare ecosystem of Ben Dhu Scientific Reserve, followed by a day investigating the Tarnbrae wetlands or the Wairepo kettle hole wetlands. Visits to these post-glaciation derived ecosystems with their distinctive shrubland and turf vegetation are graded "easy". A range of accommodation options are available at the Omarama Holiday Park www.omaramatop10.co.nz. Participants are expected to arrange their preferred accommodation. Leaders are Geoff Rogers and John Barkla.
Field Trip on Saturday 19th of November 2011, 09:00 AM (12 years ago)
Contact: Robyn Bridges | 021 235 8997
Akatore is a remnant of diverse coastal shrubland at the mouth of Akatore Creek, 45 minutes south of Dunedin. Some special features of this site include the diversity of shrub species and threatened species such as Coprosma obconica, Olearia fragrantissima, Melicytus flexuosus and Carex littorosa with the possibility of our discovering other threatened species. We may also visit the adjacent coast where the threatened cress Lepidium tenuicaule is present as well as Myosotis pygmaea. Depart from the Botany Department car park, corner of Great King Street and Union Street (West).
Talk / Seminar on Wednesday 16th of November 2011, 12:00 PM (12 years ago)
Contact: Trish Fleming | trish.fleming@botany.otago.ac.nz | (03) 479 7577
A talk by Prof. Qian Wang, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Union St Lecture Theatre, Cnr Union St West & Great King St.