Past Events

Botanical "Show and tell" evening

Members are invited to bring along botanical items (for example, photographs and slides, plants, books, seeds anything botanical that you'd like to show others!) for a show and tell evening. 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.

Botany student colloquium winners

Three short talks by the winners of the 2009 Botany Postgraduate Student Colloquium. These students (names to be announced) were awarded prizes for the best talks, and will be presenting their research talks to the BSO this evening. 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.

Field trip to Dunedin Botanic Garden

The Dunedin Botanic Garden is an outstanding local botanical resource highly valued by Dunedinites. Botanical Services Officer and Society member Tom Myers will take us on a guided tour of the recently-created Solander Trail and the impressive Native Collection. If time permits we'll also have a look through some of the natural bush areas that are part of the Garden. SPECIAL NOTE: Meet in the carpark next to the Botanic Garden Centre, Botanic Garden, on Lovelock Avenue.

Sullivan's Dam ferns field trip

A field trip to discover the ferns of Sullivan's Dam, led by John Steel. It will be to practice using John's "Key to the ferns of Dunedin". There are close to a hundred species of ferns in the greater Dunedin City area and John has produced this key over the last ten years using student feedback to iron out the more common problems found when trying to identify them. A great opportunity to master this fascinating component of the Dunedin environment. Leave from Botany carpark at 8.30 am.

Ecological excuses for a visit to China

A talk by Emeritus Prof. Alan Mark. 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.

The community structure of epiphytic lichen communities of mountain beech

A talk by Dr Hannah Buckley, Lincoln University. This is a Department of Botany Seminar. Note special venue: At the Union Street Lecture Theatre (upstairs, corner of Union St (West) and Great King Streets).

Fungal Foray to the Catlins

A two day trip to collect fungi in the Catlins. We'll explore the many patches of native bush in the Catlins area. Bring your camera along. Leader, David Orlovich. Accommodation on Saturday night will be at Nugget Point Lighthouse Keepers house (numbers limited). Day trippers are welcome to join us on either day. To reserve accommodation or find out more contact David Orlovich by Wednesday 20 May. Leave from Botany carpark at 8.30 am Saturday.

Positive interactions and interdependence in plant communities

A talk by Dr Ragan Callaway, The University of Montana. The individualistic view of plant communities has led to successful research on the importance of the abiotic environment and competition as factors structuring plant communities. Negative interactions such as predation, competition for resources, and allelopathy have been central to the study of ecology and evolution. However, it has become clear that organisms can greatly enhance the performance of their neighbors as well as modify the environment in ways that benefit other species. Positive interactions among plants, or facilitation, occur when the presence of one plant enhances the growth, survival, or reproduction of a neighbor. Until recently, examples of facilitation have been relatively rare; however, this rarity may have been an artifact of scientific disinterest rather than ecological frequency. But in the last 20 years, hundreds of peer-reviewed papers have been published on the positive effects of plants on each other. This research challenges a strict definition of the theory of individualistic plant communities, one of the most basic and widely accepted conceptual models in ecology, as a foundation for understanding how groups of plant species are organized. I will discuss this research and its theoretical implications. 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.

Going with the flow: water motion and seaweed productivity

A talk by Assoc. Prof. Catriona Hurd, Dept of Botany, University of Otago. This is a Department of Botany Seminar. Note special venue: At the Union Street Lecture Theatre (upstairs, corner of Union St (West) and Great King Streets).

Variation in the leaves and fibre of Cordyline spp. ti and toi

A talk by Rebecca Lodge, PhD candidate, Dept of Botany, University of Otago. This is a Department of Botany Seminar. Note special venue: At the Union Street Lecture Theatre (upstairs, corner of Union St (West) and Great King Streets).

Novel biochemical weapons and exotic plant invasions

A talk by Dr Ray Callaway, Plant Ecology Lab, The University of Montana. This is a Department of Botany Seminar. Note special venue: At the Union Street Lecture Theatre (upstairs, corner of Union St (West) and Great King Streets).

Field Trip to Lower Taieri Gorge

The lower Taieri Gorge between Henley and Taieri Mouth is representative of the original vegetation of the District and has an exceptional variety of plant communities in a small area. Highlights include large populations of the threatened scented tree daisy and fierce lancewood, along with several other threatened species, and one of the few sites in the District with regenerating kahikatea and matai. We'll shuttle vehicles to enable us to walk the well-formed track that sidles the gorge from Henley to the end near Taieri Mouth. Depart Botany carpark 9 am, returning mid afternoon.

An evening of Botanical Photography and AGM.

Following on from last year's successful formula we have again lured renowned photographers Rod Morris, Peter Johnson and Kelvin Lloyd back to judge our third BSO photographic competition following a brief AGM. Entries will be on display, photographic tips given and prizes presented. It's not too late to enter. Entries close 15 April, 5 p.m. See BSO website or notice board for entry forms. 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.

Crunchy seaweeds: calcification in marine algae

A talk by Assoc. Prof. Abby Smith, Dept of Marine Science, University of Otago. This is a Department of Botany Seminar. Note special venue: At the Union Street Lecture Theatre (upstairs, corner of Union St (West) and Great King Streets).

Major transitions in plant reproductive systems

A talk by Prof. Spencer Barrett, Dept of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Canada. This is a Department of Botany Seminar. Note special venue: At the Union Street Lecture Theatre (upstairs, corner of Union and Great King Streets).