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Colonial correspondents and Joseph Dalton Hooker
Get PDFDr Joseph Dalton Hooker of Kew Gardens in London built his reputation as a botanist, to a large extent, on his publication of the floras of the southern ocean, namely his The Botany of The Antarctic Voyage of HM Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror, in the Years 1839–1843, a set of books that contains Flora Antarctica, Flora Novae Zelandiae and Flora Tasmaniae. Although Hooker had visited all of these places on the voyage and collected a substantial number of botanical specimens for his research, he alone could not have assembled the comprehensive herbarium needed for such a wide-ranging set of flora. To aid him in this endeavour, Hooker relied on an enthusiastic group of colonial correspondents and collectors. He regarded the specimens, and the information about them, sent by the colonial correspondents as belonging to the metropolitan centre at Kew. However, as these correspondents gained botanical knowledge, in particular William Archer, Ronald Campbell Gunn and William Colenso, they clamoured for recognition of their expertise, something Hooker was not always willing to bestow
Pygmy Sperm Whale (Kogin breiJiceps) stranding record in Tasmania, Australia, and diet of a single specimen
Get PDFThis study describes the stranding record of the Pygmy Sperm Whale, Kogia breviceps, in Tasmanian waters, and the diet of a single individual. The Pygmy Sperm Whale is one of the most commonly stranded cetaceans in some parts of Australia, although it occurs infrequently in the Tasmanian stranding record, with only seven known stranding events. Dietary items were investigated from a single juvenile male Pygmy Sperm Whale stranded in southeast Tasmania. The recoverable diet consisted of approximately three kilograms of reconstructed cephalopod prey mass from at least 11 cephalopod species within nine families. Using reconstructed biomass, the most important family was Histioteuthidae (Histioteuthis atlantica and H. miranda: 29% of reconstructed biomass), followed by Ommastrephidae (unknown sp.: 27% of reconstructed biomass), Enoploteuthidae (Enoploteuthis sp): 25% of reconstructed biomass), Cranchiidae (Cranchia scabra and Teuthowenia pellucida), Chiroteuthidae (Chiroteuthis veranyi), Brachioteuthidae (Brachioteuthis linkovskyi), Neoteuthidae (Nototeuthis dimegacotyle), Pyroteuthidae (Pyroteuthis margaritifera) and Sepiolidae (Heteroteuthis sp.). Collection and analysis of biological material from Pygmy Sperm Whale strandings around Australia should be a high priority to better understand the ecology of this poorly known species
The effect of recent fire history on the abundance and viability of large seeds in the soil of sclerophyll forest in Tasmania, Australia
Get PDFThere are few data on the effects of recent fire history on the composition of soil seed banks in sclerophyll forest communities. We predicted that the abundance and viability of soil-stored seeds would vary with fire history. Soils were sampled from areas with six different fire histories on Mt Nelson, Tasmania, Australia. Large seeds were extracted by hand separation and tested for viability. Responses to at least one of the two strongly-correlated components of fire history were detected in several taxa and for native and exotic seed. Native seeds, exotic seeds, Astroloma humifusum seed and Exocarpos cupressiformis seed were all more abundant in the soils of areas with one or less fires in the last 60 years than in the soils of areas burnt five times over the last 60 years. The viability of A. humifusum seeds decreased with fire frequency. These results support the hypothesis that frequent and recent fire can deplete the soil seed bank, and reduce soil seed viability, at least for some large-seeded species and species groups
Antarctic Vignettes VII: The search for S. Tasman- postscript
Get PDFTasman Spaulding served as an Able Seaman on the S.Y. Terra Nova on the 1903–1904 voyage to Antarctica. A clerical error that reversed his given and family names meant he never knew of the bronze Polar Medal awarded for his services on the expedition. For the last 108 years the incorrectly named medal has languished in the archives of the Royal Mint in the United Kingdom but has been released for display at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart
Age and palaeoenvironment of Pliocene sediments, Cameron Inlet Formation, eastern Flinders Island, Tasmania: implications for southeastern Australian biostratigraphy
No full textA previously unrecorded thin unit of very Early Pliocene calcareous sediments of the Cameron Inlet Formation from two auger holes in central Flinders Island, Tasmania, has yielded a very diverse fauna of benthic Foraminifera and enough planktonic forms to allow fine correlation with international biostratigraphic standards (N19, approximately 5.3–4.4 Ma, or Lower Opoitian in New Zealand terminology). Ostracods are also recorded. It is older than an earlier recorded sample from North Patriarch Drain a few kilometres away. It lies within the Kalimnan of southeastern Australian stage nomenclature and probably equivalent to 1985 Molluscan Assemblage XVI. The sediments and faunas accumulated in very shallow, fully marine conditions, initially with some possible estuarine aspect that faded with time. The fauna is of well-known species, dominated by Parredicta kalimnensis (Parr, 1939). Other abundant and diverse forms are elphidiids and cibicidids. Agglutinated forms are almost absent and miliolids are diverse but minor components. The fauna includes a new polymorphinid genus and species that will be described elsewhere. The samples contain a bewildering array of unilocular forms. Water temperature appears to have been about 12°C. The Kalimnan Stage may encompass the entire Pliocene and two substages may be identifiable
Council Meeting Minutes for the year 2013
No full textMinutes of the Council Meetings of The Royal Society of Tasmania for the year 2013.
From original documents held at The Royal Society of Tasmani
Sanitary forum: The Royal Society of Tasmania and public health reform 1853-1911
Get PDFIn the nineteenth century Tasmania experienced a number of epidemic diseases like scarlet fever, diphtheria and, most deadly of all, typhoid. Sanitary reformers attributed the epidemics to contaminated water supplies, accumulations of decomposed rubbish, poorly built houses and the absence of underground drainage schemes. Leading reformers, most notably Dr Edward Swarbreck Hall, were Fellows of The Royal Society of Tasmania and used the society as a forum to identify the causes of epidemic disease and to explain the public health reforms that would prevent death and illness. Lectures and papers by medical doctors, sanitary engineers, and statisticians drew on the latest thinking in sanitary science and helped build momentum for public support of such reforms. This paper examines the arguments of sanitary reformers and the reaction to their interventions and concludes that between 1853 and 1911 the Royal Society was the main forum for debate on public health reform in Tasmania
A simplified inventory approach for estimating carbon in coarse woody debris in high-biomass forests
Get PDFForests carrying large quantities of live and dead wood are important carbon (C) stores. Here, we investigate how the inventory of coarse woody debris (CWD) and its embedded C (CWD-C) may be designed efficiently at the scale of logs, plots, and the landscape in Tasmanian tall Eucalyptus obliqua forests, which have very high levels of CWD (here 375–1085 m³ ha–1). From a set of 12 sites representing different times since disturbance, a thorough census of dead wood >10 cm in diameter was carried out at five sites using a fixed-plot (50 × 50 m) approach. This showed that 90% of the volume can be captured by recording only CWD logs >40 cm in diameter. Based on this approach and on the known density and C content of five different decay-classes, volume, mass, and CWD-C was determined for all 12 sites. To obtain an accurate estimate of CWD-C at the landscape scale, it was found to be sufficient to allocate entire individual logs to single decay-classes and to use one global value for C content instead of decay-class-specific values. The most decayed logs, which are difficult to measure, could be ignored. However, at the plot level, no relationships were found between CWD mass and either standing or downed CWD or standing-tree biomass, limiting the utility of these proxies for assessing CWD volume
Nola Farman (Art Forum)
No full textHow to read an artists' book: Artists' books are generally intended to be viewed as works of art. Since the early 20th century the book has provided artists with a form in which to explore new means of expression. Page, text, image, binding, shape and size are all aspects of a book that can be deconstructed and reconstructed through the experimentation of the artist. Artists' books encompass a great diversity of approaches. Some are lavish productions issued in small editions. Others are mass produced using affordable processes. Some exist within traditional models of printing and binding, while others redefine the book through the development of unusual forms and the use of new materials. Through the creation of books as artworks, artists encourage us to consider the very question: what makes a book and what distinguishes it from other forms of artistic expression?
Nola Farman studied sculpture and drawing at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Canada from 1962-1966, completing her MA at the University of Western Sydney (Nepean). Her PhD topic was ‘Fugitive Practices: the Contemporary Artists’ Book` She recently recieved a Synapse Grant from ANAT and Ozco to research solar power with Physicists at UNewcastle.
Her books have been collected by the Bibliotheque National, Paris; Centre Livre d’Artist, St Yrieix-la-Perche, France; The Tate Britain Library; Baltic Centre, Gateshead, UK; Winchester School of Art; University of the West of England; Yale University, NY; MOMA Library, NY; National Library, Ottawa; AGNSW, Library; Te Papa National Gallery, NZ and private collections
Tony Trembath (Art forum)
No full textTony Trembath lives and works in Melbourne and Beijing and has been working as an artist for over 35 years after an earlier career in scientific research. His art practice is cross discipline with a focus on immersive installation, sculpture and artists books. He has exhibited extensively across Australia and Internationally.
In recent years he was lecturer in Sculpture and Conceptual Practice at Monash University Melbourne, and curator of the Nillumbik Art Collection. His work is documented in Australian art journals and is held in major public collections.
He is currently curating an Australian touring exhibition of the chance based photography of Chinese artist Li Gang, for the year of Chinese Culture in Australia which is currently showing at Salamanca Art Centre.
Trembath will be discussing his work including The Department of Actinology and the Jubilee Years