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Correcting misconceptions about the names applied to Tasmania’s giant freshwater crayfish Astacopsis gouldi (Decapoda: Parastacidae)
Full text linkTasmania is home to around 35 species of freshwater crayfish, all but three of which are endemic. Among the endemic freshwater crayfish, there are three large stream-dwelling species: the Giant Freshwater Crayfish, Astacopsis gouldi – the world’s largest freshwater invertebrate, the medium-sized A. tricornis and smaller A. franklinii. Errors and confusion surrounding the appropriate Aboriginal names for these species, and the origin and history of the scientifc name of Astacopsis gouldi are outlined
Impact of changes in lightning fire incidence on the values of the Tasmanian wilderness world heritage area
Full text linkThe Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area has ecosystems and cultural landscapes that have been created and/or influenced by the interactions between the physical environment, the biological environment, fire regimes and people. Lightning is the dominant cause of fire in the 2010s, yet was rarely recorded as a cause of fire before 1980, when arsonists caused most fires. The main potential impact of this change in primary cause of fire incidence on the values of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area is the loss of ecosystems dominated by highly fire-sensitive palaeoendemics, organosols and Aboriginal cultural landscapes. At the same time as these values are threatened, a lack of burning threatens some fire-dependent vegetation types. We suggest an increase in planned burning of fire-tolerant and fire-requiring vegetation, maintenance of ignition suppression, an improvement in rapid response capability and an improvement in rapid detection of lightning fires is required in order to maintain many world heritage values
Vegetation change on an urban coastal dune system
No full textCoastal environments, not directly transformed by urbanisation but within an urban matrix, can be transformed by changes in climate, invasive species and plantings. We assess changes in vegetation structure since European settlement and changes in native species abundance since 2003 on the cuspate dune complex at Lower Sandy Bay, Tasmania. The pre-European vegetation of the cuspate forehead seems likely to have been grassland dominated by Spinifex sericeus and Austrofestuca littoralis on the foredunes and Eucalyptus viminalis open-forest with a shrubby to grassy understorey on the older dunes. Some trees of E. viminalis still occur on the dune system, together with many elements of the original understorey. The foredune native vegetation had been replaced by Ammophila arenaria closed-grassland by 2003. Much of this grassland was invaded by the native shrub, Acacia longifolia, by 2017. Between 2003 and 2017 almost all native shrub species increased in abundance. Succulent, grass and herb species suffered decline. Increased competition with exotic species, changes in disturbance regimes and decreases in fire frequency in the coastal area are most likely to have influenced the changes in native species distributions
Short-term recovery of cushion plant communities after fire on the central plateau, Tasmania
Full text linkThere is slow or no regeneration of many Tasmanian alpine plant species after fire. At the decades scale cushion plants recover well, but there are no data on their short-term recovery. We determine the recovery of individual cushion bolsters and bolster communities at three locations on the Central Plateau of Tasmania burned less than five years before our repeat photography. Most cushions were scorched at the surface and perimeter rather than deeply combusted. Except where the bolsters were most intensively burnt, they revegetated within two years of fire. Cushion species extended their cover on the burned bolster surfaces at greater than twice the rate of all other species. Cushion segments that appeared to be deeply combusted during fire did not recover vegetatively
Obituary: Professor Patrick Gerard Quilty AM
Full text linkPatrick Quilty had a long and distinguished career in Earth Science and Antarctic exploration. His many contributions to The Royal Society of Tasmania have been very significant and highly regarded by members and Council
The sinister steeples of Alexander North
Full text linkAlexander North (1858–1945), who practised chiefly in Tasmania, was an outstandingly original architect during the stylistic period in Australia now commonly called Federation. His work includes features that represent an extreme expression of established forms, and draws attention to some inadequately explained characteristics of the period. Prominent among these is a series of church spires that North designed in Tasmania between 1893 and 1927, which evoke peculiar associations in the minds of many who notice them. Those associations, which depend mainly on graphic works published during the same era, were unlikely to have been intended by the architect. They provide evidence in support of an associationist theory of aesthetic response that has gone out of fashion, and a salutary reminder that architectural historians must seek to see through the eyes of their period and not the projections of hindsight
Contents page for Volume 151 & Council and Office Bearers from March 2017 to March 2018
Full text linkContents page for Volume 151 and Council and Office Bearers from March 2017 to March 201
Council Meeting Minutes for the year 2017
No full textMinutes of the Council Meetings of The Royal Society of Tasmania for the year 2017.
From original documents held at The Royal Society of Tasmani
The freshwater fauna of the South Polar Region: A 140-year review
Full text linkThe metazoan fauna of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic freshwaters is reviewed. Almost 400 species, notably rotifers, tardigrades and crustaceans have been identified. Sponges, molluscs, amphibians, reptiles and fishes are absent though salmonid fishes have been successfully introduced on some of the sub-Antarctic islands. Other alien introductions include insects (Chironomidae) and annelid worms (Oligochaeta). The fauna is predominately benthic in habitat and becomes increasingly depauperate at higher latitudes. Endemic species are known but only a few are widely distributed. Planktonic species are rare and only one parasitic species has been note
Non-seasonal plant foods in the palawa (Tasmanian Aborigine) diet: 1: the Yam Daisy Microseris lanceolata (Walp.) Sch.Bip
Full text linkThe tuberous roots of the Yam Daisy/murnong Microseris lanceolata were a staple plant food for Indigenous peoples in Victoria and New South Wales. In contrast, although the Yam Daisy occurs in Tasmania, it is not recorded as being eaten by the Tasmanian Aborigines (palawa) although fossil Liguliflorae pollen indicate that this perennial herb was growing here before European occupation in 1805. Unlike in Victoria up to the 1840s, as yet, there is no fossil evidence to show the species was sufficiently common to make a significant non-seasonal contribution to the palawan diet. However, assuming an adequate supply of the tubers, the palawa could have obtained energy from the modest content of simple sugars (via glycolysis) and its substantial content of fructans (prebiotics, converted to absorbable fatty acids by gut bacteria). Its sweet taste at certain seasons may have encouraged seasonal consumption. Recent research suggests that fructans may have health benefits, e.g., improved immune function; however, it seems improbable that the palawa specifically recognised those benefit