2009 Programme
Monday 16 February: Evening meeting – Delimiting species within the native sedge genus Uncinia (hook grasses)
Speaker: Carlos Lehnebach, Botany Researcher, Te Papa, will explore species boundaries within three native hook grasses, Uncinia angustifolia, U. rupestris and U. zotovii, using a number of morphological characters and statistical analyses. The diagnostic value of characters traditionally used to identify these species was also assessed and results have provided support to synonymise U. angustifolia with U. rupestris and maintain the latter name.
Monday 16 March: Evening meeting – Changes on Raoul Island: rats, eruptions and cyclones
Dr Carol West will describe the state of Raoul Island, now that rats have been eradicated, and following natural disturbances in the last 3 years by eruptions and cyclones. Her talk will be based on her visit in March / April 2008.
Monday 20 April: Evening meeting – The evolution of NZ’s everlasting daisies: the more we know, the more we don’t know
Speaker: Ilse Breitwieser, Research Leader Plant Systematics, Landcare Research. A number of angiosperm groups appear to have undergone rapid endemic radiations in NZ after dispersal from other landmasses. Of these, the Gnaphalieae (Asteraceae) present perhaps the most bewildering array of forms. DNA data, considered in the context of the highly complex pattern of morphological character state distribution in the group, suggest a complex set of inter-relationships among extant species. Ilse will give an overview of the current state of knowledge of Gnaphalieae evolution in NZ, followed by specific examples: Leucogenes, the famous Raoulia vegetable sheep, and Craspedia.
Monday 18 May: Evening meeting – Members’ evening
Please share your botanical slides (maximum 20 / person), and photographs taken on BotSoc trips, your paintings,
drawings and your favourite botanical readings. Plant specimens would add to a memorable evening.
Monday 15 June: Evening meeting – Vegetation and ecosystems on your doorstep
Speaker: Dr Paul Blaschke, environmental and ecological consultant, Blaschke & Rutherford. Paul will talk about vegetation and ecosystems in some of the areas in Wellington’s southern suburbs, concentrating on Owhiro Stream and catchment, his environmental and restoration work in these areas, and how it links up in a catchment framework.
Monday 20 July: Evening meeting – Biogeography, phylogeny, and taxonomy of Ourisia – A research synopsis
Speaker: Heidi Meudt, Research Scientist (Botany), Te Papa. The genus Ourisia (Plantaginaceae) comprises 28 species found in the mountains of Tasmania, New Zealand, and Andean South America. Over the past ten years, Heidi has carried out biogeographic, phylogenetic, and taxonomic research on this beautiful and fascinating genus, using data from morphology, geography, DNA sequences, and AFLP fingerprinting. She will summarise her research, discuss the taxonomic implications, and show photographs of the species, including the Andean ones, and their habitats.
Monday 17 August: Evening meeting – 1. Annual General Meeting, 2. AP Druce Memorial Lecture – backcountry botanists
Speaker: Neill Simpson, consultant botanist, will talk about his botanical experiences over the years, the wonderful people that make up Wellington BotSoc, and some of our outstanding flora. He will focus on his experiences and memories following Tony and Helen Druce and BotSoc. His first trip was to the Oterei Taipos in 1966, when based in home town, Wanganui. Ten years later, after joining the NP ranger service, the family moved south and persuaded BotSoc to visit Queenstown and Central Otago in 1989. Tony’s records show that Neill and family did 76 field trips with Tony and Helen. In 1996 Neill retired from DOC as Otago Regional Botanist and set up Conservation Consultancy Ltd. Barbara and Neill are busy consulting, monitoring, surveying, planting native plants and managing native gardens.
Monday 21 September: Evening meeting – Lancewoods and five-fingers: hybridisation, conservation, and the ice-age
Speaker: Leon Perrie, Curator of Botany, Te Papa, and Lara Shepherd, Research Fellow, Allan Wilson Centre, Massey University. Pseudopanax comprises twelve species of small trees and shrubs. Some are common and widespread, while others are quite restricted. Many are popular in cultivation. Lara and Leon will discuss: 1) each of the species, including how to recognise them and where to find them; 2) their preliminary research results on hybridisation between lancewood and coastal five-finger, including field-identification, which is especially pertinent in Wellington since the hybrids and coastal five-finger have become weedy here; and 3) the results of their Jubilee Award-funded research on the population genetics of fierce lancewood, and what this tells them about how this species became so sparsely distributed, which in turn has a bearing on how NZ’s forests fared during the ice-age, as well as plant conservation in general.
Monday 19 October: Evening meeting – Greater Wellington Regional Council’s biodiversity programmes
Speaker: Tim Park, Biodiversity Policy Advisor, GWRC, will explain the biodiversity programmes that GWRC is implementing across the region, targeting wetlands, coastal ecosystems, lowland streams, and providing assistance to landowners by supporting protection with QEII National Trust. If there is time, Tim will talk about GWRC’s approach to the issues facing indigenous ecosystems in the Proposed Regional Policy Statement for the Wellington region.
Monday 16 November: Evening meeting – Phil Garnock-Jones - research students
Speakers:
Benjamin Magana Rodriguez: Spatial patterns in the distribution of grassland plants - scale-occupancy relationships.
Danilo Coelho de Almeida: Roles of chance and determinism in structuring ecological communities.
Peter Martin: Taxonomy and phylogeography of the brown algal genus Lessonia around NZ and the sub-antarctic islands.
Samantha Jamieson: Biodiversity of restored rear sand dune systems.
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How to get there by PUBLIC TRANSPORT
You may find the following bus services useful. They stop on Kelburn Parade, about 50m from Lecture Theatre M101 in the Murphy Building, Victoria University:
TO MEETINGS
Route No. 23 Mairangi - 6.30 pm from Houghton Bay, 6.40 Zoo, 6.50 Courtenay Place, 6.57 Pastoral House, 7.02 University.
Route No. 23 Mairangi - 6.55 pm from Southgate, 7.05 Hospital, 7.15 Courtenay Place, 7.22 Pastoral House, 7.27 University.
Route No. 17 Karori Park - 7.07 pm from Bunny Street, 7.15 University.
Route No. 22 Southgate - 6.55 pm from Mairangi, 7.10 University.
Route No. 23 Houghton Bay - 7.25 pm from Mairangi, 7.40 University.
Route No. 17 Railway Station - 6.35 pm from Karori Park, 6.52 University.
Cable Car at 00, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 min past each hour from Lambton Quay terminus. Alight at Salamanca Station.
FROM MEETINGS
Route No. 23 Southgate - 9.10 from University.
Route No. 23 Southgate - 10.10 from University.
Cable Car at approx. 01, 11, 21, 31, 41, 51 minutes past each hour from Salamanca Station. Last service 10.01 pm.
For further information ring Ridewell Enquiry Service 801-7000. |
