Thursday 6 November 2008 at 12:30 pm
?How Evolution Works?
Adrian Gibbs
The wonderful diversity of plants in the ANBG has been produced by evolution
over many millenia. How evolution works is now being revealed by studies of gene
sequences since the 1970s. The diversity of organisms is paralleled by the
diversity of their genes, which have been changed and differentially selected
over time. Adrian will explain that fossicking in gene sequences to reveal the
past, like all detective work, is fascinating, and can even reveal the origins
of microbes that leave no fossils
Thursday 13 November 2008 at 12:30 pm
?Tasmania - Cryptogam Heaven?
Chris Cargill
Well-known as the "Natural State", Tasmania has long been on my "must see"
list of Australian places to visit. And the long wait was well worth it. While I
had known for many years that Tasmania was the land of rugged natural landscapes
and beautiful ancient forests, I had never had the opportunity to do any serious
fieldwork there in relation to the cryptogams. Come and take a "Cook'sTour" of
some of the highlights of my Tasmanian trip including images of many of the
flowering plants and the intriguing and beautiful cryptogams
Thursday 20 November 2008 at 12:30 pm
?The Evolution of the Australian Flora?
Michael Crisp
DNA from living organisms can be used to reconstruct evolutionary history
using genealogical trees ('phylogenies'). Changes in the shapes of phylogenies
help us to detect evolutionary upheavals (including extinctions) caused by
ancient geological and climatic events. This approach is largely complementary
to the fossil record, which is needed only to calibrate the molecular clocks.
This presentation will cover molecular evidence for the origins of the
Australian flora from its ancient - and not so ancient - Gondwanan roots and for
floristic turnover associated with environmental changes during the last 65
million years. Examples will include extinction at the Eocene-Oligocene
boundary, 34 Myr ago, and a burst of speciation in multiple plant lineages when
connections across southern Australia were severed by formation of the Nullarbor
Plain, 14 Myr ago.
Thursday 27 November 2008 at 12:30 pm
?Coral and Carbon Dioxide?
Malcolm McCulloch
Carbon dioxide not only acts as a glasshouse gas but is being dissolved at
increasing rates in the surface waters of the world?s oceans, creating increased
acidity. The talk describes how the rapidly increasing trend in acidity in
oceanic waters is affecting the ability of coral reef organisms to
calcify.
