Plants

Invasive fireweed detected in New Zealand

Fireweed is a daisy species that is a Weed of National Significance in Australia. We used high-throughput sequencing to construct a family tree that showed it is also present in New Zealand.

Untangling the deep-rooted relationship between trees and fungi to reverse dieback

Does the relationship between trees and fungi hold the key to regenerating and protecting our eucalypts from widespread forest dieback?

New light on native pollinators

For many decades Australia’s native pollinators have lived in the shadow of the honeybee. In this article, we shine some light on the intricate roles of a group of tiny moths that pollinate boronias.

The evolutionary journey of greenhood orchids

We traced the evolutionary journey of Australia’s greenhood orchids since their origin over 32 million years ago.

The sweet hum of songbirds

The origin of the world’s songbirds is a story that began close to home. Their special ability to detect the sweet taste of sugary food is a similar tale.

Celebrating our flowering giants

Climbing up an 80 m tower is all in a day's work for some scientists. Read how they've been watching over Australia's defining flora - eucalypts - as part of our land ecosystem observatory.

Celebration of life in the forests of Borneo

Timm Döbert spent three years working towards his PhD based in a research camp in Borneo’s lowland rainforests. It was a chance to study close at hand the human impact on a diverse ecosystem – and a privileged opportunity to marvel at the diversity of life on Earth. It’s also a photographer’s paradise. He and colleagues have shared with us some of their favourite images.

Arid springs: the hidden evolutionary cradles of Outback Australia

At the Edgbaston springs in Central Queensland, a precarious ecosystem unknown to science until 25 years ago, scientists are uncovering a treasure trove of species found nowhere else on the planet. Together with the springs ecosystems in other arid areas of the Great Artesian Basin, these species are revealing a fascinating evolutionary tale.

The rise of carbon dioxide—picking the winners in Australia’s forests

Finding out which trees will thrive under high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide is about to get faster and cheaper.