It is well-known that plants utilize many different kinds of animals for pollination and dispersal of their seeds, but an alternative kind of evolutionary relationship has attracted less attention: animals can facilitate pollen and seed transport without acting as a vector. We studied interactions between an epacridaceous plant (the honey bush, Richea scoparid) and a lizard (the snow skink, .Niveoscincus microtepidotus) near the summit of Mount Wellington, Tasmania. The lizards gain access to the plant's nectar by tearing the fused petals (the calyptra) from the flower, thus exposing the plant's reproductive organs. Snow skinks forage selectively on flowers with higher-than-average nectar content, suggesting that this behaviour has evolved in response to plant characteristics. Lizard foraging may benefit R. scoparia, because calyptra remain attached unless a lizard tears the flower open. Our experiments demonstrated that the lizard's calyptra removal dramatically increased the plant's seed release. In 60 fruits from flowers with their calyptra intact, no seeds at all were released. However, 57 out of 60 (87%) fruits from flowers with their calyptra removed by the lizards successfully released their seeds. This system appears to involve reciprocal evolutionary changes in the interacting species (behaviour in the lizards and reproductive morphology in the plant). Thus the system seems to provide an unusual case of coevolution.

https://www.auburn.edu/academic/classes/biol/7560/folkerts/olssonlizard.pdf

Lizards as a plant's ‘hired help’: letting pollinators in and seeds out

Natural populations of Echium plantagineum on an east-west line across south-eastern Australia were sampled on three occasions during the growing season, and seeds collected from individual plants in each population were grown in a common glasshouse. In another experiment seedlings of E. plantagineum were divided and clones from each plant were grown under two soil moisture regimes. Field populations differed significantly in all seven characters measured at all sampling dates but, with one exception, between-population differences were unrelated to five climatic indices. Glasshouse populations differed significantly in 15 of 27 characters; variations in some of these characters were related by regression analysis to one or more of the climatic indices. Clones grown under moisture stress flowered later, had proportionally wider leaves and were smaller than well watered clones. The data suggest that an ecocline has developed, or is developing, in E. plantagineum in south- eastern Australia in response to large-scale and long-term aspects of climate, although extensive genetic variation between individuals in each population was also observed. This species exhibits a great deal of phenotypic plasticity in response to localized environmental factors.

Genetic Variation and Phenotypic Plasticity in Populations of Paterson's Curse (Echium plantagineum L.) In South-Eastern Australia

Vacuolar and excudate flavonoids of New Zealand Cassinia (Asteraceae: gnaphalieae)

Communities containing bolster (hard cushion) plants are widespread in alpine and subalpine treeless plant communities in Tasmania. Numerical analysis of species presence/absence data from 227 quadrats defined thirteen communities, the distributions of which proved strongly related to a southwest to northeast edaphic gradient and altitude. The high altitude communities and those on oligotrophic soils are most likely to be dominated by bolster species, whereas the eastern communities are more frequently dominated by shrubs or graminoids.

Floristic composition and macroenvironmental relationships of Tasmanian vegetation containing bolster plants

This thesis examines several aspects of the preparation, extraction and analysis of
solvent soluble compounds from leaf material of Tasmannia lanceolata and reports a
preliminary survey of extracts of some members of the natural population of the
species in Tasmania.
A major constituent of these extracts, polygodial, was shown to be stored within
specialised idioblastic structures scattered throughout the mesophyll, and
characterised by distinctive size and shape, and a thickened wall. The contents of
these cells were sampled directly, analysed and compared with the composition of
extracts derived from ground, dry whole leaf. This result was supported by
spectroscopic analysis of undisturbed oil cells in whole leaf tissue.
In a two year field trial, the progressive accumulation of a number of leaf extract
constituents (linalool, cubebene, caryophyllene, germacrene D, bicyclogermacrene,
cadina-1,4 - diene, aristolone and polygodial) during the growth flush was
followed by a slow decline during the subsequent dormant season. These results
were interpreted in relation to leaf dry matter accumulation, in order to propose a
harvest period within which leaf material will produce consistent composition of
extract.
Under four levels of irradiance in a growth cabinet experiment the plant exhibited
many characteristics of a 'shade' species, in particular, a limited ability to acclimate
to high light levels. Assimilation rates were highest at 150μmol m-2s-l while
elevated respiration rates and a reduced quantum yield occurred at a higher light
level. Maximum assimilation rates in leaves grown at 150μmol m-2s-l were
obtained at around 250μmol m-2s-l. Optimum net assimilation rate was obtained
from 18-25°C. The effect of level of irradiance on the proportion of extractable
compounds in the leaf, chlorophyll levels, specific leaf area, leaf thickness and
percentage dry matter in the leaf are reported and discussed in relation to a probable
production system in which the new canopy is largely removed at the end of each
growth cycle.
The ontogenetic patterns determining canopy architecture were observed in the
field, and used, with support from the results of a trial pruning of mature trees, to
discuss the likely outcome of various harvest methods. These results are combined
to suggest a production strategy for maximum yield of leaf extract of consistent
composition. The strategy proposes harvesting in late summer, after new leaf has
achieved full maturity and may enable full canopy recovery in the subsequent
growing season.

Aspects of leaf and extract production from Tasmannia lanceolata

A morphometric and chemical study was made of 24 populations of Richea scoparia and R. angustifolia from widespread locations in Tasmania. The analyses failed to demonstrate any clear-cut discontinuities between the two species. R. angustifolia should be submerged taxonomically within R. scoparia as it is encompassed by the latter's wider variation. The data are interpreted in terms of a cline of a highly variable species, with morphs disposed according to trends in alpine climates from south-west to north-east Tasmania. Superimposed on this cline is a grouping of populations into two sets related to geological substrates. These sets do not correspond to the taxonomic 'species'.

Morphological and Chemical Variation in Populations of Richea scoparia and R. angustifolia (Epacridaceae)

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Yvonne Menadue

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Morphological and Chemical Variation in Populations of Richea scoparia and R. angustifolia (Epacridaceae)