Science, Technology and Engineering

Environmental Geoscience

Research Programs

Collaborative Research: Botany

As the spread of urban and agricultural development encroaches upon natural environments, we are beginning to see the impact of anthropogenic influences on the biodiversity and ecosystem functioning of our marine and terrestrial plant communities. Whether we are clearing land for development, burning off bushland for fire prevention, or cultivating non-native fauna in our gardens, we as humans are having an impact on the balance of the natural world. In order to protect the ecosystems around us, we need to understand the nature of the plant communities we wish to conserve and restore.

Botany and Environmental Geoscience work together to gain knowledge about plant communities, plant ecology and the geomorphological landscape that provides the basis for plant growth. This knowledge allows us to understand the environmental processes involved in plant conservation, rehabilitation and biodiversity management.

Research opportunities available at third year, honours and postgraduate level include:

• Understanding responses of plants to changes in habitat condition
• Influence of non-native species of native vegetation
• Impact of anthropogenic and natural fire on plant community recovery
• Management of native vegetation to maintain and conserve diversity
• Restoration of vegetation after land clearing, mining and habitat degradation

Recent Third Year Environmental Science Projects

Ruby Geremian - Effect of bushfires on fungi.

Katelin Hirth and Carina Polimeni - Effects of fire intensity on the recovery of vegetation in the Kinglake National Park.

Anna Richtarik - Mapping the vegetation and soils of the Eltham Copper Butterfly habitat.

Recent Honours Projects

Julia Franco - Using aerial photography and dendrochronology to understand the last two hundred years vegetation change in a grassy woodland landscape.

Rhiannon Apted - Effects of slug grazing on regeneration success of grassland forbs – a new threat to the maintenance of diversity?

Nathan Wong - Land-use legacies and their impacts on vegetation recovery in northern plains grasslands.

Recent PhD Projects

Lynise Wearne - Effects of invasion by English Broom in subalpine vegetation.

Jodi Price - Why do so many species co-exist in her-rich woodlands?

For further information contact:

Dr John Morgan

Department of Botany