Australian Tropical Herbarium

Darren Crayn

Director, Australian Tropical Herbarium
darren.crayn@jcu.edu.au

Mel Harrison

Research Operations Officer
melissa.harrison@jcu.edu.au

Frank Zich

Adjunct Senior Research Fellow
frank.zich@jcu.edu.au

Australia's distinctive succulent flora (Old ID 21966)

Darren Crayn

05 Apr 2016 - 31 Dec 2019

We will investigate why Australia, the driest vegetated continent, has no landscape dominated by large succulents but nevertheless supports a distinctive, diverse and widespread succulent flora. Focusing on terrestrial succulents and epiphytic orchids, we will explore the evolution, assembly and biodiversity of Australia’s succulent flora, evaluating the roles of genetic composition, photosynthetic physiology, aridity, fire, soil nutrients and salinity in its historical expansion, and assessing the resilience of the assemblages to changing climate. Of particular interest will be how the most water-use efficient type of photosynthesis, crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), is expressed across the succulent landscape.

Australian Tropical Herbarium Island Habitat Monitoring (Expression of Interest Phase) (Old ID 27202)

Darren Crayn

01 Jul 2021 - 30 Jun 2024

Islands, particularly the remote or less-accessible ones, have very poor inventories of species and ecosystems, their condition and potential threats. This base level data is required to identify which values should be prioritised for management and monitoring. A process to identify and prioritise information gaps and fill them is needed to address this issue. The Australian Tropical Herbarium proposes to address these knowledge gaps through provision of technical expertise that can include (a) field survey, (b) provision of plant identification services, (c) training and (d) data management.

Autoclave for the Northern Australia Plant Biosecurity Facility

Darren Crayn

01 Jul 2024 - 31 Dec 2024

The ARC-LIEF funded Northern Australia Plant Biosecurity Facility is to be built during 2024, procurement process is ongoing. The effective approval as a federally recognised quarantine facility requires the purchase of an autoclave to be located within the quarantine glasshouse, as per BC2 quarantine regulations. The proposal's funding was reduced on approval and funding for this essential piece of equipment is lacking.

Kimba Grass Guide (Old ID 24812)

Darren Crayn

07 Feb 2018 - 20 Jun 2018

This project will produce a series of fact sheets to help land managers and the public identify grasses of the Kimba Plateau (Olkola Country), Cape York Peninsula. The outcomes will be useful to everyone who manages land in Olkola country and needs to determine what grasses are present on their land and whether they are palatable, productive or weeds. This project builds on a completed project on the grasses of Quinkan country toward a future complete guide to grasses of Cape York Peninsula.

Documenting Indigenous Plant Knowledge to Strengthen Conservation Management in Kwaio, Solomon Islands (Old ID 22880)

Darren Crayn

01 Sep 2016 - 01 Sep 2019

The project is designed to deliver ongoing capacity-strengthening activities and training in project management, organizational governance and financial management to enhance local conservation efforts in the central mountains of the island of Malaita, Solomon Islands. Our larger goals include setting up a Kwaio CSO to manage conservation activities in the area (see “Project Objectives” below), protect and conserve priority species on Malaita, and in the longer-term, work toward creating Protected Areas to protect globally threatened species. We also hope the project will serve as a conservation model for other Malaitan and Solomon Islands communities. The project is taking place with people of the Kwaio language group. The mountain Kwaio people are the largest Solomon Islands group still practicing their indigenous ancestral religion. The biodiversity conservation project is documenting the deep local knowledge of medicinal plants and bush foods found in the rainforest of Malaita, and building capacity to undertake similar projects in the future.

Insights into the Sunda-Sahul floristic exchange from the evolution of Sapindales (Old ID 26480)

Darren Crayn

01 Jul 2019 - 31 Dec 2019

For international travel to Plant and Fungal Trees of Life project, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, London, UK for 1st July, 2019 to 30th September 2019.

Using novel eDNA technology to identify pollinators in tropical cocoa (Old ID 22911)

Darren Crayn

01 Sep 2016 - 31 Dec 2017

I am developing a career focused on identifying roles insects have in ecosystems, and methods to improve the services provided by insects to improve food production. To this end, I have paired in the proposed research two aims with different risk reward ratios focussed on insect pollination generally and pollination of cacao specifically. The first aim, to use molecular techniques to identify pollinators in Australian cocoa, includes very little risk and will serve to improve global relevance of my research and provide a basis for increased funding of cocoa research in Far North Queensland. This is because we have demonstrated tremendous potential to increase yields by providing pollinator habitat, but without identification of the pollinator species it is difficult to apply our research to other growing regions around the world. Demonstrating applicability of research conducted in Australian cocoa for other growing regions will allow me to apply for international aid grants and funding from international companies for research that uses JCU Cairns facilities for mechanistic studies paired with international fieldwork. I have already developed a relationship with Mars Chocolate, which benefit from this demonstration, and will expand my funding through ACIAR and ARC Linkage grants. The second aim of the study, to develop eDNA methods has a higher risk associated with it than Aim 1, given that we may not be able to identify pollinator presence from traces left behind on flowers. However, if we are successful, it will completely change the way pollination biology is researched, putting myself at the forefront of this new technology. One of the key questions remaining in ecology is what species provide pollination of crops and wild plants, and where in the landscape those services are provided. This technique will allow anyone, anywhere to identify which pollinators have visited which flowers in any type of flowering plant. Pioneering this broadly applicable methodology will put me in an ideal and unique position for funding and collaboration opportunities.

Quinkan Grass Guide (Old ID 23227)

Darren Crayn

09 Mar 2017 - 30 Jun 2017

This project will produce a series of fact sheets to help land managers and the public identify grasses of Quinkan country, Cape York Peninsula The outcomes will be useful to everyone who manages land in the Quinkan area and needs to determine what grasses are present on their land and whether they are palatable, productive or weeds. This is a pilot project for a future complete guide to grasses of Cape York Peninsula.