Australian Tropical Herbarium
Matt Barrett
- Research Fellow
- matt.barrett@jcu.edu.au
Darren Crayn
- Director, Australian Tropical Herbarium
- darren.crayn@jcu.edu.au
Mel Harrison
- Research Operations Officer
- melissa.harrison@jcu.edu.au
Stuart Worboys
- Botanist
- stuart.worboys@jcu.edu.au
Frank Zich
- Adjunct Senior Research Fellow
- frank.zich@jcu.edu.au
ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Plant Biosecurity
Darren Crayn
01 Aug 2024 - 30 Aug 2029
The Biosecurity Training Centre aims to deliver a solution for Australia’s increasing biosecurity risk through generational change in its workforce coupled with breakthrough technologies. It will launch an innovative training program for future leaders who will build relationships with end users and engage meaningfully with communities for effective implementation strategies. The Centre will provide data-driven systems, behavioural change for adoption and authentic industry engagement. This suite of graduates and technologies will transform the biosecurity sector and protect Australia’s critical agricultural industries.
A taxonomic and conservation assessment of threatened orchid species complexes (Old ID 29012)
Darren Crayn
01 Jul 2023 - 01 Jul 2027
This project will use conservation genomic approaches to provide a taxonomic and conservation assessment of threatened orchid species complexes where species delimitation and conservation status is poorly understood. Comprehensive sampling and genomic sequencing will be used to generate genomic datasets to infer evolutionary relationships, genetic diversity, and population connectivity; assess species delimitation, taxonomy, and conservation status; and determine appropriate conservation management recommendations. Publications of taxonomic concepts including conservation status and recommendations will provide managers with an improved understanding of conservation priorities and appropriate actions, enabling effective conservation management.
Phylogeny and Biogeography of Australian Garcinia (Clusiaceae) (Old ID 23522)
Darren Crayn
01 Jul 2017 - 30 Jun 2018
Australia is a part of Gondwanaland which is also rich in plant diversity. One of the most common plant groups in Gondwanan region is Clusioid clade including Podostemaceae, Hypericaceae, Calophyllaceae, Clusiaceae and Bonnetiaceae. A recent study of Clusioid biogeography (Ruhfel et al, 2016) recommended to focus on some groups to elucidate their biogeographic history including Calophyllum, Clusiaceae, Garcinieae, Mammea, Podostemoideae, and Vismieae. In this project, I will examine Garcinieae as the case study focusing on Australian Garcinia. All 12 spp. of Australian Garcinia will be taken into the study along with 63 spp. of Garcinia from other tropical regions worldwide. The analysis will use plastid genes marker matK and ndhF performed by Sanger sequencing. The outcomes will contribute new information of Australian Garcinia biogeography.
Integrating phylogenomics and taxonomy – resolving the complex evolution of the Donkey Orchids (Diuris) for the Flora of Australia (Old ID 24704)
Darren Crayn
01 Jul 2018 - 31 Dec 2023
This study aims to unravel the complex relationships in the Australian orchid genus Diuris for a well-founded treatment in the Flora of Australia. Evolutionary relationships of Diuris will be reconstructed at subgeneric, sectional and interspecific levels based on data set from the plastid and nuclear genomes. Population genomic analysis of two species complexes will allow for clarifying species delimitations and re-assessing the conservation status of threatened Diuris species. The taxonomic utility of morphological characters will be evaluated and improved identification keys and revised taxonomic concepts for Diuris generated for a revised treatment of the genus in the Flora of Australia.
Phylogenomic studies into the origins, diversification and evolution of mycoheterotrophic orchids in Australasia
Darren Crayn
29 Apr 2024 - 29 May 2029
This project will investigate the origins, diversification, and evolution of mycoheterotrophic orchids in Australia in a phylogenomic framework to elucidate the evolutionary pathways leading to mycoheterotrophism and the effects on progressive plastid genome degradation. This comparative study will investigate evolutionary relationships and plastid gene degradation in diverse Australasian orchid lineages based on genomic data to investigate the timing and sequence of gene degradation and loss and investigate hypotheses driving plastid genome degradation.
Patterns of diversification and trait evolution in Australasian orchids
Darren Crayn
01 Jun 2024 - 31 Dec 2026
This project aims to investigate the evolutionary processes driving orchid species diversification in Australasia. For my first study group, the genus Bulbophyllum, I aim to explore the evolution of photosynthetic pathways and genome size in the genus Bulbophyllum across its distribution and interpret the findings in the context of the temporal evolution of lineages and the corresponding climatic shifts in Australia over geological time. My research builds on extensive published and unpublished phylogenetic and phylogenomic datasets for the genus Bulbophyllum comprising over 500 samples. I aim to generate a robust phylogenetic framework of Bulbophyllum, which will serve as a backbone for ancestral trait reconstruction of photosynthetic pathways and genome size evolution within the genus.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures (Old ID 27585)
Darren Crayn
01 Jul 2024 - 30 Jun 2031
ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures. The proposed Centre aims to generate a new direction in knowledge creation based on Aboriginal- and Torres Strait Islander-led approaches to managing Land and Sea Country. The Centre expects to make a legacy contribution by developing complementary Indigenous and Western knowledge frameworks for modelling environmental, cultural, and historical change in Australia over the last millennium and into the near future. Expected outcomes focus on sustainable Indigenous land and sea management planning for future decades. Benefits include improved forecasting of the trajectory of environmental change, an increase in the capacity of Indigenous research, creation of a pipeline for Indigenous students into research, and evidence-based policy-making.
Origins of the northern Australian flora: Role of the Sunda-Sahul Floristic Exchange (Old ID 24814)
Darren Crayn
01 Mar 2018 - 28 Feb 2019
I am investigating the origins of the northern Australian flora, and specifically, the exchange of flora with Southeast Asia when Australia collided with the Eurasian plate approximately 25 Mya. This exchange was key in shaping Australia’s northern flora, however the patterns, dynamics and extent of its contribution is poorly understood. Using a comparative phylogenetic approach, I aim to characterise the contribution and timing of exchange, establish whether the exchange was directionally biased, identify dispersal tracks of Asian taxa through northern Australia, and investigate underlying dispersal mechanisms. This research can inform conservation decisions and enhance understanding of evolutionary processes across Australasia.
Integrating climate adaptation into rainforest restoration plantings (Old ID 26711)
Darren Crayn
01 Mar 2021 - 30 Sep 2024
This project aims to investigate the impact of within species adaptation to climate on reforestation success in the Australian Wet Tropics. For a suite of six species of tropical tree frequently employed in rainforest restoration plantings in northeast Queensland, we will test the hypothesis that collecting seed from populations in similar ecoclimatic settings to the planting site will result in superior seedling growth and survival. The results of the study will allow us to provide practical advice to reforestation practitioners about the importance of matching the provenance of seed source to planting sites, and opportunities for selecting provenances pre-adapted to predicted future climatic conditions at planting sites.
Communicating research on Australasian Bulbophyllum Orchids (Old ID 23666)
Darren Crayn
10 Oct 2017 - 31 Dec 2017
Bulbophyllum (Orchidaceae) is the second largest genus of flowering plants with ~ 2,200 species.This project uses DNA sequence data to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships within the diverse Asian and Australasian taxa. The project is significant for establishing a framework phylogeny for this diverse genus and fine scale population sampling to identify phylogeographic patterns within species endemic to Wet tropics mountain tops. Outcomes include a genetic database and peer reviewed manuscripts. I propose to participate in the upcoming Australasian Systematic Botany Society conference in Adelaide 26th-29th of November 2017 to disseminate our research on Australasian Bulbophyllum Orchids to the broader systematics community.
Aboriginal medicinal plants of Queensland: ethnopharmacological uses, species diversity, and biodiscovery pathways
- 2022
- BioMed Central
- Researchers:Darren CraynPhurpa Wangchuk
Start Date:
01 Jan 2014
Start Date:
01 Jan 2013
Start Date:
01 Jan 2012
Start Date:
01 Jan 2011
Start Date:
01 Jan 2011
End Date:
01 Jan 2014
Start Date:
01 Jan 2011
Start Date:
01 Jan 2010
Start Date:
01 Jan 2009
Start Date:
01 Jan 2009
End Date:
01 Jan 2014
Start Date:
01 Jan 2009
End Date:
01 Jan 2009