Ecology Matters9 Aug 2022

Giancarlo Chiarenza

“Can you imagine you have little to no nitrogen and you put all the nitrogen that you have in these young leaves that are just doomed? That's not very smart. Plants are smarter than that!”

Gian is a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales, investigating the mechanisms behind delayed greening in plants.

Delayed greening occurs when plants withhold chlorophyll from leaves until they’re mature, resulting in the young expanding leaves being a myriad of colours, from red and pink to purple. Delaying the input of chlorophyll in this way may help the plant to reduce its loss of nutrients to herbivores. This makes sense when you consider that young leaves are often more tender, and therefore more appealing to herbivores than the tougher mature leaves. Gian plans to look at whether the withholding of chlorophyll from young leaves is linked to soil fertility, a question particularly pertinent in Australia, where many regions are known for their nutrient-poor soils.

His research received the 2021 Wiley Fundamental Ecology Award.

The Ecological Society of Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. Gian conducts his research on the traditional lands of the Gadigal and Bedegal people.

Help the ESA support ecology in Australia by donating (www.ecolsoc.org.au/get-involved/donate/donation-form) or by becoming a member (www.ecolsoc.org.au/get-involved/become-a-member).

The music in this podcast is ‘Glow’ by Scott Buckley - www.scottbuckley.com.au.

Episode image credit: Alison Haynes

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(40)

Dr Judy Dunlop

"I've always been kind of fascinated with what the landscape would have looked like before Europeans got here." Our guest today is Dr Judy Dunlop. Judy focuses on the threatened mammals of Western Aus...

19 Sep 202314min

Professor John Woinarski

"One of the most outstanding conservation concerns in Australia [...] is the extent of loss of [...] endemic mammal species." Professor John Woinarski has been involved in research, policy and managem...

12 Sep 202314min

Dr Richard McLellan

"There are a number of criteria for keystone resources and sandalwood [...] fits quite a few of them." Our guest this episode is Dr Richard McLellan. Richard is an experienced ecologist, conservationi...

5 Sep 202317min

Meghan Shaw

"We only know about the species that we are exposed to." A picture is worth a thousand words, or so they say. Our guest this episode is looking at precisely this idea - what role do wildlife images pl...

29 Aug 202315min

Oli Aylen

"Nobody has looked at whether [fenced reserves] could potentially be a conservation measure for bats." Bats are the second most-diverse order of mammals, in Australia and around the world, and provide...

22 Aug 202312min

Hayleigh Graham and Dr Jenn Lavers

"We know so little about the variety of species that exist on these spectacular islands." Dr Jenn Lavers and ranger Hayleigh Graham work with the Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation to unde...

17 Aug 202313min

Dr Elodie Camprasse

"A lot of people just don’t realise what we have in our blue backyard on the Southern shores of Australia, and how precious that is." Dr Elodie Camprasse is a Research Fellow at Deakin University and ...

16 Aug 202314min

A/Prof John Morgan

"I got interested in plants as ways of regenerating landscapes." Associate Professor John Morgan is a plant ecologist with the Research Centre for Applied Alpine Ecology and the Research Centre for Fu...

15 Aug 202310min