Council Member Guest Editorial in the Last 12 Months, There Has Been Considerable Progress and Change in the World of Plant Conservation in New Zealand
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E-NEWSLETTER: NO 105. AUGUST 2012 Deadline for next issue: Friday 14 September 2012 Council member guest editorial In the last 12 months, there has been considerable progress and change in the world of plant conservation in New Zealand. The Department of Conservation, despite the challenge of a major restructure, has led a review of the threat status of vascular plants and, significantly, lichens now have their own conservation status assessment (de Lange et al., 2012). Important and on-going research continues to shed light on our flora (see, for example, Heidi Meudt’s article about her review of Plantago taxonomy). Many new threatened plant discoveries are also being made (see Astrid van Meeuwen-Dijkgraaf’s article). And, on a sad note, one of the countries strongest advocates for native plants – Muriel Fisher – has died at the age of 96 (see article in this newsletter). Having just spent two weeks glued to the television watching athletes perform at the Olympics, I have wondered how we would fare if an environmental Olympics existed? It would be nice to think that New Zealand would make a clean sweep and bag 100 medals, for all the right reasons, and eclipse Australia, China and Britain. “Clean and green, 100% Pure”, New Zealand should be topping the table, shouldn’t it? Taking a closer look at our environmental achievements reveals some disturbing trends about the on-going biodiversity crisis, the lack of action on climate change and our inability to protect natural capital despite its critical importance to our economy, our culture and our sense of place. As well as winning gold for pest control on islands we would probably do best in community and landowner involvement in the protection of the environment. With approximately 1000 Enviroschools, at least 3500 community restoration groups and over 4000 private covenants established by landowners to protect biodiversity, we would almost certainly deserve a medal. The existence of so many non-governmental groups protecting our environment makes clear that New Zealanders are determined to reverse the environmental declines that have been occurring for a generation. For that reason, Nature Space (www.naturespace.org.nz) is an important initiative launched to support community and private landowners with their ecological restoration efforts and has doubled in size in three months (see article in this newsletter). But, while the gold medals are being handed out, there are a few that we would receive for the wrong reasons. The downsizing by government departments of our capacity to achieve plant conservation outcomes is something we should all be concerned about. The number of extinct and threatened species places us firmly on the medal podium. We live in one of the world’s 30 global biodiversity hotspots and, with close to 3000 species of plant, animal and fungi on the verge of extinction, we are Olympic champions in destroying our unique natural heritage. In an international review in 2010 evaluating the relative environmental impact of different countries, Corey Bradshaw and his team found that New Zealand came 18th from the bottom of a list of 179 countries, just below China (Bradshaw et al., 2010). We have the knowledge and the technology to fix practically all our environmental problems, and we also have the human capacity and energy since most New Zealanders truly care about their land and want to do the right thing. The concept of a “stadium of four million people”, which worked during the Rugby World Cup, must be harnessed to act positively for the benefit of our natural heritage. 1 PLANT OF THE MONTH – CARDIOMANES RENIFORME Plant of the Month for August is Cardiomanes reniforme (kidney fern, konehu, kopakopa, raurenga). Cardiomanes reniforme is a creeping fern with rhizomes that form spreading interwoven patches. Its distinctive reniform (kidney shaped) fronds are bright yellow-green to dark green, glossy and often have a rather attractive, almost translucent quality. The sori (structures producing and containing spores) are prominently crowded along margins of the fronds. Cardiomanes reniforme is a New Zealand endemic, found throughout the country from the coast to the mountains, usually in dense forest but also on boulders, rock falls Cardiomanes reniforme. Photo: Jeremy Rolfe. and cliff faces. It is difficult in cultivation, not appreciating disturbances or extreme variations in seasonal temperatures and moisture levels; it can be seen to almost completely disappear when drier only to reappear during wetter periods. Cardioman reniforme is not threatened, but because it is difficult to cultivate should not be removed from the wild. The Network fact sheet for C. reniforme may be found at: www.nzpcn.org. nz/flora_details.asp?ID=1322 Just as we evaluated our waistlines during the Olympics, if you evaluated your personal “plant conservation impact factor” over the last 6 months how would you fare? Have you planted a native tree, shrub, herb or fern? Have you nominated someone for a Plant Network Award (see the call for nominations in this newsletter)? Have you attended a committee meeting for your neighbourhood’s community restoration group? Have you killed a stoat, possum, rat, deer or goat in a reserve, or in your back garden? Have you recorded a plant observation or answered a forum article on the Network website or sent in images to be added to the online database? Have you written an article for the Network newsletter about what you have discovered, what you have restored, what you want to see happen? Have you given a talk to inspire a group of people to get involved in plant conservation? Have you recruited someone to join the Network? Have you written to your local MP seeking greater protection for native plants? I hope you would all win a medal for your environmental achievements as it is too easy to be an armchair critic of New Zealand’s environmental record. The Network has some exciting initiatives underway this spring including a programme of seed collection into the national threatened plant seed bank, the addition of lichens and macroalgae (seaweeds) to the Network website, the on-going promotion of the Network’s online flora mapping system (fabulous posters are still available on request). Planning is now underway for the Network’s 10th anniversary conference to be held in Auckland in May 2013. The Network’s new website strategy has led to a new design to be launched shortly that will improve interaction with plant information. 2 Now the Olympics are over, it is time for us all to get back out there, especially me. With sports, you know at the end of the race whether you won or lost but our environmental race is one we cannot lose. And it certainly feels as though we never win, or at least every generation must learn to win the same race over and over. As an ecologist, I look at the environmental scoreboard and know that we are failing, not only ourselves but future generations. This is a wounded planet and many indicators point to problems ahead. Our young people need to stay fit and healthy so they must be encouraged to keep at sports, win Olympic medals and make us all proud. But, in the long term, we must encourage their active and sustained involvement in activities to protect their environment. This must be the ultimate gold medal pursuit for any country ahead of any sporting endeavour. References Bradshaw, C.J.A., .X. Giam, N.S. Sodhi. 2010. Evaluating the relative environmental impact of countries. PLoS One 5(5): e10440. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010440 de Lange, P. J., Galloway, D. J. Blanchon, D. J., Knight, A., Rolfe, J. R., Crowcroft, G. M. & Hitchmough, R. 2012: Conservation status of New Zealand lichens. New Zealand Journal of Botany. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10. 1080/0028825X.2012.691426 John Sawyer, Network Committee Member A preview of the new-look homepage soon to be launched at www.nzpcn.org.nz 3 New Zealand native Plantago taxonomy revised Heidi Meudt, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa ([email protected]) Plantago is a large genus with over 200 wind-pollinated species found throughout the world, including about 20 species in New Zealand, eight of which are not native but are now naturalised weeds (Sykes 1988b). In a recent article revising the taxonomy of the native New Zealand species of Plantago, I recognise 11 native species (Meudt 2012): P. aucklandica, P. lanigera, P. novae-zelandiae, P. obconica, P. picta, P. raoulii, P. spathulata, P. triandra, P. triantha, P. udicola sp. nov. and P. unibracteata. This new revision is the culmination of several years’ research by myself and collaborators and was based on the analysis of novel morphological data combined with other data from cytology (Murray et al. 2010 and references therein), AFLP DNA fingerprinting (Meudt 2011), molecular phylogenetic data (Tay et al. 2010a, b), and molecular cytogenetics (Wong 2011). I will now outline some of the main taxonomic changes in the recent revision relative to previous treatments. First, I recognise Plantago picta and P. novae-zelandiae at the species level, instead of as a subspecies of P. spathulata and a synonym of P. lanigera, respectively. There is ample morphological and genetic evidence separating P. picta from P. spathulata and P. novae- zelandiae from P. lanigera, which justifies specific rank in both cases. Plantago picta is restricted to coastal mudstone or sandstone habitats between Gisborne and East Cape, and its conservation status is ‘At Risk/ Naturally Uncommon’. Two other species, P. aucklandica Plantago lanigera (top) and Plantago triantha. and P. obconica, have the same conservation status. Photos: John Barkla. Second, I treat P. masoniae as a synonym of P.