Graham Zemunik: Contrasting landscapes, similar soils, on opposite sides of the world.

Peaks in southern part of Sempre vivas near sunset. Supplied: G. Zemunik

Dr Graham Zemunik, School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia

The dune systems on the Swan Coastal Plain harbour a wonderful diversity of plants with a surprising range of strategies to extract nutrients from some of the poorest soils in the world. On the other side of the world, growing in substrate derived from old, weathered mountain ranges are communities of plants that have also had to deal with the challenges of growing in leached, sandy soils. Aboveground, these plant communities can appear rather different but, belowground, evolution seems to have converged them towards many similar traits and strategies.

Graham’s talk will introduce you to the flora of the Swan Coastal Plain near Jurien Bay, and the white-sand campos rupestres systems of the southern Espinhaço Range and adjacent Serra do Cabral, Brazil, taking a look both above- and belowground.