How do you age a tree that won't give up its rings? 🌳
Brigalow trees don't form annual rings — so researchers used radiocarbon dating to unlock their age. The result? These trees take ~150 years to mature, growing just 1.3 mm per year, informing the need for careful management.
📄 buff.ly/t4ZgpCA
You can find out more about Aaron and his work over on Research Gate www.researchgate.net/profile/Aaro... 🧵
We asked what drives Aaron and his research: "Conservation rightfully focuses on the visible and beautiful above ground diversity, I’m here in the dirt looking for the fun-guys who you might not be able to see, but there are a lot of them, and they are putting in the hard work!" 🧵
"[We found that] even target specific herbicides can change the fungal community, possibly affecting the native plants we intend to conserve." 🧵
Aaron focused on "the herbicides commonly applied to control invasive grasses affected the oft-overlooked soil fungi of the Banksia woodlands in a glasshouse setting" as part of their PhD🧵
An enormous congratulations to Dr Aaron Brace, winner of our 2025 Best Student Paper Award! Available here ➡️ doi.org/10.1071/BT24... 🧵
Finally, standardised protocols for measuring reproductive plant traits! This handbook covers 58 traits across flowers, fruits, seeds & seedlings. Designed for global applicability across diverse ecosystems and enables large-scale research 🌼
📖 buff.ly/TcagpiT
A plant species presumed extinct in the wild has been rediscovered in northern Queensland, thanks to a sharp-eyed observer, a smartphone camera & the #CitizenScience platform @inaturalist.bsky.social.
#OpenAccess in @ausjbotany.bsky.social:
connectsci.au/bt/article/7...
#AusJBotany
Congratulations to Chieh Lin on winning the Best Student-authored Paper award for "A comprehensive functional trait database of seagrasses in tropical Queensland" 👏
Access the award-winning paper here: connectsci.au/bt/article/7...
A year of outstanding, award-winning student research ✨
A number of our journals offer prizes for papers by students and early career researchers, and we're proud to have celebrated their successes throughout 2025.
Scroll on for their names and links to their research 🧵🧪
1/5
@zoexiro.bsky.social
@tomlebreton.bsky.social
@pattedplants.bsky.social
@jwmorganecology.bsky.social
@markooiecol.bsky.social
@shokoofehshamsi.bsky.social
It was a big week for team AJB at #ESA2025! From the @csiropublishing.bsky.social stall to dinner tables, Social Media Editors/Guest Editors/Co-Editors in Chief caught up with colleagues to discuss all things ecology and publishing 🌱
📷 #ESA2025
6) Journal Manager Pat Hannah (@pattedplants.bsky.social) with @ausjbotany.bsky.social and @marinefreshwater.bsky.social editors.
L-R: Tom Le Breton, Clare Vernon, #MarineFreshwaterRes EiC Shokoofeh Shamsi, Zoe Xirocostas, Pat Hannah, and #AusJBotany EiCs John Morgan and Mark Ooi.
📷 #ESA2025
3) Sam Lloyd (Alight) & Books Publisher Briana Melideo
4) Journal Manager Pat Hannah (@pattedplants.bsky.social) leading his 'Everything You Need to Know About Publishing' workshop
5) Shokoofeh Shamsi, Editor-in-Chief of #MarineFreshwaterRes (@marinefreshwater.bsky.social), and Briana
We had a great time at #ESA2025!
We loved chatting with everyone & catching up with our authors, contributors and journal editors!
📷
1) Grace Heathcote (Ecology Matters) & Books Publisher Briana Melideo
2) Perpetua Turner, Grace & Briana, with Stephen van Leeuwen, Saskia Gerhardy & Heather Neilly
In short: connectsci.au brings a new look and features, but with the same high standards and publication ethics.
Browse Australian Journal of Botany: connectsci.au/bt 🌿
Powered by @csiropublishing.bsky.social, connectsci.au prioritises accessibility, discoverability & functionality incl:
- better search filtering across article types & subjects
- journal article split screen view
- nuanced email notification options, inc. saved search alerts: connectsci.au/sign-in
Today @csiropublishing.bsky.social launched ConnectSci, a new global destination for trusted science content, hosting our journal, eBooks and a science news service.
You can now find Australian Journal of Botany here: connectsci.au/bt
So, what's new for readers and authors?
If you're considering submitting your plant science research with us, these numbers might be useful for your decision-making process 🤔
At the Australian Journal of Botany, we had:
- 52 days to first decision
- 46% acceptance rate
- 153K downloads in 2024
More metrics in the image below 📊⤵️
A new survey of flora in the Yazd-Kerman Endemism Hotspot has revealed more than 300 species - and more than 60 threatened species - call the Lalehzar and Hezar Mountains of Iran home
#openaccess New #LiDAR methods are revealing the influence of land use change and climate change on forest height, as Patrick Norman and colleagues write
🌱 New research from The Australian PlantBank reveals how 4 threatened Australian Grevillea species respond to temperature changes. Good news, 3 species show resilience to future warming, but G. iaspicula prefers cooler conditions & may struggle with climate change.
Read more 🔗 buff.ly/b4pbbgv
Riverbank erosion in SW Australia exposed previously undocumented root clusters in Kingia australis. Research by Lamont et al. suggests these novel 'kingioid roots' enhance water and nutrient uptake rather than storage, linking with seasonal root-cluster types🫚
Paper here 🔗 buff.ly/Hi3BxLE
The "living fossil" Wollemi pine🌲can self-fertilise! New research from #CharlesSturtUni shows this critically endangered conifer produces viable seeds without cross-pollination - which helps explain their low genetic diversity in natural systems 🧬
Open access paper 🔗 buff.ly/l3yG5Rt
A new journal category: Reflections. We're inviting reviews authored by research field leaders to reflect on a topic of their choosing, exploring the history of and provide context for the current state of our discipline. Our first guest is Prof. Mark Westoby #openaccess
African lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) is a fast growing, aggressive invasive species in Australia & North America. Early trials to control this agressive invader in the biodiversity hotspot of SW Australia are promising, writes Carl R. Gosper & colleagues #openaccess OA 🔗➡️
Traits such as spines & water storage vessels allow #cacti to thrive in #aridecosystems. These traits are also useful indicators of #ecosystemintegrity. Paredes Cubas & colleagues from @universidadjaen explore 12 standardised measures of functional traits in #Cactaceae 🌵🔗https://buff.ly/Rc1J5K4
A HIDDEN SABOTEUR: Pilostyles hamiltoniorum is a parasitic plant that lives INSIDE its host, only revealing itself through tiny flowers on the stems.
New research shows this endoparasite slashes flower production by 52% in its host plants, despite being almost invisible!
OA paper ➡️ buff.ly/gArS9tO
Are you eligible for APC-free #OpenAccess? 🌱
Researchers from institutions with agreements in place between their library and CSIRO Publishing can publish #OA in our journal without needing to pay Article Processing Charges (APCs).
Find your institution:
www.publish.csiro.au/journals/ope...
