In 2022, the Jurassic Garden was awarded a Botanic Gardens Conservation International/ArbNet grant to undertake a year-long survey of Myrtle Beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii) trees on South Bruny Island, Tasmania. The focus of the project is to assess if trees are affected by myrtle wilt and to also collect samples to determine if there are genetic differences between the Bruny Island trees and those elsewhere in Tasmania and in Victoria. We are working in partnership on this project with Kew Gardens (Wakehurst) UK, who lead the Global Conservation Consortium for Nothofagus project. This has become a pilot project for similar analysis of Nothofagus trees around the world, which will be overseen by the Global Conservation Consortium (Nothofagus).
Photo: Olivia Steed-Mundin (Kew - Wakehurst) and Tonia at the 2022 BGCI Conference in Melbourne.
Updates
2023
Over the course of this year, Inala's intrepid volunteer Survey Team have spent a number of days conducting surveys of the Nothofagus cunninghamii population on South Bruny Island and inputting the data into a global database managed by Kew (Wakehurst)/Global Conservation Consortium (Nothofagus) for the purposes of protecting Nothofagus species.
Survey Team using a sophisticated, high tech method to collect N. cunninghamii seed.
Survey Team: David Boyer, Judi Fakes, James Bunker, Alison van den Berg, Tonia Cochran
September 2022 - January 2023
Project preparation included obtaining the permits needed to access the areas where the Nothofagus cunninghamii stands are located on South Bruny Island and to use a drone to survey the area from the air. We collected information in the form of research papers and thesis work from our colleagues involved in the project. We also made contact with experts to undertake the genetic analysis of the samples collected.