51. Tropical Podocarps

Organised by Ben Turner and Lucas Cernusak to be held at Network Headquarters, Sydney. First meeting 2-6 February 2009

PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE Ben Turner - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Republic of Panama - soils and the mineral nutrition of Podocarpaceae Lucas Cernusak - Charles Darwin U, NT - water use efficiency in the Podocarpaceae Peter Bellingham - Landcare Research NZ - ecology of NZ podocarps Edward Biffin - U Adelaide - molecular phylogenetics Tim Brodribb - U Tasmania - ecophysiology of the Podocarpaceae David Coomes - U Cambridge, UK - ecology of angiosperm and gymnosperm co-existence James Dalling - U Illinois - Podocarpaceae in neotropical forests Ian Dickie - Landcare Research, NZ - root nodules and symbiotic organisms in the Podocarpaceae Neil Enright - U Melbourne - ecology of tropical conifers Kanehiro Kitayama - Kyoto U - tropical montane forests Hans Lambers - U Western Australia - nutrient-mining by Proteaceae Chris Lusk - Macquarie U - woodly plant trait-environment relationships Robert Morley - U London - palaeoecological history of the Podocarpaceae Mike Lawes - Charles Darwin U - African podocarps

GOAL

The emergence of angiosperms in tropical forests at the expense of the gymnosperms, their ancestral relatives, was one of the most important events in the evolutionary history of terrestrial plants. Conifers of the Podocarpaceae are one of the few gymnosperm families that still occur in angiosperm-dominated tropical forests. They were an important component of the Gondwanan flora, but were virtually eliminated from the tropics following the evolution of angiosperms in the early Cretaceous. Despite this, they persist throughout the Malesian and neotropics and are also common in temperate regions of Australasia and South America, although they remain the least well-known of the three large conifer families. In particular, the ecology of tropical podocarps remains poorly understood, although there are many aspects of their physiology and mineral nutrition that are of considerable interest. What enables podocarps to persist in angiosperm-dominated tropical environments?

Given the significance of the Podocarpaceae to our understanding of contemporary and ancient tree communities, this working group is devoted to the ecology of this poorly understood conifer family in tropical forests. Our aims are to synthesize information on the ecology of the Podocarpaceae in tropical ecosystems that is currently dispersed in various disciplines and to stimulate thought and foster collaborative research on these fascinating trees. The working group will address a broad spectrum of topics necessary to develop a comprehensive understanding of podocarp ecology in tropical forests, including their past and current distribution, their physiology, mineral nutrition, and association with root symbionts.

Last Updated July 2008