tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-365720982024-03-07T19:56:05.448+11:00MY GROWING PASSION<br>
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<b>Australian flora and fauna, gardening, biological sciences and related joys.</b>Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-82619283144521735812014-05-11T12:18:00.000+10:002014-05-11T12:18:21.369+10:00Mutualism and exploitation in angiosperm pollinationThis is a literature review I wrote a few years ago, which I have revisited because I am thinking anew about symbiosis in the context of my novel-in-progress, one major element of which is parasitology and host-switching. Over on my new writing blog, I am tinkering with ideas about utopia and dystopia as analogous with mutualism and parasitism. Since this is a science paper, it seems most Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-84812956771883859542014-04-21T19:29:00.000+10:002014-04-21T19:29:00.178+10:00Moving on...Now I switched careers (or rather, reverted to a version of the old... creative writing), I have begun a new blog and website, at http://www.margaretmorgan.info/ .
Of course I am not saying goodbye to science, but am indeed combining writing with science by writing science fiction.I hope you'll follow me there! Science fiction writers need and love scientifically-literate readers!Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-39061442264925851232013-05-27T21:05:00.000+10:002013-05-27T21:05:00.642+10:00My graduation speech: an ode to good education.A month or so ago, I was delighted to give the graduation speech on behalf of my cohort of science graduates at Macquarie University.And here, through the magic of the Intertubes, it is! I was a touch nervous, as is clearly apparent. But I meant every word.
Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-38670688969808397762012-01-29T12:28:00.001+11:002012-01-29T12:29:12.453+11:00Another frog species spotted in our garden....Last night, we encountered this gorgeous creature on the other side of our sun-room window. It's Litoria phyllochroa, Leaf Green Tree Frog, family Hylidae. Not an uncommon species in this part of Sydney.
That brings to five the number of frog species we've identified in our garden, listed in our garden census. The wet weather we've been having is such a joy!
Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-6696853491692968152012-01-26T13:23:00.001+11:002012-01-29T19:52:40.496+11:00When Plants Parasitise Fungi: myco-heterotrophy
Deep down on the forest floor, sunlight is the scarcest of all resources for plants. They struggle to reach it, lianas and vines climbing up to reach the top and seedlings exploit a gap in the canopy to shoot up and out-compete other plants. But some species have evolved a way to do without sunlight entirely. These plants don't photosynthesise at all. They have no (or very few Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-9283357818507896162011-11-09T21:18:00.006+11:002011-11-13T21:10:24.649+11:00Saltmarsh: regeneration of an endangered habitat.Lane Cove National Park is a narrow, irregularly-shaped ecological reserve surrounded by Sydney suburbs. It is marked in dark green in the map below. Although it extends over 10 kilometres in length, it is only 6 sq kilometres in area. It surrounds the Lane Cover River, which begins in Hornsby to the north and opens into Sydney Harbour.
Map from National Parks and Wildlife Service
Its Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-33082112559700467822011-10-17T22:10:00.000+11:002011-10-17T22:10:04.520+11:00Some wise words from Steven Pinker....."I think that a failure of statistical thinking is the major intellectual shortcoming of our universities, journalism and intellectual culture. Cognitive psychology tells us that the unaided human mind is vulnerable to many fallacies and illusions because of its reliance on its memory for vivid anecdotes rather than systematic statistics. Yet pundits continue to hallucinate trends in freak eventsMargarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-28879121789491319092011-10-12T19:29:00.001+11:002011-10-12T19:29:38.546+11:00Parasites and art: Tommy LeungOne of my favourite blogs is Parasite of the Day, cowritten by Tommy Leung. Tommy lectures in parasitology and evolutionary biology at the University of New England (NSW, Australia). What I didn't know is that Tommy is also an artist who paints and draws various biological creatures, real and imaginary, exploring biological concepts. He's just been profiled in the Scientific American blog Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-24720240942702912292011-10-09T11:18:00.002+11:002011-10-09T11:45:46.314+11:00Superb Lyrebird mimicry: recording!I've previously posted about the Superb Lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae) in our garden, with the promise that one day I'd upload audio. Today is that day!
Since we've been living here, the lyrebirds have become increasing common and less fearful. Their increased abundance is probably due in part to cat and fox baiting in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park which anecdotally has increased Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-9402798204634193462011-09-22T09:00:00.001+10:002011-09-22T09:01:50.307+10:00Field Trip to Smiths Lake, Central New South WalesYesterday, I returned from a field trip at Smiths Lake, around 250 kilometres north of Sydney on the Central Coast. Smiths Lake is salt water, and periodically naturally opens to the sea.
View Smiths Lake Field Station in a larger map
The annual field trip is a large component of a second year ecology unit run by Macquarie University, and I was there as the plant science tutor. As well as Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-81879217814821082512011-09-03T19:23:00.003+10:002011-09-22T17:31:45.357+10:00Peacock Carpenter BeeIt's a few years since I last visited Muogamarra Nature Reserve, which is just north of Sydney and on the southern side of the Hawkesbury River. But today returned with some fellow biologists from Macquarie Uni. The flora was as bogglingly diverse and plentiful as ever, but today a fascinating native bee caught my eye.
This is the Peacock Carpenter Bee, also known as the Metallic Carpenter Bee,Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com4Muogamarra Nature Reserve, Sydney NSW 2081, Australia-33.5666526 151.1694511-33.619576099999996 151.0904871 -33.5137291 151.24841510000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-18541650412084997222011-06-11T13:05:00.000+10:002011-06-11T13:05:30.913+10:00Book Review: "My Little World" by Julia CookeWhen I was a child, I was entranced by microcosms. For hours, I'd stare into my fish tank, imagining myself around an inch in height, swimming about among the fish. I constructed terrariums, seeing the mosses and ferns as forests and jungles. My brother and I took our Matchbox cars on "safaris" in the garden. And of course, my dolls' house was a world in which I conjured epic tales of Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-15179198852919449822011-05-11T11:03:00.001+10:002011-05-11T16:03:24.898+10:00"I'm A Climate Scientist" ... from Hungry Beast
Bravo! A couple of familiar faces from Macquarie University here too.
[Hungry Beast is a television program from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.]
The lyrics....
Who's a climate scientist..
I'm a climate scientist..
Not a cleo finalist
No a climate scientist
Droppin facts all over this wax
While bitches be crying about a carbon tax
Climate change is caused by people
Earth Unlike Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-22647253525754302452011-04-26T18:55:00.001+10:002011-04-26T19:00:58.130+10:00Snails and Beetles in BaliI was gobsmacked by the diversity of terrestrial snails in Bali. Here are some I photographed.
And some beetles I met:
Rhinoceros beetle
Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-90772185295322197012011-04-26T18:40:00.001+10:002011-04-26T18:42:07.907+10:00Invertebrate Bliss in Bali.I recently visited Bali, with husband and daughter, to spend some time with my brother- and sister-in-law who have started up a diving school in Sanur, Joe's Gone Diving. With the rest of my in-laws visiting from the Netherlands, it was a delightful family reunion. Husband Martien got his PADI diving certificate. I'll likely do the same at some point, but for this holiday, all I wanted to do was Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-9028641631384549862011-04-23T09:29:00.009+10:002011-04-23T09:34:02.827+10:00Guest Blog by Julia Cooke, author of "My Little World".I'm delighted to welcome guest blogger, Julia Cooke, author of My Little World, a picture book for children. Julia is on tour in the blogosphere - see here for tour dates and places!
Getting the science right in My Little World
My Little World is the story of a child finding a world of tiny animals and plants when they can’t see the birds and mammals that the Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-37475888063343875042011-03-13T14:29:00.000+11:002011-03-13T14:29:42.067+11:00This Island EarthOften we hear of the emotional impact felt by astronauts as they look down at earth from space, comprehending on a visceral level just how isolated and vulnerable our home is. The photo of earth taken from Apollo 17 has come to symbolise that sense. This image, according to a NASA archivist, is probably the most distributed image in human history. I had a poster of it on my wall, as a teenager inMargarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-74323352093515606142011-02-22T16:05:00.000+11:002011-02-22T16:05:08.904+11:00Tom Paine's Ghost: Post with the Most!A great blogging competition is afoot! Over at Tom Paine's Ghost, Kristopher Hite has announced the second annual Post with the Most event. From his blog:
A $100 cash prize will be awarded for the most powerful blog post freely available out there on the interwebs.
Post content is limited only by the bounds of imagination.
Keep in mind Tom Paine's Ghost was founded amidst a battle to defend Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-79913799156387499172011-01-23T17:20:00.001+11:002011-01-25T10:23:35.585+11:00Cryptostylis subulataNative ground orchids can be contrary beasts. Since I last blogged about Cryptostylis subulata (Large Tongue Orchid) growing in our garden four years ago, there have been none in flower here... till this week:
Cryptostylis subulata
This specimen is growing on the edge of a sandstone platform, the flowers hanging down over the cave beneath.
There is much that is remarkable about C. Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-58873679376740993182010-12-28T15:32:00.000+11:002010-12-28T15:32:40.829+11:00Redeye CicadaWas just weeding in the garden, and encountered this, recently emerged from its shell: Psaltoda morens, the redeye cicada.
Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-64554111452618832642010-12-28T12:09:00.000+11:002010-12-28T12:09:59.691+11:00Ceratopetalum gummiferum: New South Wales Christmas BushDotted through bushland in summer in Sydney is the New South Wales Christmas Bush, Ceratapetalum gummiferum, its distinctive red colouring contrasting with the greens of foliage and whites of Eucalypt flowers. It's frequently cultivated, and many people decorate their houses at Christmas with sprays of it.
The red comes not from the flower petals though, but from the sepals. The small white Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-39940970741118686012010-11-26T17:07:00.001+11:002010-11-26T17:08:58.062+11:00Science journalism.Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-27813616026735363682010-11-15T18:41:00.002+11:002010-11-15T20:59:57.654+11:00Déjà Vu....Three years ago, an Angophora costata landed on our roof during heavy rain. It's happened again, but this time it's a Corymbia gummifera. Once again, I'm waiting for the State Emergency Service to arrive with a tarpaulin. Lesson: don't grow large trees on rock platforms. :/
Heavy rain brings down trees that are poorly rooted. And it brings leeches. This afternoon, I was sitting at my desk Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-60505727793690023562010-11-12T18:49:00.002+11:002012-04-21T13:52:48.663+10:00Garden Census: reptiles, mammals, amphibiansEarlier, I posted the Garden Bird Census. Here are the rest of the vertebrates. I might well be missing some, since many Australian mammals are nocturnal. I've never seen an echidna in our garden, for example, but would be surprised if we had none. And of course, bats aren't always easy to spot or identify!
Reptiles:
Pseudechis porphyriacus Red-bellied Black Snake
Morelia spilota spilota&Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36572098.post-77439846086793317112010-11-12T10:07:00.008+11:002014-05-26T12:03:21.930+10:00Garden Census: birdsJust for the fun of it, I've decided to do a census of all the vertebrates spotted (or heard!) in our garden, and in the case of some species, in the sky above our garden. I'll update these lists as I sight more.
First up, birds! I've linked each to the Australian Museum's Birds in Backyards website.
Zoothera lunulata Bassian Thrush
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris Eastern Spinebill
Margarethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15456006889868172386noreply@blogger.com4