Fragmented Elements Series - ‘Earth’
‘Earth’ celebrates the adaptive capacities of Banksia woodland species to survive in nutrient poor soils; and the subterranean interactions which facilitate this.
The piece focuses primarily on the mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship between the endemic, IUCN Critically Endangered Caladenia huegelii (Grand spider orchid🕷️) and its mycorrhizal counterpart (fungal endophyte🍄). Orchid germination and survival rely on this obligate relationship for water and mineral nutrition whilst the fungus benefits by receiving photosynthetically fixed carbon.
The interconnectedness between the elements is what produces and sustains a rich, thriving ecological community; one which benefits us with invaluable (and free) services like carbon storage, water filtration, erosion mitigation and flood management. Yet, decades of clearing have decimated Banksia woodlands into small, disconnected, ecologically dysfunctional fragments with limited resilience against ecosystem degradation.
If we continue to repeat our historic patterns of destructive fragmentation, we will lose the ecological - and by virtue, the economical - benefits that functional banksia woodland communities provide.
‘Earth’ celebrates the adaptive capacities of Banksia woodland species to survive in nutrient poor soils; and the subterranean interactions which facilitate this.
The piece focuses primarily on the mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship between the endemic, IUCN Critically Endangered Caladenia huegelii (Grand spider orchid🕷️) and its mycorrhizal counterpart (fungal endophyte🍄). Orchid germination and survival rely on this obligate relationship for water and mineral nutrition whilst the fungus benefits by receiving photosynthetically fixed carbon.
The interconnectedness between the elements is what produces and sustains a rich, thriving ecological community; one which benefits us with invaluable (and free) services like carbon storage, water filtration, erosion mitigation and flood management. Yet, decades of clearing have decimated Banksia woodlands into small, disconnected, ecologically dysfunctional fragments with limited resilience against ecosystem degradation.
If we continue to repeat our historic patterns of destructive fragmentation, we will lose the ecological - and by virtue, the economical - benefits that functional banksia woodland communities provide.
‘Earth’ celebrates the adaptive capacities of Banksia woodland species to survive in nutrient poor soils; and the subterranean interactions which facilitate this.
The piece focuses primarily on the mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship between the endemic, IUCN Critically Endangered Caladenia huegelii (Grand spider orchid🕷️) and its mycorrhizal counterpart (fungal endophyte🍄). Orchid germination and survival rely on this obligate relationship for water and mineral nutrition whilst the fungus benefits by receiving photosynthetically fixed carbon.
The interconnectedness between the elements is what produces and sustains a rich, thriving ecological community; one which benefits us with invaluable (and free) services like carbon storage, water filtration, erosion mitigation and flood management. Yet, decades of clearing have decimated Banksia woodlands into small, disconnected, ecologically dysfunctional fragments with limited resilience against ecosystem degradation.
If we continue to repeat our historic patterns of destructive fragmentation, we will lose the ecological - and by virtue, the economical - benefits that functional banksia woodland communities provide.