THE RIVER RED GUM - MUCH MORE THAN JUST A TREE

摘要

Perhaps more so than any other Australian plant or animal, the river red gum has been central to the tensions .between economic, social and environmental values of rivers and floodplain landscapes in Australia. Flooded Forest and Desert Creek: Ecology and History of the River Red Gum, a new CSIRO book, examines not only the ecology of one of the most iconic Australian trees, but how changes in attitudes towards it have reflected broader shifts in values of Australian society. Author, CSIRO's Dr Matthew Colloff, says that given the prominence of the river red gum in Australian culture, we know surprisingly little about its ecology and life history. "The river red gum has been the subject of repeated government inquiries over its conservation, use and management. Despite this we know remarkably little about the basics of this species: its longevity; how deep its roots go; what proportion of its seedlings survive to adulthood; the diversity of organisms associated with it, and the nature of those associations," Dr Colloff says.