Forest tree species in wet and dry habitats are generally considered functionally divergent in leaf and stem functional traits such as leaf area, leaf mass per area, wood density and tree height. Yet, these traits have limited utility for characterizing plant water transport adaptations and...

Stable isotope tracing of plant water use can illuminate plant water sources. But to date, the number of species tested at any given site has been minimal. Here, we sample 46 tropical hardwood tree species in a 0.32 ha plot with uniform soils. Soil water was characterized at 6 depths at 0.2 m...

Globally threatened dry rainforests are poorly studied and conserved when compared to mesic rainforests. Investigations of dry rainforest communities within Australia are no exception. We assessed the community diversity, distinctiveness and level of conservation in Central Queensland coastal dry...

Why plants rich in plesiomorphic ("primitive") features are alive today is a question that receives little comment. Apomorphies in angiosperms are often interpreted as valuable adaptations. However, both apomorphies and plesiomorphies can be keyed to ecological and physiological features. If a...

The isotopic composition of leaf water in terrestrial plants is highly dependent upon a plant's environment. This isotopic signature can become integrated into organic molecules, allowing the isotopic composition of biomarkers such as cellulose to be used as sensitive paleo and climatic proxies....

Diospyros venablesii W.E. Cooper is described and illustrated with notes on habitat, distribution and how to distinguish it from the most similar species, Diospyros laurina.

The life history of 'Philiris diana' Waterhouse and Lyell from Australia is described and illustrated for the first time. Although an historic male was reared from a pupa from Kuranda in northeastern Queensland more than 40 years ago, the immature stages and biology have largely remained unknown....

The new species Brachychiton guymeri is described and illustrated from north Queensland and is thought to be related to B. bidwillii F.Muell. Brachychiton guymeri is known from two populations in dry rainforest or amongst rainforest elements in grassy savanna with high rock cover and has a current...

The monotypic genus of horn-headed thrips, Eurynothrips Bagnall, had not been seen since its discovery in the early 1900's in northern Australia, and nothing is known of its biology. A second species of the genus, E. laheyi sp.n., is described from southern Queensland, inducing galls on the young...

The previously unrecognisable monotypic genus 'Sunaitiothrips' Moulton is re-diagnosed, based on the holotype from Cairns District together with fresh material and one new species from southeast Queensland. The two species are remarkably similar in structure and sculpture, but the type species has...