Richard Dimon

The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney · Research Centre for Ecosystem Resilience

In some biogeographic regions, many threatened plant species occur in habitats that periodically experience bushfire. However, we currently have relatively little information on how important plant–animal and plant–fungus interactions are affected by these fires. For the threatened sexually deceptive orchid Caladenia tessellata we test whether poll...

Orchids (Orchidaceae) are dependent on mycorrhizal fungi for germination and to a varying extent as adult plants. We isolated fungi from wild plants of the critically endangered terrestrial orchid Thelymitra adorata and identified them using a multi-region barcoding approach as two undescribed Tulasnella species, one in each of phylogenetic group I...

The relationship between intra-specific and inter-specific patterns and processes over evolutionary time is key to ecological investigations. We examine this relationship from a novel perspective, focussing on the association between floristic classifications, a summary of inter-specific processes, and intra-specific genetic structuring. Applying a...

Context Given the effort and resources that go into collecting and maintaining seed collections, it is crucial that we maximise their usefulness. Conservation, restoration and research rely heavily on good quality collections in order to establish new populations, create habitat, minimise extinction and address scientific questions. Aims Although s...

Astrotricha roddii is a rare shrub species that is only found along the border of Queensland and New South Wales. The NSW Department of Planning and Environment's (DPE) Saving our Species (SoS) initiative is managing the conservation of this endangered species. This study aimed to determine the taxonomic status of A. roddii and assess its genetic h...

Symbiotic mutualisms between plants and fungi or plants and rhizobia are often essential for their growth and survival in the wild. In particular, the Orchidaceae and Fabaceae (the second and third largest plant families in the world) are highly reliant on their symbioses with mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobia, respectively. In Australia, a number of...

In this article, we describe our students-as-partners process for bringing undergraduate and academic staff together to develop a mobile application (app) - CampusFlora - for use across our campuses. Our project at the University of Sydney, Australia, was conceived as a way to improve the botanical literacy of biology students by engaging undergrad...

Molecular evidence supports the transfer of Conoscyphus Mitt. from Lophocoleaceae to Acrobolbaceae, which is unexpected on the basis of morphological evidence and further disrupts the morphological circumscription of Acrobolbaceae. Conoscyphus differs from other Acrobolbaceae in possessing a stem perigynium and a conspicuous perianth that forms a t...

Recent molecular evidence supports the transfer of two Australian endemic species, Austrocynoglossum latifolium (R.Br.) R.R.Mill and Cynoglossum suaveolens R.Br., to the genus Hackelia Opiz as H. latifolia (R.R.Mill) Dimon & M.A.M.Renner, comb. nov., and H. suaveolens (R.Br.) Dimon & M.A.M.Renner, comb. nov. Hackelia latifolia comprises two morphol...