Content deleted Content added
Citation bot (talk | contribs) Add: s2cid. | You can use this bot yourself. Report bugs here. | Suggested by Abductive | Category:Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773) | via #UCB_Category |
Citation bot (talk | contribs) Add: bibcode. | You can use this bot yourself. Report bugs here. | Suggested by Abductive | All pages linked from cached copy of User:Abductive/sandbox | via #UCB_webform_linked 99/758 |
||
Line 90:
The prominent flower spikes are visited by many birds and insects. Honeyeaters are common visitors, particularly the [[New Holland honeyeater]], as well as the [[fuscous honeyeater]], [[western wattlebird]] and [[western spinebill]]. Other birds recorded foraging include the [[grey butcherbird]] and species of [[Acanthiza|thornbill]]. Insects recorded include ants, bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies and beetles.<ref name=atlas/> The [[short-billed black cockatoo]] breaks off old cones with follicles to eat the seed, often doing so before the seed is ripe.<ref name="witkowski91"/>
''B. speciosa'' is [[serotiny|serotinous]], that is, it has an [[Canopy seed bank|aerial seed bank]] in its [[Canopy (biology)|canopy]] in the form of the follicles of the old flower spikes. These are opened by fire and release seed in large numbers, which germinate and grow after rain. Seed can last for many years; old spikes 11 to 12 years old have been found to have 50% viable seed.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Byron B. | last1=Lamont | first2=D. C. | last2=Le Maitre | first3=R. M. | last3=Cowling | first4=N. J. | last4=Enright|year=1991|title=Canopy Seed Storage in Woody Plants|journal=The Botanical Review|volume=57|issue=4|pages= 277–317 [284] |doi=10.1007/BF02858770| s2cid=37245625 }}</ref> Flower spikes appear to have similar numbers of follicles regardless of the age of the parent plant. Young plants begin flowering three years after regenerating from bushfire and store progressively larger numbers of old flowerheads (and hence seed) in the canopy. In one study, decade-old plants averaged around 3.5 old cones, whereas 21-year-old plants had 105, and were calculated as having over 900 viable seeds per plant. Plants appear to have a life span of at least 40 years, as healthy and vigorous individuals of this age are known.<ref name="witkowski91"/> An experimental burn and monitoring of resultant seedling germination and growth showed ''B. speciosa'' seeds, though numerous, had poor rates of establishment but that seedlings were able to access water more easily and had higher rates of survival after two years than co-occurring ''Banksia'' species. Though this suggested ''B. speciosa'' might outcompete its [[conspecific]]s, the authors of the study noted that there could be other factors not accounted for in its natural environment.<ref name="lamont 1995">{{cite journal|last1=Lamont | first1=Byron B. | last2=Witkowski | first2=E.T.F|year=1995|title=A Test for Lottery Recruitment among Four ''Banksia'' Species Based on Their Demography and Biological Attributes|journal=Oecologia|volume=101|issue=3|pages=299–308|jstor=4220888|doi=10.1007/BF00328815| pmid=28307050 | bibcode=1995Oecol.101..299L | s2cid=24306122 }}</ref>
''B. speciosa'' is extremely sensitive to dieback caused by ''[[Phytophthora cinnamomi]]'' and numbers in [[Cape Le Grand National Park|Cape Le Grand]] and [[Cape Arid National Park]]s have been drastically reduced as whole populations of plants have perished after exposure.<ref name=atlas/> It is an [[indicator species]] for the presence of the disease.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/pdf/projects/dieback/dieback_indicators.pdf |title=Common Indicator Species for the Presence of Disease caused by ''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' |publisher=Government of Western Australia |accessdate=1 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319210839/http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/pdf/projects/dieback/dieback_indicators.pdf |archivedate=19 March 2011 }}</ref> Nursery plants in Italy perished from root and basal stem rot from the pathogen ''Phytophthora'' taxon ''niederhauserii''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cacciola |first1=S. O. | last2=Scibetta | first2=S. | last3=Martini | first3=P. | last4=Rizza | first4=C. | last5=Pane | first5=A. |year=2009|title=''Phytophthora'' taxon ''niederhauserii'', a New Root and Crown Rot Pathogen of ''Banksia'' spp. in Italy|journal=Plant Disease|volume=93|issue=11|pages=12–16|doi=10.1094/PDIS-93-11-1216C|pmid=30754609 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
| |||