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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-07-23 Daily Xml
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NATIVE FLORA

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (15:14): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the very excellent Minister for Environment and Conservation a question about the effects of climate change on threatened species.

Leave granted.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: As tackling climate change is high on the public's agenda—if not the opposition's agenda—it is important to understand as best we can what we can do about the problem. While it might be easy to think about how climate change will affect our native fauna, whether it be migration patterns of birds or the breeding cycles of marsupials, understanding how our native plants will cope with climate change requires a different level of research. Will the minister inform the council of moves to better understand how climate change will affect our native flora?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health) (15:15): I thank the member for his most important question and his ongoing interest in these matters. I am very pleased to inform the council that a recent acquisition at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens will, in fact, help us research the effects of climate change on our threatened native plants. The Seed Conservation Centre at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens has invested in the latest high-tech equipment to help us understand the effects of climate change on seed germination in our threatened native plants.

A specially built incubator called a thermogradient plate allows up to 196 different temperature combinations to be tested at any one time. Costing about $50,000, the thermogradient plate will allow scientists at the Botanic Gardens to identify plant species that may be affected by climate change, helping us to take appropriate action in the future. The incubator will be used to determine the temperature range over which germination can occur. This data will then be modelled against the forecast changes in temperature and rainfall.

Climate change is obviously well and truly upon us. Since 1950, South Australia has become warmer. The 12 hottest years in history have been in the past 13 years, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios predict temperatures rising between 1 and 6.4 degrees over the next century relative to 1980-99.

Already, locally, we are seeing that some southern coastal areas have become drier, and the state's northern half has experienced increased rainfall. As a result, the optimum combination of temperature and moisture required for seed germination to occur may have been significantly altered and, in extreme instances, seeds will no longer germinate as the appropriate combination of these conditions may no longer be available.

Anyone who has been fortunate enough to travel through the state's North at the appropriate time of the year will tell you of the rare and wonderful sight of seeing carpets of desert flowers in full bloom after perfect conditions have been achieved. For these sorts of reasons, we must understand how our changing climate will affect indigenous plant species.

I am pleased to say that the incubator was jointly funded by the Department for Environment and Heritage and the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide Board, demonstrating the commitment of the state government to understanding the impact of climate change on our state's environment. The Seed Conservation Centre at the gardens contracted a specialised manufacturer in the United Kingdom to build the incubator, given that similar units are in use in the Millennium Seed Bank in the UK.

The Seed Conservation Centre at the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide is the only institution within South Australia that is dedicated to, and currently conducting, seed biology research on threatened native plants, and I think that that should be a great source of pride to South Australia's research community. Research using the incubator will begin in the next few months following an established test period.

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