PUBLIC LECTURE: UWA Albany Public Lecture

South-western Australia is a global biodiversity hotspot, where the greatest plant diversity is found on the most severely phosphorus-impoverished soils in kwongan (or kwongkan). Mycorrhizas are known to enhance plant P acquisition, but non-mycorrhizal plant families (e.g., Proteaceae) feature most prominently on the poorest soils, and these families are uncommon on soils containing more P. Almost all Proteaceae produce carboxylate-releasing cluster roots, which are capable of mobilising scarcely available P and micronutrients, including manganese. The traits referred to here help explain the ecological success of non-mycorrhizal species on severely P-impoverished soils in south-western Australia. These same traits may also have allowed non-mycorrhizal families to diversify in these severely nutrient-impoverished environments.