Biodiversity research

The three sub-disciplines mentioned above can not be clearly separated, and one can not exist without the others. For instance, taxonomy, while providing the basal units for systematics and biogeography to work with, in turn needs the hypotheses of patterns systematics and biogeography come up with in order to circumscribe higher taxa. With the ongoing evolution in analytical techniques, the boundaries are only becoming fuzzier, as systematic methods and concepts are, rightly or wrongly, increasingly used below the species level. The availability of an increasing array of easily available and easily scorable molecular characters has also given rise to an entirely new sub-discipline, phylogeography. Phylogeography combines methods and concepts from both historical and ecological biogeography, as well as population genetics, to explain patterns of organismal distribution within individual species. Phylogeography is where biodiversity research comes most closely into contact with conservation research, although results from all areas of biodiversity research are vital to inform conservation decisions.

Biodiversity research at the National Herbarium of Victoria focuses on documenting the diversity of plants, algae and fungi of Victoria and on finding and explaining patterns of historical relationships among Australian plant species and between plant species and the areas they occur. Our botanists have expertise in flowering plants, including some of the largest and most iconic Australian families, e.g. Fabaceae, Mimosaceae, Myrtaceae and Proteaceae, as well as bryophytes, fungi and stoneworts (Charophyceae).