Daniel Murphy

Daniel Murphy is a molecular systematist (systematic botanist) whose research primarily involves the use of molecular data (DNA sequencing) to investigate questions about the systematics, taxonomy, classification and biogeography of flowering plants. Dan has a particular interest in legumes, having worked extensively on Acacia (the largest genus of plants in Australia) and related legumes in the Mimosoideae subfamily. Together with staff at the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG) Melbourne and researchers in tertiary institutions, Dan is involved in a range of research projects, including the biogeography of Persoonia; plant movements of Adansonia and Vachellia (Acacia) farnesiana; grass phylogenetics and DNA barcoding; salinity tolerance research in Acacia; and pollination biology and plant–animal interactions.

Much of Dan's work harnesses, and seeks to develop, the RBG's living and herbarium collections, with an overarching aim to integrate systematics and taxonomic research into practical tools, including applications in the areas of plant identification (DNA barcoding), biosecurity and invasive plant studies, and sustainable agriculture.

Projects

• Systematics of Acacia
• Molecular identification of stipoid grasses
• Persoonia and the origin of the Australian flora
  
• Movement of plants into pre-British Australia
  

Publications

Brown, G.K., Murphy, D.J. and Ladiges, P.Y. (2011). Relationships of the Australo-Malesian genus Paraserianthes ( Mimosoideae: Leguminosae) identifies the sister group of Acacia sensu stricto and two biogeographical tracks. Cladistics 27, 380–390.

Gibson, M.R., Richardson, D.M., Marchante, E., Marchante, H., Rodger, J.G., Stone, G.N., Byrne, M., Fuentes-Ramírez, A., George, N., Harris, C., Johnson, S.D., Roux, J.J.L., Miller, J.T., Murphy, D.J., Pauw, A., Prescott, M.N., Wandrag, E.M. and Wilson, J.R.U. (2011). Reproductive biology of Australian acacias: important mediator of invasiveness? Diversity and Distributions 17(5), 911–933.

Miller, J.T., Murphy, D.J., Brown, G.K., Richardson, D.M. and González-Orozco, C.E. (2011). The evolution and phylogenetic placement of invasive Australian Acacia species. Diversity and Distributions 17(5), 848–860.

Wilson, J.R.U., Gairifo, C., Gibson, M.R., Arianoutsou, M., Bakar, B.B., Baret, S., Celesti-Grapow, L., DiTomaso, J.M., Dufour-Dror, J.-M., Kueffer, C., Kull, C.A., Hoffmann, J.H., Impson, F.A.C., Loope, L.L., Marchante, E., Marchante, H., Moore, J.L., Murphy, D.J., Tassin, J., Witt, A., Zenni, R.D. and Richardson, D.M. (2011) Risk assessment, eradication, and biological control: global efforts to limit Australian acacia invasions. Diversity and Distributions 17(5), 1030–1046.

Brown, G.K., Clowes, C., Murphy, D.J. and Ladiges, P.Y. (2010). Phylogenetic analysis based on nuclear DNA and morphology defines a clade of eastern Australian species of Acacia s.s. (section Juliflorae): the 'Acacia longifolia group'. Australian Systematic Botany 23, 162–172.

Full publication list