Robert King spent much of his academic life as Professor of Botany at the University of NSW. His general research interests centred on the taxonomy, distribution and ecology of macroalgae (seaweeds) and seagrasses in south eastern Australia. He had a particular research interest in the algae associated with mangroves worldwide, with specific attention to salt tolerance in an environment with rapid changes in salinity. 

The term mangrove refers to both an unusual group of essentially tropical plants and the communities. We only have two mangrove species in the Sydney region, but in northern Australia there is a rich and varied collection of species all coping with an environment that appears inimical to flowering plants. Mangroves exhibit a range of adaptations enabling them to cope in an environment with regular inundation, variable salinity, unstable sediments and wave action. The term has no taxonomic significance but is an ecological category of plants defined by this challenging environment. Mangroves occur in a surprising range of familiar plant families, and are related to many genera which are well known as garden plants. 

The talk will cover some thoughts and ideas on taking photographs of plants. General photographic principles and plant-specific challengers. It is trying to encourage people to enhance their photography  skills and admire their own results

David is a Profession Bush Regenerator ( only new)
Qualifications Conservation and Land management certificate 3
Member of Rural FDire service  ( 17 years )
Member of ANP for 1 year
Amateur Photographer 

David Bambridge is the Director and Project Manager of The Gardenmakers which is a NSW based landscape company that undertakes projects in Sydney metropolitan area, Macarthur,Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Newcastle.

A discussion of soils, plants and their installation issues in the modern urban landscape context where the project delivery factors such as time, budget, competing consultants, weather and seasonal cycles come into play. 

The talk will range over soils for purpose, plant selection issues, procurement and installation as well as the care and maintenance of landscapes post completion to achieve an established urban landscape somewhat resembling the design intent. 

Sites discussed will include-  Rooftop gardens in Sydney CBD, High rise residential.,City Street Trees, Restoration to creek lines in urban riparian areas.

Coast  was photographed between Noosa Heads Qld and Rosedale Beach on the NSW south coast but predominantly Sydney’s northern beaches between 1963 and 2020.

Tree was photographed  between 2007 and 2020. Locations include Bangally Head North Avalon NSW, Brisbane Water National Park NSW on the Central coast NSW, 

Flinders Ranges SA. Goldsmith Island Qld, Koscuiszko National Park  NSW, Ku-ring-gai Chase Northern Sydney NSW, McKay Reserve Palm Beach NSW, Mt Hotham Vic, 

Mt Wellington Tasmania, Washpool National Park NSW, Wollombi Lower Hunter Valley NSW, Wyrrabalong National Park, NSW central coast.

Street was photographed between 1974 and 2020.  

Newcastle, May Day Rally 1974 and Sydney CBD 1976, 1991, 1992, 2016 – 2020

A journey of Sir Joseph Bank’s work including the Endeavour journal,

 Australian plant collections, taxonomy and recruitment that enabled
the publishing of Florilegium editions.

 Bank’s was a significant global influencer, a collaborator and enabler
in Botany and the Natural Sciences as President of the Royal Society,
an advisor on plant collections at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew
and to Governments on the new colony in Australia.

The painting of Joseph Banks, above is by Samuel Reynolds  in 1773

Simon will describe how the soil and vegetation associations were developed matching soil type and landscape position to vegetation type resulting in the highly successful naturalistic landscape you now see at Barangaroo.

For this project, commonly available recycled inorganic resources (crushed sandstone and recycled sand from building excavation) were combined with composted wood mulch screened from green garden waste collections and used to recreate a three-tiered replacement soil landscape for Barangaroo. The mulch layer or “O” (for organic) horizon would be analogous to the forest litter layer; the topsoil or A horizon, a well-drained sandy soil containing nutrients, organic matter and biological life and the Subsoil or B horizon, a well-drained water holding layer for root anchorage and moisture reserve.https://sesl.com.au/projects/barangaroo-headland-park/

Soil fertility levels were established using the "ash bed" principle where the initial soil fertility was established based on what the soil nutrient levels would be after a fire occurs to result in a soil fertility level that allows the vegetation to develop properly.

Simon is a soil scientist extraordinaire who leads a team with extensive achievements in rehabilitation, reconstruction and renewal of diverse urban projects and mine sites.

I’m not a biologist and I flunked Latin at the end of 1963. But I took a phone call in September 2005 from a well know Sydney graphic designer (Ross Renwick the founder of the Billy blue group). It went something like this.

"Busher.” One of my nicknames.

“Do you want to do a book with me?”

Curious, I replied. ‘I’d love to Ross, what’s the subject?’

Renwick laconically replied, “The Angophora tree.” Paused momentarily and added.

“You will have 200 hours of photography and I will have 20 hours of writing.”

It’s 2020 and Ross passed away in late 2012 but I have a very interesting body of work on the Angophora costata (and its friends).

Dan will talk about 4 years of population assessment and monitoring of the threatened flora species Prostanthera densa (Villous Mint Bush). Assessment and monitoring has taken place at its five known sites, on the NSW Coast, as part of the NSW Saving our Species program. This work has involved crucial help and support from APS Sutherland members. Dan will canvass the SOS Program, and will outline recent changes to NSW Biodiversity legislation. Dan will also briefly cover other species and ecological communities that he has worked on for the Saving our Species Program and showcase other projects that other APS groups are involved in. Dan’s image is of APS Sutherland Member John Arney, measuring and tagging a plant of Prostanthera densa (Marley, Royal NP, 2016).

Dan is currently a botanical consultant undertaking vegetation surveys, threatened plant assessments and botanical advice in many parts of NSW. Dan also works weekly for TAFE NSW as a Conservation and Land Management teacher, teaching plant identification and bushland regeneration.

Distribution maps of the rather elusive Glossy Black-cockatoo overlap with much of the east coast forests that have been devastated by wildfire this spring and summer. Our guest speaker will discuss the current concern felt by the birding and conservation communities about the plight of Glossy Black-cockatoos in the aftermath of widespread fires and in particular, the loss of Allocasuarina (She-oak) stands that support breeding families of Glossy blacks.

Judy Harrington is the president of Birdlife Southern NSW and has an extensive history of public education and participation in wildlife monitoring in her previous roles at SOPA, in her involvement with the highly-popular Sea-EagleCAM and the Birdlife Discovery Centre at Sydney Olympic Park and with the Frog & Tadpole Study Group. 

While looking for native bees over the last twenty years, Michael has seen many lovely species in lots of interesting places. Although bees are formally identified using shape and colour, often with the aid of a microscope, he has come to realise that, in the field, behaviour frequently provides useful additional clues.

There have been 250 species collected from within 40 km of Hornsby and it is estimated that there may be 50 additional species in the area, so there is a lot to look out for on a walk through local bushland. The talk will include suggestions about where to look for bees, when to look and what to look for.

Photo: A tree stump containing nests of Lasioglossum peraustrale in a small park in North Ryde