Meena Sritheran ‘What makes plants rare?’

Meena is looking at how fire, soil properties and plant interactions may play a role in driving the rarity of species, and how this knowledge would aid conservation management of rare species and ecosystems.

Abstract

Determining what makes a plant species rare has been a fundamental and alluring question in ecology and conservation. A few species are highly abundant in most plant communities, but many more species are rare. This pattern represents one of the most consistently observed phenomena in ecology. However, research in ecology and conservation have still yet to come to a clear understanding in determining what makes a plant rare, species rare and why plants can become rare across time and space. Meena’s work presents findings from her PhD thesis, attempting look at how fire, soil properties and plant interactions may play a role in driving the rarity of species, and how we can use this knowledge to aid scientists and practitioners in developing better management strategies to conserve rare species and ecosystems."

Biography

Meena Sritharan is a currently PhD student in plant ecology at the Australian National University looking at what makes plants rare. She has worked previously on different research projects at UNSW Sydney in the realm of plants. Alongside her research, she has worked as a science communicator at the Australian Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. When not conducting research, She loves to spend her time botanising on long bushwalks, baking something challenging, and crocheting things large and small.

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