Peter Cuneo

PhD Candidate

Telephone: +61 (02) 4634 7915
Fascimile: +61 (02) 4634 6035

Email: peter.cuneo[at]rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au

Mount Annan Botanic Garden

Mount Annan Drive

Mout Annan, NSW, 2567, Australia

Background

I have always had a great fascination with Australia’s flora, and have been very fortunate to play a part in the development of Mount Annan Botanic – the Australian plant garden of Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney.  My background is in the horticulture and ecology of Australian species, particularly in the planning, design, horticulture and plant collection development at Mount Annan (located in south-west Sydney).  In recent years my interest has increasingly turned to the ecology and conservation of endangered ecological communities in western Sydney, which are threatened by clearing and weed invasion.  My current role as Manager – Natural Heritage at Mount Annan involves the management of natural areas as well as the NSW Seedbank.  The Mount Annan site contains an important mosaic of Cumberland Plain Woodland remnants, which are under threat from African Olive invasion. The spread of African Olive is now a major conservation issue in SW Sydney and stimulus for my project.

Mount Annan Botanic Garden:

Feature gardens, Cumberland Plain Woodland, Natural areas

 
NSW Seedbank
http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/seedbank

Olive seedlings

[photo: Simone Cotterell]

Olive seedlings at Mt Annan

Mount Annan summit: covered in olives

African Olive
(Olea europaea ssp. cuspidata)

Roadside olives growing under Eucalypts

Olive seed

Olives at Mount Annan

Peter in forest of olives

[photo: Simone Cotterell]

Research Interests

• Ecology and management of Cumberland Plain ecological communities
• Role of soil seedbanks and fire in restoration ecology
• Use of GIS and remote sensing for weed mapping/change detection

Current Research

‘Weed ecology of African Olive in south-west Sydney’

The main centre of natural distribution for African Olive (Olea europaea ssp cuspidata) is eastern Africa, where it occurs from the desert shores of the Red Sea to the high rainfall mountain regions of Uganda. African Olive is a medium-sized dense crowned tree with a small black fruit, introduced into Australia as a hedging plant and rootstock for the edible common olive (Olea europaea ssp europaea).  The Camden area in south-west Sydney is an early Australian introduction site for African Olive, which has asserted itself in recent decades as an aggressive woody weed.  African Olive is well established as a serious weed in the subtropical climate of Norfolk Island and Hawaii, which suggests a potential for spread well beyond current distribution in NSW.  region in south-west

African Olive invasion has led to a decline in native plant diversity, through the formation of a dense and permanent mid-canopy in a wide range of vegetation types in south-western Sydney.  The stages of African Olive invasion have been identified, along with the key characteristics that make it a successful weed, including spread by frugivorous birds from perch sites, formation of dense seedlings mats and ability to resprout after fire. 

There is an absence of documentation and research on the weed ecology of African Olive in Australia, which is the basis for this research project.  Mount Annan Botanic Garden, located near Campbelltown is an area of major African Olive invasion, and the 416 ha study site for this research project - which will examine the weed ecology of African Olive through three stages:

Stage 1 - Use of GIS to determine landscape scale and characteristics of invasion.
Stage 2 - How does African Olive affect native plant diversity and abundance?
Stage 3 - Towards an ecological restoration strategy – how can we maximise success of restoration work?

Experimental work for the project will include: seed longevity trial, factors determining the allelopathic effects of olive, shade suppression of native seedlings, and the use of fire/native grasses to suppress olive seedlings and promote native plant regeneration.

Publications

Cuneo, P., Offord, C.A. & Leishman, M.R. (2010) Seed ecology of the invasive woody plant African Olive (Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata): implications for management and restoration. Australian Journal of Botany 58: 342-348.

Cuneo P, Jacobson C & Leishman, M.R. (2009) Landscape-scale detection and mapping of invasive African Olive (Olea europaea L. subsp. cuspidata (Wall ex G. Don Ciferri) in SW Sydney, Australia using remote sensing, Australia. Applied Vegetation Science. 12: 145-154

Cuneo, P. (2008) African Olive invasion - a landscape scale conservation threat. Australasian Plant Conservation  Vol 16(4): 20-21.

Cuneo, P. and Leishman, M.R. (2006)  African Olive as an environmental weed in eastern Australia : a review. Cunninghamia 9 (4): 545-577  [pdf]

Cuneo, P., Offord, C., McKensy, M.,  Johnstone, R. and Orme,A  (2004).  Seedquest NSW – a new conservation seedbanking partnership for eastern Australia,  Proceedings of the Fifth Australian Workshop on Native Seed Biology, ACMER, Brisbane.  Abst.

Offord, C., Cuneo, P., McKensy, M., von Richter, L. and Johnstone, R. (2003).  NSW Seedbank threatened species viability assessment.  A project undertaken for the NSW Biodiversity Strategy. Draft report. 28 pp.Offord, C. and Cuneo, P. (2004).  Seedquest NSW: a partnership for conservation.  Australasian Plant Conservation 12 (4): 6-7.

Offord, C., McKensy, M., Brien, J., Errington, G. and Cuneo, P. (2003).  Germination and ex situ storage of Hakea dohertyi (Proteaceae).  Cunninghamia 8(1): 129-132.

Offord , C.A. , Mckensy, M.L., Cuneo , P.V. (2004).  Critical review of threatened species collections in the NSW Seedbank: Implications for ex situ conservation of biodiversity.  Pacific Conservation Biology 10(4): 221-236.