17th Annual Geoff Baylis Lecture: Reweaving species: the key role of mutualisms in ecological restoration.

Speaker: Janice Lord, Department of Botany, University of Otago. Location: Castle 1, University of Otago (drinks and nibbles starting from 5.15 pm in the concourse).

Recent years have seen native restoration and replanting projects popping up like mushrooms across the New Zealand landscape. Often the same suite of plants are used – Pittosporum, Cordyline, Phormium, Coprosma, Hebe – because they are easy to propagate and grow rapidly. But are we aiming too low? This talk will pull together current understanding of native plant mutualisms above and below ground, and ask how we can use this knowledge practically to move towards functional restoration of complex ecosystems.

We are planning to go to dinner afterwards to the Gaslight Restaurant, at 73 St Andrew St, Dunedin, 9016. If you would like to come, could you please let Robyn know by Tuesday 9pm.