Darren Crayn

The Australian Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA) in northeast Queensland is home to approximately 18 percent of the nation’s total vascular plant species. Over the past century, human activity and industrial development have caused global climate changes, posing a severe and irreversible danger to the entire land-based ecosystem, and the WTWHA is no exception. The current average annual temperature of WTWHA in northeast Queensland is 24 °C. However, in the coming years (by 2030), the average annual temperature increase is estimated to be between 0.5 and 1.4 °C compared to the climate observed between 1986 and 2005. Looking further ahead to 2070, the anticipated temperature rise is projected to be between 1.0 and 3.2 °C, with the exact range depending on future emissions. We identified 84 plant species, endemic to tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) within the WTWHA, which are already experiencing climate change threats. Some of these plants are used in herbal medicines. This study comprehensively reviewed the metabolomics studies conducted on these 84 plant species until now toward understanding their physiological and metabolomics responses to global climate change. This review also discusses the following: (i) recent developments in plant metabolomics studies that can be applied to study and better understand the interactions of wet tropics plants with climatic stress, (ii) medicinal plants and isolated phytochemicals with structural diversity, and (iii) reported biological activities of crude extracts and isolated compounds.

Globally, there is increasing evidence that Indigenous peoples have manipulated plant and animal populations over millennia. The Bunya Pine ( Araucaria bidwillii Hook.) is a coniferous tree native to subtropical and tropical eastern Australia, which produces 30–100 large, edible seeds within a large cone weighing 5–10 kgs. Endemic Bunya populations occur as two disjunct populations: one in south-eastern Queensland/north-east New South Wales and the other in northern Queensland. We investigated possible pre- and postcolonial Bunya seed dispersal within and between the two separate populations by utilising multidisciplinary methods to examine Aboriginal cultural connections with Bunya. Analysis of historical sources and ethnographic interviews conducted with Aboriginal knowledge holders provided strong evidence for localised deliberate dispersal within the southern population but no solid evidence for dispersal in the north, suggesting two distinct modes of Aboriginal interaction with this species. Early European colonial records documented the Indigenous cultural significance of southern Bunya, evidenced by large feast gatherings, creation Stories, Aboriginal familial tree connections, seed carrying and planting, and storage in camps. The continued cultural attachment post-colonisation was evident from ethnographic interviews with Indigenous knowledge holders that revealed plantings of this species on Aboriginal missions and modern grave sites. The development of an overarching effective biocultural management plan to conserve the biological and cultural importance of this species is therefore particularly important for the southern population, especially in the face of new threats from pathogenic dieback. The individal tree connections of certain Aboriginal families also warrant deeper ethnographic study to target planting and restoration efforts that preserve these kin-based biocultural connections.