Karen Sommerville
Position
Restoration Biology Officer, Horticultural Research
Branch
Science and Public Programs
Section
Conservation and Horticultural Research
The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan
Email
karen.sommerville@rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au
Phone
+61 2 4634 7942
Fax
+61 2 4648 2465
Research interests
- Conservation of rare and threatened Australian plants, particularly terrestrial orchids and saltmarsh species
- Restoration of degraded natural environments
- Molecular ecology of clonal plants
- Symbiotic associations between plants and fungi
- Symbiotic germination and cultivation of terrestrial orchids
Current research projects
- Effect of salinity on germination of Cumberland Plain species
- Encapsulating seed and fungal symbionts for long term storage and propagation of terrestrial orchids
- Maximising the longevity of orchid mycorrhizae in stored soil samples
- Ecology and reproductive biology of the saltmarsh plants Wilsonia backhousei (Convolvulaceae) and Lampranthus tegens (Aizoaceae)
- Molecular ecology of W. backhousei
Publications
- Offord CA, Bunn E, Turner SR, Sommerville KD, Siemon J and Ashmore SE (2009) Tissue culture. In: Plant Germplasm Conservation in Australia (Eds. CA Offord and PF Meagher), pp 109-128. Australian Network for Plant Conservation, Canberra.
- Rossetto M, Crayn D, Ford A, Mellick R and Sommerville K (2009) The influence of environment and life-history traits on the distribution of genes and individuals: a comparative study of eleven rainforest trees. Molecular Ecology, 18: 1422-1438.
- Sommerville, K.D., Heslewood, M.M., Siemon, J.P. and Offord, C.A. (2009) Banking site soil for the germination of terrestrial orchid seed collections. Seed Science and Technology, 37: 229-235.
- Siemon J, Offord CA and Sommerville K (2009) Storage of terrestrial orchid seed and symbionts for ex situ conservation. Australasian Plant Conservation, 17(4): 7-8.
- Sommerville, K.D., Siemon, J.P., Wood, C.B. and Offord, C.A. (2008) Simultaneous encapsulation of seed and mycorrhizal fungi for long-term storage and propagation of terrestrial orchids. Australian Journal of Botany, 56: 609 - 615.
- Sommerville, K., Rossetto, M. and Pulkownik, A. (2006) Isolation and characterisation of polymorphic microsatellite loci from Wilsonia backhousei (Convolvulaceae). Molecular Ecology Notes, 6: 419–421.
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