Threatened, Rare - Extant
Threatened, Rare - Extant, 2018, engraved glass cloche on plinth, 1125mm x 350mm x 350mm
Threatened, Rare - Extant, detail, 2018, engraved glass cloche on plinth, 1125mm x 350mm x 350mm
Threatened, Rare - Extant, 2018, engraved glass cloche on plinth, 1125mm x 350mm x 350mm
Threatened, Rare - Extant, detail, 2018, engraved glass cloche on plinth, 1125mm x 350mm x 350mm
Description:
The orchid Drakaea elastica is endemic to the Swan Coastal Plain between Gingin and Busselton. As with other plants in this region, Drakaea elastica is involved in a complex interspecies relationship between wasps for pollination and mycorrhizal fungi for seed germination and seedling development. The morphology and scent of the orchid is an aphrodisiac for the thynnine wasp Zaspilothynnus gilesi. As at 2018, the orchid has been declared critically endangered and is a threatened species. It is under threat of extinction from land clearing, degradation and fragmentation of habitat, edge effects, density of ground level vegetation, grazing, inappropriate disturbance, construction and maintenance work, rubbish dumping, weed invasion, disease, inappropriate fire regimes, poor recruitment and salinity. This artwork commemorates this fragile orchid and the many other species that have been and will be lost: "the grief associated with physical ecological losses (land, ecosystems and species), grief associated with disruptions to environmental knowledge and loss of identity, and grief associated with anticipated future ecological losses."1 It recognises the ambivalence, importance and futility of conservation efforts in the face of overwhelming local and global economic pressures and human-induced environmental devastation. It honours our shared grief and loss, threatened, rare - extant.
1 Cunsolo & Ellis. 2018. "Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss." Nature Climate Change 8: 275-281.
The orchid Drakaea elastica is endemic to the Swan Coastal Plain between Gingin and Busselton. As with other plants in this region, Drakaea elastica is involved in a complex interspecies relationship between wasps for pollination and mycorrhizal fungi for seed germination and seedling development. The morphology and scent of the orchid is an aphrodisiac for the thynnine wasp Zaspilothynnus gilesi. As at 2018, the orchid has been declared critically endangered and is a threatened species. It is under threat of extinction from land clearing, degradation and fragmentation of habitat, edge effects, density of ground level vegetation, grazing, inappropriate disturbance, construction and maintenance work, rubbish dumping, weed invasion, disease, inappropriate fire regimes, poor recruitment and salinity. This artwork commemorates this fragile orchid and the many other species that have been and will be lost: "the grief associated with physical ecological losses (land, ecosystems and species), grief associated with disruptions to environmental knowledge and loss of identity, and grief associated with anticipated future ecological losses."1 It recognises the ambivalence, importance and futility of conservation efforts in the face of overwhelming local and global economic pressures and human-induced environmental devastation. It honours our shared grief and loss, threatened, rare - extant.
1 Cunsolo & Ellis. 2018. "Ecological grief as a mental health response to climate change-related loss." Nature Climate Change 8: 275-281.
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