The first formal Australian institution of phytolith research: CSIRO – the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (1948-1969)
The first Australian publication on plant silica particles arrived in 1903 (Chapman & Grayson), after which early phytolith research efforts took place in the niches of biological and earth sciences (Turnbull et al. 2023). The first formal institution to pioneer Australian phytolith research was the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), which has locations across Australia, with headquarters based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. CSIRO is an Australia’s national government agency responsible for scientific research and technological innovation, and its commercial and industrial applications. Formal plant silica and phytolith research in Australia began with studies into the occurrence of silica in the Australian timbers based within the CSIRO Division of Forestry Products. Much of this work was led by G. L. Amos (1951; 1952) and collaborators (Amos & Dadswell 1948; 1949a; 1949b; Amos & Tack 1952). Amos (1952) led some of the earliest global studies into the occurrence of the Spheroid phytolith morphotype in woody taxa, which was also a first for native Australian taxa.
Meanwhile, within the Australian earth sciences, many researchers conflated various types of micro-particles, leading to the widespread misidentification of phytoliths as sponge spicules. This error persisted for at least 25 years in various publications (e.g. Leeper et al. 1936; Nicholls 1939; Brewer 1955, 1956; Leeper 1955), until corrected by the Australian earth scientist: George Baker. Baker was introduced to phytoliths by Frank Smithson during a visit to the University College of Wales. Smithson had become familiar with phytoliths through research produced by Russian soil scientists such as Oosov (1943). This meeting between Baker and Smithson helped bridged much of the initial isolation between Australasian and international phytolith researchers (Turnbull et al. 2023).
The father of Australian phytolith sciences: George Baker (1908–1975). Image reproduced with permissions from the Mineralogical Society of America (originally in Gill & Segnit, 1976)
After correcting this misidentification, Baker ushered in a foundational phase of Australian phytolith research that began in 1958 (Baker & Leeper 1958). For this reason, Baker is often affectionately referred to as ‘the father of Australian phytolith sciences’ (Wallis & Hart 2003). Baker established the first formal Australian phytolith research group within the CSIRO Mineragraphic Investigations Department, which coincided with new scientific efforts by CSIRO after the Second World War to better understand Australia’s arid zone (Friedel & Morton 2023). Consequently, much of the phytolith research from the CSIRO group focused on applications for arid Australia, while also beginning to engage with applications for island Southeast Asia (Baker 1961).
A key member of the CSIRO Mineragraphic phytolith research group was Angela A. Milne, an honorary CSIRO research associate and frequent collaborator of Baker (e.g. Jones & Milne 1963; Jones et al. 1963; 1966). Outside the Mineragraphic Department, Baker and Milne worked closely with plant scientists in the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry, such as L.H.P. Jones (e.g. Baker et al. 1959; 1961), who was later based at various United Kingdom institutes (e.g. Grassland Research Institute; University of Reading). Likewise, Jones often collaborated with horticultural researchers such as Kevin A. Handreck (e.g. Jones & Handreck 1965a; Handreck & Jones 1967, 1968) who was based in the CSIRO Division of Soils. The CSIRO Mineragraphic phytolith group also worked closely with Geoffrey Winthrop Leeper (e.g. Baker & Leeper 1958), an Australian organic chemist interested in agricultural and soil sciences based at the University of Melbourne.
The interdisciplinary CSIRO phytolith research group therefore focused on mineralogical, chemical, and agricultural research efforts (Turnbull et al. 2023). While not always explicitly focused on the deep past, these research efforts were often aligned with archaeological, geological, and palaeoecological applications. For example, Baker (1959b) was one of the first internationally to analyse the phytoliths present in modern surface sediment samples in order to understand the correlation between vegetation dynamics and the phytoliths deposited into soils and sediments. This work formed the foundation of the comparative analogue method (Piperno 2006; Wen et al. 2018), where phytolith assemblages from modern surface sediments are analysed and compared to phytolith assemblages from archaeological and palaeoenvironmental contexts. Baker also classified phytolith morphotypes in plant cell linings and walls and developed phytolith nomenclature, particularly for Eurasian species introduced to Australia (Baker & Leeper 1958; Baker 1959a; 1959b; 1959c; 1960a; 1960b; 1960c; 1961).
One of the most significant collective contributions of the CSIRO phytolith group was identifying how sheep ingest phytoliths, embed phytoliths into their teeth, and excrete phytoliths into soils (Baker et al. 1959, 1961; Jones & Handreck 1965b), as well as investigating the specific silica uptake patterns of Avena sterilis (oat) and its unique morphotypes (Baker 1960c; Jones & Milne 1963; Jones et al. 1963; Jones & Handreck 1965a; Handreck & Jones 1967; 1968). Based on dates derived from the first and last phytolith publications produced by CSIRO affiliated researchers (Baker & Leeper 1958; Jones & Handreck 1969), this research lasted eleven years. The passing of Baker coincided with the end of phytolith research at CSIRO (Gill & Segnit 1976) and a subsequent ~five-year hiatus in Australian phytolith research publications (Turnbull et al. 2023; Wallis & Hart 2003).
I hope to produce future blog posts that will continue to tell the story of Australian phytolith research groups and laboratories following this hiatus. This blog post was written on unceded Yuin, Dharawal, and Eora Land. Please refer to our paper for a full history of Australian phytolith research:
Turnbull M, Parker AG & Jankowski NR (2023). The history of phytolith research in Australasian archaeology and palaeoecology. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 32, 655–677 doi:10.1007/s00334-023-00922-4
Author information:
Molly Turnbull
IPS Student Envoy for Aus/NZ (ANZ)
PhD Candidate, Environmental Futures, Faculty of Science, Health and Medicine, University of Wollongong
Research Assistant, School of Archaeology & Anthropology, College of Arts & Social Sciences, The Australian National University
Bio: Molly is interested in using silica content in plants, phytoliths and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) to investigate changing vegetation and human-plant dynamics throughout time. So far, Molly’s research has focused on semi-arid localities such as Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area in southeastern Australia (current PhD project) and Kaman-Kalehöyük in Central Anatolia, Türkiye (honours thesis; completed).
Other references
Amos GL & Dadswell HE (1948). The growth characteristics of Eucalyptus gigantea hook.f. CSIRO Division of Forest Products. South Melbourne
Amos GL & Dadswell HE (1949a). The occurrence of siliceous inclusions in timbers. CSIRO Division of Forest Products. South Melbourne
Amos GL & Dadswell HE (1949b). The Relationship Between Fibre Dimensions and Growth in Eucalyptus Gigantea Hook f. CSIRO Division of Forest Products. South Melbourne
Amos GL & Tack GW (1952). Impregnation of timber with silica. CSIRO Division of Forest Products. South Melbourne
Amos GL (1951). The use of ash characteristics as a means of identifying some timbers of the Myrtaceae. CSIRO Division of Forest Products. South Melbourne
Amos GL (1952). Silica in timbers. CSIRO Division of Forest Products. South Melbourne
Baker G & Leeper GW (1958). Phytoliths in Victorian soils. Australian Journal of Science, 21(84)
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Baker G (1959b). A contrast in the opal phytolith assemblages of two Victorian soils. Australian Journal of Botany, 7, 88-96. doi:10.1071/bt9590088
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Jones LHP & Handreck KA (1965a). Studies of silica in the oat plant, Vol 3: Uptake of silica from soils by the plant. Plant Soil, 13, 79–96. doi:10.1007/BF013 49120
Jones LHP & Handreck KA (1965b). The relation between the silica content of the diet and the excretion of silica by sheep. J Agric Sci, 65, 129–134. doi:10.1017/S0021859600085439
Jones LHP & Milne AA (1963). Studies of silica in the oat plant, Vol 1: Chemical and physical properties of the silica. Plant Soil, 18(2), 207–220. doi:10.1007/bf01347875
Jones LHP, Milne AA & Sanders JV (1966). Tabashir: an opal of plant origin. Science, 151(3709), 464–466. doi:10.1126/science.151.3709.464
Jones LHP, Milne AA & Wadham SM (1963). Studies of silica in the oat plant, Vol 2: Distribution of the silica in the plant. Plant Soil, 18, 358–371.
Leeper GW (1955). Diatom skeletons and sponge spicules in soils. Australian Journal of Science, 18, 59–60
Leeper GW, Nicholls A & Wadham SM (1936). Soil and pasture studies in the Mt Gellibrand area, western district of Victoria. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 49, 77–138
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Oosov NI (1943). Pedology. Acad Sci USSR, 30, 9–10
Piperno DR (2006). Phytoliths: A Comprehensive Guide for Archaeologists and Palaeoecologists. AltaMira Press
Wallis LA & Hart DM (2003). The history of phytolith researchers in Australia. In D. M. Hart & L. A. Wallis (Eds.), Phytoliths and starch research in the Australian-Pacific-Asian regions: the state of the art (pp. 1–17). Terra Australis 19, Pandanus Books
Wen C, Lu H, Zuo X & Ge Y (2018). Advance of research on modern soil phytolith. Sci China Earth Sci, 61, 1169–1182. doi:10.1007/s11430-017-9220-8
Nice paper! Thanks Molly!
Doris