Naturalist and writer Sarah Lloyd OAM says that discovering and exploring slime moulds in Tasmania is no longer a hobby of hers, it's become her whole life.
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Mrs Lloyd held a talk at the QVMAG on Sunday, fittingly titled "My Life in Slime", held by The Royal Society of Tasmania.
"My talk was based around what I've been finding and also the life cycle of slime mould and how they are now classified," she said.
"They have been through a few different kingdoms. They had been in the plant kingdom, they've been in the fungi kingdom, and the animal kingdom, and now they are considered to be amoeba."
Slime moulds are described as a fungus-like organism and are most abundant in temperate forests, but can occur in many different regions of the world where there is a large amount of organic material.
Their name refers to a stage in their life cycle in which they can appear as jelly-like slime. They can be single cells or form multi-cell organisms and feed off microorganisms that live in dead plant material, contributing to the decomposition of dead vegetation on the forest floor.
Mrs Lloyd's first natural fascination was birds and she took part in the Australian Bird Count, which is a nationwide project conducted by the organisation now known as Birdlife Australia.
Moving to a wet eucalyptus forest at Black Sugarloaf near Birralee started her fascination towards slime moulds, which she calls "biological jewels of nature" with some varieties of slime moulds being iridescent much like precious gemstones.
"Birds have always captured my imagination and since I could first say the word I wanted to be an ornithologist. The Australian Bird Count was a chance for me to hone my skills and Black Sugarloaf was the perfect place to do it," Mrs Lloyd said.
"Most of the large trees and under-storey shrubbery in the immediate vicinity of our settlement had been either removed or damaged by the logging, but the speed of the regeneration was remarkable," she said.
"Before my study began there were about 42 species known in Tasmania, I've identified 120 species just at our place just being outside all the time, studying and collecting. If I can't figure out what they are I contact other people and we work together to identify the moulds.
"Ten years later I have amassed over 2000 collections representing about 120 species and sent 600 collections to the National Herbarium of Victoria."
Mrs Lloyd also loves photography and spends as much time photographing slime moulds as she does studying them, with many of the colourful images being used in her talks.
In 2018 Mrs Lloyd was awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, for her contribution to the understanding of Australian natural history. She then received an Order of Australia Medal in 2020 for her services to conservation and the environment.
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