Introducing 'Conservation and Management of Buttongrass Moorland'

Buttongrass moorlands were the focus of a workshop held in Hobart in July 2007, and several presentations are included in this issue.The taxon that most characterises Buttongrass moorland 1s the tussock sedge Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus (Buttongrass).The genus Gymnoschoenus 1s endemic to Australia and has only two species, Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus and G. anceps.The first species has its greatest abundance in Tasmania, but is distributed widely in nutrient-poor, cool temperate, wet and poorly drained sites along the coastal and upland regions of eastern Australia as far north as southern Queensland.It also has a very restricted distribution in the southeast of South Australia, where it is listed as endangered.The other species, G. anceps, 1s restricted to the southwest coastal region of West Australia, where it also occurs in Swamps and seasonally wet flats.