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Lord Howe Island

Lord Howe Island (formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies 600 km directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, 780 km northeast of Sydney, and about 900 km southwest of Norfolk Island. It is about 10 km long and between 0.3 and 2.0 km wide with an area of 14.55 km2, though just 3.98 km2 of that comprise the low-lying developed part of the island.

Along the west coast is a sandy semi-enclosed sheltered coral reef lagoon. Most of the population lives in the north, while the south is dominated by forested hills rising to the highest point on the island, Mount Gower (875 m). The Lord Howe Island Group comprises 28 islands, islets, and rocks. Apart from Lord Howe Island itself, the most notable of these is the volcanic and uninhabited Ball's Pyramid about 23 km to the southeast of Howe. To the north lies a cluster of seven small uninhabited islands called the Admiralty Group.

The first reported sighting by Europeans of Lord Howe Island took place on 17 February 1788, when Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, commander of the Armed Tender HMS Supply, was en route from Botany Bay to found a penal settlement on Norfolk Island. On the return journey, Ball sent a party ashore on Lord Howe Island to claim it as a British possession. It subsequently became a provisioning port for the whaling industry, and was permanently settled in June 1834. When whaling declined, the 1880s saw the beginning of the worldwide export of the endemic kentia palms, which remains a key component of the island's economy. The other continuing industry, tourism, began after World War II ended in 1945.

The Lord Howe Island Group is part of the state of New South Wales and is regarded legally as an unincorporated area administered by the Lord Howe Island Board, which reports to the New South Wales Minister for Environment and Heritage. The island's standard time zone is UTC+10:30, or UTC+11 when daylight saving time applies. The currency is the Australian dollar. Commuter airlines provide flights to Sydney, Brisbane, and Port Macquarie.

UNESCO records the Lord Howe Island Group as a World Heritage Site of global natural significance. Most of the island is virtually untouched forest, with many of the plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. Other natural attractions include the diversity of the landscapes, the variety of upper mantle and oceanic basalts, the world's southernmost barrier coral reef, nesting seabirds, and the rich historical and cultural heritage. The Lord Howe Island Act 1981 established a "Permanent Park Preserve" (covering about 70% of the island). The island was added to the Australian National Heritage List on 21 May 2007 and the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. The surrounding waters are a protected region designated the Lord Howe Island Marine Park.

Bioregion
Lord Howe Island is part of the IBRA region Pacific Subtropical Islands (code PSI) and is subregion PSI01 with an area of 1909 ha. In the WWF ecoregion system, Lord Howe Island constitutes the entirety of the 'Lord Howe Island subtropical forests' ecoregion (WWF ID#AA0109). This ecoregion is in the Australasian realm, and the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome. The WWF ecoregion has an area of 14 km2 (5½ sq. mi.)

Prehistory
Before European discovery and settlement, Lord Howe Island apparently was uninhabited, and unknown to Polynesian peoples of the South Pacific. No evidence to suggest prehistoric human activity has ever been found on Lord Howe Island, even after an extensive archaeological investigation in 1996. In Australian Archaeology Atholl Anderson concluded in 2003 that, "the case for no pre-European settlement on Lord Howe Island is now more compelling than before" and that "the absence of pre-European settlement on Lord Howe Island is not easily explained. At 16 km2 (6¼ sq. mi.) it is twice the size of Pitcairn Island and half the size of Norfolk Island, two other remote subtropical islands that were inhabited prehistorically, and it had a biota very similar to that of Norfolk Island."

1788–1834: First European visits
The first reported sighting of Lord Howe Island was on 17 February 1788 by Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, commander of the Armed Tender HMS Supply (1759) (the oldest and smallest of the First Fleet ships), which was on its way from Botany Bay with a cargo of nine male and six female convicts to found a penal settlement on Norfolk Island. On the return journey of 13 March 1788, Ball observed Ball's Pyramid and sent a party ashore on Lord Howe Island to claim it as a British possession. Numerous turtles and tame birds were captured and returned to Sydney. Ball named Mount Lidgbird and Ball's Pyramid after himself and the main island after Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, who was First Lord of the Admiralty at the time.

Many names on the island date from this time, and also from May of the same year, when four ships of the First Fleet, HMS Supply (1759), Charlotte, Lady Penrhyn and  Scarborough, visited it. Much of the plant and animal life was first recorded in the journals and diaries of visitors such as David Blackburn, Master of Supply, and Arthur Bowes Smyth, surgeon of the Lady Penrhyn.

Smyth was in Sydney when the Supply returned from the first voyage to Norfolk Island. His journal entry for 19 March 1788 noted that "the Supply, in her return, landed at the island she [discovered] in going out, and all were very agreeably surprised to find great numbers of a fine turtle on the beach and, on the land amongst the trees, great numbers of fowls very like a guinea hen, and another species of fowl not unlike the landrail in England, and all so perfectly tame that you could frequently take hold of them with your hands but could, at all times, knock down as many as you thought proper, with a short stick. Inside the reef also there were fish innumerable, which were so easily taken with a hook and line as to be able to catch a boat full in a short time. She brought thirteen large turtles to Port Jackson and many were distributed among the camp and fleet."

Watercolour sketches of native birds including the Lord Howe woodhen (Gallirallus sylvestris), white gallinule (Porphyrio albus), and Lord Howe pigeon (Columba vitiensis godmanae) were made by artists including George Raper and John Hunter. As the latter two birds were soon hunted to extinction, these paintings are their only remaining pictorial record. Over the next three years, the Supply returned to the island several times in search of turtles, and the island was also visited by ships of the Second and Third Fleets. Between 1789 and 1791, the Pacific whale industry was born with British and American whaling ships chasing sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) along the equator to the Gilbert and Ellice archipelago, then south into Australian and New Zealand waters. The American fleet numbered 675 ships and Lord Howe was located in a region known as the Middle Ground noted for sperm whales and southern right whales (Eubalaena australis).

The island was subsequently visited by many governments and whaling ships sailing between New South Wales and Norfolk Island and across the Pacific, including many from the American whaling fleet, so its reputation as a provisioning port preceded settlement, with some ships leaving goats and pigs on the island as food for future visitors. Between July and October 1791, the Third Fleet ships arrived at Sydney and within days, the deck work was being reconstructed for a future in the lucrative whaling industry. Whale oil was to become Australia's most profitable export until the 1830s, and the whaling industry shaped Lord Howe Island's early history.

1834–1841: Settlement
Permanent settlement on Lord Howe was established in June 1834, when the British whaling barque Caroline, sailing from New Zealand and commanded by Captain John Blinkenthorpe, landed at what is now known as Blinky Beach. They left three men, George Ashdown, James Bishop, and Chapman, who was employed by a Sydney whaling firm to establish a supply station. The men were initially to provide meat by fishing and by raising pigs and goats from feral stock. They landed with (or acquired from a visiting ship) their Māori wives and two Māori boys. Huts were built in an area now known as Old Settlement, which had a supply of fresh water, and a garden was established west of Blinky Beach.

This was a cashless society; the settlers bartered their stores of water, wood, vegetables, meat, fish, and bird feathers for clothes, tea, sugar, tools, tobacco, and other commodities not available on the island, but it was the whalers' valuation that had to be accepted. These first settlers eventually left the island when they were bought out for £350 in September 1841 by businessmen Owen Poole and Richard Dawson (later joined by John Foulis), whose employees and others then settled on the island.

1842–1860: Trading provisions
The new business was advertised and ships trading between Sydney and the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) would also be put into the island. Rover's Bride, a small cutter, became the first regular trading vessel. Between 1839 and 1859, five to 12 ships made landfall each year, occasionally closer to 20, with seven or eight at a time laying off the reef. In 1842 and 1844, the first children were born on the island. Then in 1847, Poole, Dawson, and Foulis, bitter at failing to obtain a land lease from the New South Wales government, abandoned the settlement although three of their employees remained. One family, the Andrews, after finding some onions on the beach in 1848, cultivated them as the "Lord Howe red onion", which was popular in the Southern Hemisphere for about 30 years until the crop was attacked by smut disease. In 1849, just 11 people were living on the island, but soon the island farms expanded. In the 1850s, gold was discovered on mainland Australia, where crews would abandon their ships, preferring to dig for gold than risk their lives at sea. As a consequence, many vessels avoided the mainland and Lord Howe Island experienced an increasing trade, which peaked between 1855 and 1857. In 1851, about 16 people were living on the island. Vegetable crops now included potatoes, carrots, maize, pumpkin, taro, watermelon, and even grapes, passionfruit, and coffee. Between 1851 and 1853, several aborted proposals were made by the NSW government to establish a penal settlement on the island.

From 1851 to 1854, Henry Denham captain of HMS Herald, which was on a scientific expedition to the southwest Pacific (1852–1856), completed the island's first hydrographic survey. On board were three Scottish biologists, William Milne (a gardener-botanist from the Edinburgh Botanic Garden), John MacGillivray (naturalist) who collected fish and plant specimens, and assistant surgeon and zoologist Denis Macdonald. Together, these men established much basic information on the island's geology, flora, and fauna.

Around 1853, a further three settlers arrived on the American whaling barque Belle, captained by Ichabod Handy. George Campbell (who died in 1856) and Jack Brian (who left the island in 1854) arrived, and the third, Nathan Thompson, brought three women (called Botanga, Bogoroo, and a girl named Bogue) from the Gilbert Islands. When his first wife Botanga died, he then married Bogue. Thompson was the first resident to build a substantial house in the 1860s from mainland cedar washed up on the beach. Most of the residents with island ancestors have blood relations or are connected by marriage to Thompson and his second wife Bogue.

In 1855, the island was officially designated as part of New South Wales by the Constitution Act.

1861–1890: Scientific expeditions
From the early 1860s, whaling declined rapidly with the increasing use of petroleum, the onset of the California Gold Rush, and the American Civil War—with unfortunate consequences for the people of the island. To explore alternative means of income, Thompson, in 1867, purchased the Sylph, which was the first local vessel to trade with Sydney (mainly pigs and onions). It anchored in deep water at what is now Sylph's Hole off Old Settlement Beach but was eventually tragically lost at sea in 1873, which added to the woes of the island at that time.

In 1869, the island was visited by magistrate P. Cloete aboard the Thetis investigating a possible murder. He was accompanied by Charles Moore, director of the Botanic Gardens in Sydney, and his assistant William Carron, who forwarded plant specimens to Ferdinand von Mueller at the botanic gardens in Melbourne, who by 1875, had catalogued and published 195 species. Also on the ship was William Fitzgerald, a surveyor, and Mr. Masters from the Australian Museum. Together, they surveyed the island with the findings published in 1870 when the population was listed as 35 people, their 13 houses built of split palm battens thatched on the roof and sides with palm leaves. Around this time, a downturn of trade began with the demise of the whaling industry, and sometimes six to 12 months passed without a vessel calling. The older families lost interest in market gardening with the provisions rotting in the storehouses.

From 1860 to 1872, 43 ships had collected provisions, but from 1873 to 1887, fewer than a dozen had done so. This prompted some activity from the mainland. In 1876, a government report on the island was submitted by surveyor William Fitzgerald based on a visit in the same year. He suggested that coffee be grown, but the kentia palm was already catching world attention. In 1878, the island was declared a forest reserve and Captain Richard Armstrong became the first resident government administrator. He encouraged schools, tree-planting, and the palm trade, dynamited the north passage to the lagoon, and built roads. He also managed to upset the residents, and parliamentarian Bowie Wilson was sent from the mainland in April 1882 to investigate the situation. With Wilson was a team of scientists who included H. Wilkinson from the Mines Department, W. Condor from the Survey Department, J. Duff from the Sydney Botanical Gardens, and A. Morton from the Australian Museum. J. Sharkey from the Government Printing Office took the earliest known photographs of the island and its residents. A full account of the island appeared in the report from this visit, which recommended that Armstrong be replaced. Meanwhile, the population had increased considerably and included 29 children; the report recommended that a schoolmaster be appointed. This study sealed a lasting relationship with three scientific organisations, the Australian Museum, Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens, and Kew Royal Botanic Gardens.

1890–1999
In 1883, the company Burns Philp started a regular shipping service and the number of tourists gradually increased. By 1932, with the regular tourist run of SS Morinda, tourism became the second-largest source of external income after palm sales to Europe. Morinda was replaced by SS Makambo in 1932, and she in turn by other vessels. The service continues into the present day with the fortnightly Island Trader service from Port Macquarie.

The palm trade began in the 1880s when the lowland kentia palm (Howea forsteriana) was first exported to Britain, Europe, and America, but the trade was only placed on a firm financial footing when the Lord Howe Island Kentia Palm Nursery was formed in 1906 (see below).

The first plane to appear on the island was in 1931, when Francis Chichester alighted on the lagoon in a de Havilland Gipsy Moth converted into a floatplane. It was damaged there in an overnight storm, but repaired with the assistance of islanders and then took off successfully nine weeks later for a flight to Sydney. After World War II, in 1947, tourists arrived on Catalina and then four-engined Sandringham flying boats of Ansett Flying Boat Services operating out of Rose Bay, Sydney, and landing on the lagoon, the journey taking about 3½ hours. When Lord Howe Island Airport was completed in 1974, the seaplanes were eventually replaced with QantasLink twin-engined turboprop Dash 8–200 aircraft.

21st century
In 2002, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Nottingham (D91) struck Wolf Rock, a reef at Lord Howe Island, and almost sank. In recent times, tourism has increased and the government of New South Wales has been increasingly involved with issues of conservation.

On 17 October 2011, the supply ship M/V Island Trader, carrying 20 tonnes of fuel, ran aground in the lagoon. The ship refloated at high tide with no loss of crew or cargo.

The 2016 film The Shallows starring Blake Lively was largely filmed on the island.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales, a public health order was issued on 22 March 2020 that declared Lord Howe Island a public risk area and directed restricted access. As of that date there were no known cases of COVID-19 on the Island.

One of the most contentious issues amongst islanders in the 21st century is what to do about the rodent situation. Rodents have only been on the island since the SS Makambo ran aground in 1918, and have wiped out several endemic bird species and were thought to have done the same to the Lord Howe Island stick insect. A plan in 2016 was made to drop 42 tonnes of rat bait across the island, but the community was heavily divided.

The island was due to be declared rodent-free in October 2021, two years after the last live rat was found, but a living male and pregnant female were discovered in April 2021. The eradication, contrary to many community reservations, has seen birds, insects, and plants flourish at levels not seen in decades.

Demographics
As at the 2016 census, the resident population was 382 people, and the number of tourists was not allowed to exceed 400. Early settlers were European and American whalers and many of their offspring have remained on the island for more than six generations. Residents now work in the kentia palm industry, tourism, retail, some fishing, and farming. In 1876 on Sundays, games and labour were suspended, but no religious services were held. Nowadays, the area known locally as Church Paddock has Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Adventist churches, the religious affiliations on the island being 30% Anglican, 22% no religion, 18% Catholic and 12% Seventh Day Adventist. The ratio of the sexes is roughly equal, with 47% of the population in the age group 25–54 and 92% holding Australian citizenship.

Governance and land tenure
Official control of Lord Howe Island lay initially with the British Crown until it passed to New South Wales in 1855, although, until at least 1876, the islanders lived in "a relatively harmonious and self-regulating community". In 1878, Richard Armstrong was appointed administrator when the NSW Parliament declared the island a forest reserve, but as a result of ill feeling, and an enquiry, he was eventually removed from office on 31 May 1882 (he returned later that year though to view the transit of Venus from present-day Transit Hill). After his removal, the island was administered by four successive magistrates until 1913, when a Sydney-based board was formed; in 1948, a resident superintendent was appointed. In 1913, the three-man Lord Howe Island Board of Control was established, mostly to regulate the palm seed industry, but also administering the affairs of the island from Sydney until the present Lord Howe Island Board was set up in 1954.

The Lord Howe Island Board is an NSW Statutory Authority established under the Lord Howe Island Act 1953, to administer the island as part of the state of New South Wales. It reports directly to the state's Minister for Environment and Heritage and is responsible for the island's care, control, and management. Its duties include the protection of World Heritage values; the control of development; the administration of Crown Land, including the island's protected area; provision of community services and infrastructure; and regulating sustainable tourism. In 1981, the Lord Howe Island Amendment Act gave islanders the administrative power of three members on a five-member board. The board also manages the Lord Howe Island kentia palm nursery, which together with tourism, provides the island's only source of external income. Under an amendment bill in 2004, the board now comprises seven members, four of whom are elected from the islander community, thus giving about 350 permanent residents a high level of autonomy. The remaining three members are appointed by the minister to represent the interests of business, tourism, and conservation. The full board meets on the island every three months, while the day-to-day affairs of the island are managed by the board's administration, with a permanent staff that had increased to 22 people by 1988.

Land tenure has been an issue since the first settlement, as island residents repeatedly requested freehold title or an absolute gift of cultivated land. Original settlers were squatters. The granting of a 100 acre lease to Richard Armstrong in 1878 drew complaints, and a few short-term leases ("permissive occupancies") were granted. In 1913, with the appointment of a board of control, permissive occupancies were revoked and the board itself given permissive occupancy of the island. Then the Lord Howe Island Act 1953 made all land the property of the Crown. Direct descendants of islanders with permissive occupancies in 1913 were granted perpetual leases on blocks up to 5 acre for residential purposes. Short-term special leases were granted for larger areas used for agriculture, so in 1955, 55 perpetual leases and 43 special leases were granted. The 1981 amendment to the act extended political and land rights to all residents of 10 years or more. An active debate exists concerning the proportion of residents with tenure and the degree of influence on the board of resident islanders about long-term planning for visitors, and issues relating to the environment, amenities, and global heritage.

New South Wales
As a dependency of the Colony of New South Wales, Lord Howe Island was not represented in parliament until the 1894 New South Wales colonial election following the passage of the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act, 1893. Since 1894, Lord Howe Island has been included in the following New South Wales Legislative Assembly districts:

As part of the redistribution of electoral districts for the 2023 state election, a proposal was received to move Lord Howe Island back into the electorate of Sydney. However, the NSW Electoral Commission eventually decided to retain the island within the electorate of Port Macquarie.

Commonwealth
Since 1901, Lord Howe Island has been included in the following Australian House of Representatives electoral divisions:

Kentia palm industry
The first exporter of palm seeds was Ned King, a mountain guide for the Fitzgerald surveys of 1869 and 1876, who sent seed to the Sydney Botanic Gardens. Overseas trade began in the 1880s, when one of the four palms endemic to the island, the kentia palm (Howea forsteriana), which grows naturally in the lowlands, was found to be ideally suited to the fashionable conservatories of the well-to-do in Britain, Europe, and the United States. The assistance of mainland magistrate, Frank Farnell, was needed to put the business on a sound commercial footing when in 1906, he became company director of the Lord Howe Island Kentia Palm Nursery, whose shareholders included 21 islanders and a Sydney-based seed company. However, the formation of the Lord Howe Island Board of Control was needed in 1913 to resolve outstanding issues.

The kentia palm (known locally as the thatch palm, as it was used to roof the houses of the early settlers) is popular worldwide as a decorative palm that grows well both outdoors (in sufficiently warm climates) and indoors; the mild climate of the island has led to the evolution of a palm that can tolerate low light, a dry atmosphere, and lowish temperatures — ideal for indoor conditions, particularly in higher-end venues such as hotel lobbies, galleries and large foyers where their high price (thanks to their relative rarity) is no disincentive to their use. Up until the 1980s, the palms were only sold as seed but from then onwards only as high-quality seedlings. The nursery received certification in 1997 for its high-quality management complying with the requirements of Australian Standard AS/NZS ISO 9002.

Seed is gathered from both natural forests and plantations, most collectors being descendants of the original settlers. The seed is then germinated in soilless media and sealed from the atmosphere to prevent contamination. After testing, seedlings are picked, washed (bare-rooted), sanitized, and certified, then packed and sealed into insulated containers for export. Nursery profits, in turn, are used in projects that enhance the island's ecosystems. The nursery plans to expand the business to include the curly palm (Howea belmoreana) and other native plants of special interest.

By the late 1980s, annual exports had begun to provide a revenue of over A$2 million, constituting the only major industry on the island apart from tourism.

Tourism
Lord Howe Island is known for its geology, birds, plants, and marine life. Popular tourist activities include scuba diving, birdwatching, snorkelling, surfing, kayaking, and fishing. To relieve pressure on the small island environment, only 400 tourists are permitted at any one time. The island is reached by plane from Sydney Airport or Brisbane Airport in less than two hours. The Permanent Park Preserve declared in 1981 has similar management guidelines to a national park.

Facilities
With fewer than 800 people on the island at any time, facilities are limited; they include a bakery, butcher, general store, liquor store, restaurants, post office, museum, and information centre, a police officer, a ranger, and an ATM at the bowling club. Stores are shipped to the island fortnightly by the Island Trader from Port Macquarie. The island has a small four-bed hospital and dispensary. A small botanic garden displays labelled local plants in its grounds. Diesel-generated power is 240 volts AC, complemented by 1.3 MW solar power and 3.7 MWh battery. No public transport or mobile phone coverage is available, but public telephones, fax facilities, and internet access are, as well as a local radio station and newsletter, The Signal.

Tourist accommodation ranges from luxury lodges to apartments and villa units. The currency is the Australian dollar, and there are two banks. No camping facilities are on the island and remote-area camping is not permitted. To protect the fragile environment of Ball's Pyramid (which carries the last remaining wild population of the endangered Lord Howe Island stick insect), recreational climbing there is prohibited. No pets are allowed without permission from the board. Islanders use tanked rainwater, supplemented by bore water for showers and washing clothes.

Activities
As distances to sites of interest are short, cycling is the main means of transport on the island. Tourist activities include golf (9-hole), lawn bowls, tennis, fishing (including deep-sea game fishing), yachting, windsurfing, kitesurfing, kayaking, and boat trips (including glass-bottom tours of the lagoon). Swimming, snorkelling, and scuba diving are also popular in the lagoon, as well as off Tenth of June Island, a small rocky outcrop in the Admiralty group where an underwater plateau drops 36 m to reveal extensive gorgonia and black corals growing on the vertical walls. Other diving sites are found off Ball's Pyramid, 26 km away, where trenches, caves, and volcanic drop-offs occur.

Bushwalking, natural history tours, talks, and guided walks take place along the many tracks, the most challenging being the eight-hour guided hike to the top of Mount Gower. The island has 11 beaches, and hand-feeding the 1 m kingfish (Seriola lalandi) and large wrasse at Ned's Beach is very popular. Walking tracks cover the island with difficulty graded from 1–5, they include—in the north: Transit Hill 2-hour return, 2 km; Clear Place, 1– to 2-hour return; Stevens Reserve; North Bay, 4-hour return, 4 km; Mount Eliza; Old Gulch, 20-minute return, 300 m; Malabar Hill and Kims Lookout, 3 or 5-hour return, 7 km and—in the south: Goat House Cave, 5-hour return, 6 km; Mount Gower, 8-hour return, 14 km; Rocky Run and Boat Harbour; Intermediate Hill, 45-minute return, 1 km; and Little Island, 40-minute return, 3 km. Recreational climbers must obtain permission from the Lord Howe Island Board.

Geography

Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the southwest Pacific Ocean. Lying in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, the island is 600 km east of mainland Port Macquarie, 702 km northeast of Sydney, and about 772 km from Norfolk Island to its northeast. The island is about 10 km long and between 0.3 and 2.0 km wide with an area of 14.55 km2. Along the west coast is a semienclosed, sheltered coral reef lagoon with white sand, the most accessible of the island's 11 beaches.

Both the north and south sections of the island are the high ground of the relatively untouched forest, in the south comprising two volcanic mountains, Mount Lidgbird (777 m) and Mount Gower which, rising to 875 m, is the highest point on the island. The two mountains are separated by the saddle at the head of Erskine Valley. In the north, where most of the population lives, high points are Malabar (209 m) and Mount Eliza (147 m). Between these two uplands is an area of cleared lowland with some farming, an airstrip, and housing.

The Lord Howe Island Group of islands comprises 28 islands, islets, and rocks. Apart from Lord Howe Island itself, the most notable of these is the pointed rocky islet Balls Pyramid, a 551 m eroded volcano about 23 km to the southeast, which is uninhabited by humans but bird-colonised. It contains the only known wild population of the Lord Howe Island stick insect, formerly thought to be extinct. To the north is the Admiralty Group, a cluster of seven small, uninhabited islands. Just off the east coast is 4.5 ha Mutton Bird Island, and in the lagoon is the 2.4 ha Blackburn (Rabbit) Island.

Geological origins
Lord Howe Island is the highly eroded remains of a 7-million-year-old shield volcano, the product of eruptions that lasted for about 500,000 years. It is one of a chain of islands that occur on the western rim of an undersea shelf, the Lord Howe Rise, which is 3000 km long and 300 km wide extending from New Zealand to the west of New Caledonia and consisting of continental rocks that separated from the Australian plate 60 to 80 million years ago to form a new crust in the deep Tasman Basin. The shelf is part of Zealandia, a microcontinent nearly half the size of Australia that gradually submerged after breaking away from the Gondwanan supercontinent. The Lord Howe Seamount Chain is defined by coral-capped guyots stretching to the north of the island for 1000 km and including the Middleton (220 km away) and Elizabeth (160 km away) reefs of the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Park Reserve. This chain of nine volcanic peaks was probably produced by the northward movement of the Australian Plate over a stationary hotspot, so the oldest guyots were the first formed and most northerly as the plate moved northward at a rate of 6 cm per year (see plate tectonics).

The Lord Howe Seamount Chain is parallel to the Tasmantid Seamount Chain. Because detailed compositional analysis elsewhere has suggested that as well as individual compositional maturation with time within an individual seamount chain, there may be underlying shared mantle plume sources in such parallel chains, this issue has been examined with samples from Lord Howe Island. These samples share certain compositional analysis similarities with the volcanics from Taupo Bank which would be consistent with a common or similar mantle plume source.

Basalts and calcarenite
Two periods of volcanic activity produced the major features of the island. The first about 6.9 million years (Mya) ago produced the northern and central hills, while the younger and highly eroded Mount Gower and Mount Lidgbird were produced about 6.3 Mya by successive basalt (an extrusive igneous rock) lava flows that once filled a large volcanic caldera (crater) and can now be seen as horizontal basalt strata on mountain cliffs (at Malabar and Mount Gower) occasionally interspersed with dikes (vertical lava intrusions). Geological pyroclastic remnants of a volcanic eruption can be seen on the 15 ha Roach Island (where the oldest rocks occur) and Boat Harbour as tuff (ash), breccia (with angular blocks), and agglomerate (rounded 'bombs'). Offshore on the Lord Howe Rise, water depths reach 2000 m falling to 4000 m to the west of the rise. From the dimensions of the rock on which the island stands, the island has been calculated to erode to 1/40th of its original size.

Rocks and land at the foot of these mountains is calcarenite, coral sand, blown inland during the Pleistocene between 130,000 and 20,000 years ago and cemented into stratified layers by water percolation. In this rock are fossils of bird bones and eggs, land and marine snails, and the extinct giant horned turtle (Meiolania platyceps) which is not closely related to any living kind of turtle. The crescent of the island protects a coral reef and lagoon; the barrier reef, at 31°30'S, is the most southerly in the world. Beach sands, rather than consisting of quartz grains derived from granite, as on the mainland, are made of fragments of shell, coral, and coralline algae, together with basalt grains, and basaltic minerals such as black diopside and green olivine. The lowland consists of alluvial soils.

The island continues to erode rapidly and is expected to be fully submerged within 200,000 years, taking an appearance akin to the Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs.

Climate
Lord Howe Island has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa under the Köppen climate classification).

In general, the summers are warm and humid with erratic rainfall, but occasionally heavy, while in winter it is very mild with rainfall more or less uniform. There is a gradual transition from summer to winter conditions and vice versa. Winds are frequent and salt-laden, being moderate easterlies in the summer and fresh to strong westerlies in the winter. July is the windiest month, and the winter months are subject to frequent gales and strong winds. The island has 67.8 clear days, annually.

Storms and occasional cyclones also affect the island. Rainfall records are maintained in the north, where rainfall is less than in the frequently cloud-shrouded mountains of the south. Wide variations in rainfall can occur from year to year. July and August are the coldest months with average minimum temperatures around 13 C and no frost. Average maximum temperatures range from 17 - 20 C in the winter to 24 - 27 C in the summer. The humidity averages in the 60–70% range year-round, becoming more noticeable on warmer summer days than in the cooler winter months.

The average temperature of the sea ranges from 20.0 C in July, August, and September to 25.3 C in March.

Plants
Lord Howe Island is a distinct terrestrial ecoregion known as the Lord Howe Island subtropical forests. It is part of the Australasian realm and shares many biotic affinities with Australia, New Guinea, and New Caledonia. In geological terms at 7 million years old, Lord Howe Island is relatively young and was never part of any continent, its flora and fauna colonising the island from across the sea, carried by the wind, water, or birds, possibly assisted at a geological time when other islands were exposed, enabling island hopping. Nevertheless, it has been sufficiently remote for long enough to evolve endemic species.

The high degree of endemism is emphasised by the presence of five endemic genera: Negria, Lordhowea, Howea, Lepidorrhachis, and Hedyscepe. Island plants are similar to those of Norfolk Island, the two islands sharing some endemic species, for example, the critically endangered species of creeping vine Calystegia affinis. The combined flora of these two islands is more closely related to that of New Zealand and New Caledonia than to that of Australia. Also, a small but clear link exists with the plants of Vanuatu. The closest mainland affinities are with the vegetation of subtropical southeastern Queensland. A link with Gondwanaland is indicated by the presence of endemic species such as the wedding lily (Dietes robinsoniana) whose only living relatives occur in South Africa.

The flora of the island is relatively untouched, with a large number of rare plants, 44% being endemic to the island. With a diversity of conditions ranging from valleys to ridges, plains, and misty mountain tops, habitat is available for a wide range of plant communities, which have been comprehensively analysed and mapped. Many of the island's unique plants grow on or around the mountain summits, where the height has allowed the development of a true cloud forest and many different microhabitats, from sea level to the summits. With the increased humidity brought by the clouds on Mount Gower and the other mountain tops, the range of endemic plants include mosses, ferns and flowering plants.

One of the best-known plant genera endemic to Lord Howe Island is Howea, an endemic genus of palms (Arecaceae) that are commonly known as kentia palms and are popular houseplants. Mosses include Spiridens muelleri. There are 57 species of ferns, of which 25 are endemic: they are most abundant in the moist environments of the southern island, especially the higher parts of Mount Gower, perhaps the most apparent being the four endemic tree ferns in the genus Cyathea that occur on the southern mountains. Hedyscepe and Lepidorrhachis are the other two palm genera that are also endemic to the island.

Since the rodent eradication program, researchers have observed an increase in the amount of growth and seeds, especially of the "larger, fleshy, fruited plants", previously eaten by rats. As the understorey grows thicker, this in turn will provide habitat for small animals such as snails and insects, which in turn provide food for the birds.

Communities and special plants
Plant communities have been classified into nine categories: lowland subtropical rainforest, submontane rainforest, cloud-forest and scrub, lowland swamp forest, mangrove scrub and seagrass, coastal scrub and cliff vegetation, inland scrub and herbland, offshore island vegetation, shoreline and beach vegetation, and disturbed vegetation. Several plants are immediately evident to the visitor. Banyan (Ficus macrophylla subsp. columnaris) is a remarkable tree with a buttressed trunk and pendulous aerial roots; it can be seen on the track to Clear Place and near Ned's Beach. Pandanus tree (Pandanus forsteri) has spectacular teepee-like prop roots and pineapple-like fruits that are orange-red when mature, the tough leaves being used for basketry. It occurs in damp areas such as creek beds, and fine specimens can be seen along the Boat Harbour track. Ten species of orchids are on the island, the most noticeable being the bush orchid (Dendrobium macropus subsp. howeanum) on lowland trees and rocks, bearing cream flowers from August to September. Other prominent flowering plants in the summer include, on the mountain slopes, the whiskery red flowers of mountain rose (Metrosideros nervulosa and Metrosideros sclerocarpa), the massed, small, yellow flowers of corokia (Corokia carpodetoides), orange, plump flowers of pumpkin tree (Negria rhabdothamnoides), and white spikes of Fitzgerald tree (Dracophyllum fitzgeraldii). The kava bush has large, aromatic, heart-shaped leaves. After heavy rain, the endemic glowing mushroom Mycena chlorophanos, and Omphalotus nidiformis, can be found in the palm forests.

The palms are the signature plants of the island as the kentia and curly palms especially dominate the landscape in many places, the kentia being of special economic importance. All four species are endemic to the island, often occurring in dense, pure stands, the one that has proved such a worldwide success as an indoor plant being the kentia or thatch palm (Howea forsteriana). This is a lowland palm with drooping leaflets and seed branches in 'hands' of three to five, while the curly palm (H. belmoreana), which occurs on slightly higher ground, has upwardly directed leaflets and solitary 'hands'. Natural hybrids between these species occur on the island and a mature specimen of one is growing in the island nursery. On the mountain sides higher than about 350 m, the big mountain palm (Hedyscepe canterburyana) occurs; it has large, golf ball-sized fruits, while the little mountain palm (Lepidorrhachis mooreana) has marble-sized fruits and is only found on the mountain summits.

Animals
No snakes nor poisonous or venomous animals or plants occur, and no dangerous daytime sharks are found off the beaches, although tiger sharks have been reported on the cliff side of the island.

Birds
A total of 202 different birds have been recorded on the island. Eighteen species of land birds breed on the island and many more migratory species occur on the island and its adjacent islets, many tame enough that humans can get quite close. The island has been identified by BirdLife International as an endemic bird area, and the Permanent Park Preserve as an important bird area because it supports the entire population of Lord Howe woodhens, most of the breeding population of providence petrels, over 1% of the world population of another five seabird species, and the whole populations of three endemic subspecies.

Fourteen species of seabirds breed on the island. Red-tailed tropicbirds can be seen in large numbers circling the Malabar cliffs, where they perform acrobatic courting rituals. Between August and May, thousands of flesh-footed and wedge-tailed shearwaters return to the island at dusk each day. From the Little Island Track between March and November, one of the world's rarest birds, the providence petrel, also performs courtship displays during winter breeding, and it is extremely tame. The island was its only breeding location for many years after the breeding colony on Norfolk Island was exterminated in the late 19th century, though a small population persists on the adjacent Phillip Island. The Kermadec petrel was discovered breeding on Mount Gower in 1914 by ornithologist Roy Bell while collecting specimens for Gregory Mathews and the black-winged petrel was only confirmed as a breeder in 1971; its numbers have increased following the elimination of feral cats from the island.

The flesh-footed shearwater, which breeds in large numbers on the main island in spring-autumn, once had its chicks harvested for food by the islanders. The wedge-tailed and little shearwaters breed on the main island and surrounding islets, though only a small number of the latter species can be found on the main island. Breeding white-bellied storm petrels was another discovery by Roy Bell. Masked boobies are the largest seabirds breeding on Lord Howe and can be seen nesting and gliding along the sea cliffs at Mutton Bird Point all year round. Sooty terns can be seen on the main island at Ned's and Middle Beaches, North Bay, and Blinkey Beach; the most numerous of the island's breeding seabirds, their eggs were formerly harvested for food. Common and black noddies build nests in trees and bushes, while white terns lay their single eggs precariously in a slight depression on a tree branch, and grey ternlets lay their eggs in cliff hollows.

Three endemic passerine subspecies are the Lord Howe golden whistler, Lord Howe silvereye, and Lord Howe currawong. The iconic endemic rail, the flightless Lord Howe woodhen, is the only surviving member of its genus; its ancestors could fly, but with no predators and plenty of food on the island, this ability was lost. This made it easy prey for islanders and feral animals, so by the 1970s, the population was less than 30 birds. From 1978 to 1984, feral animals were removed and birds were raised in captivity to be successfully reintroduced to the wild. The population is now relatively safe and stable.

Domestic Mallards have colonised Lord Howe Island from New Zealand. They have replaced the Pacific Black Duck through competition and introgressive hybridisation.

List of endemic birds

 * Lord Howe currawong, Strepera graculina crissalis (vulnerable, subspecies of pied currawong)
 * Lord Howe golden whistler, Pachycephala pectoralis contempta (least concern, subspecies of golden whistler)
 * Lord Howe silvereye, Zosterops lateralis tephropleurus (vulnerable, subspecies of silvereye)
 * Robust white-eye, Zosterops strenuus (extinct)
 * Lord Howe gerygone, Gerygone insularis (extinct)
 * Lord Howe fantail, Rhiphidura fuliginosa cervina (extinct, subspecies of NZ fantail)
 * Lord Howe starling, Aplonis fusca hulliana (extinct, subspecies of extinct Tasman starling)
 * Lord Howe thrush, Turdus poliocephalus vinitinctus (extinct, subspecies of Island thrush)
 * Lord Howe parakeet, Cyanoramphus subflavescens (extinct)
 * Lord Howe boobook, Ninox novaeseelandiae albaria (extinct)
 * Lord Howe woodhen, Gallirallus sylvestris (endangered)
 * Lord Howe swamphen, Porphyrio albus (extinct)
 * Lord Howe pigeon, Columba vitiensis godmanae (extinct)

Mammals, reptiles and amphibians
Only one native mammal remains on the islands, the large forest bat. The endemic Lord Howe long-eared bat is known only from a skull and is now presumed extinct, possibly the result of the introduction of ship rats.

Two terrestrial reptiles are native to the island group: the Lord Howe Island skink and the Lord Howe Island gecko. Both are rare on the main island, but more common on smaller islands offshore. The garden skink and the bleating tree frog have been accidentally introduced from the Australian mainland. During the Pleistocene the giant terrestrial horned turtle Meiolania platyceps was endemic to the island, but this is currently thought to have gone extinct before human occupation as a result of postglacial sea-level rise.

Invertebrates

The Lord Howe Island stick insect disappeared from the main island soon after the accidental introduction of rats when the SS Makambo ran aground near Ned's Beach on 15 June 1918. In 2001, a tiny population was discovered in a single Melaleuca howeana shrub on the slopes of Ball's Pyramid, has been successfully bred in captivity, and is nearing re-introduction to the main island. The Lord Howe stag beetle is a colourful endemic beetle seen during summers. Another endemic invertebrate, the Lord Howe flax snail (or Lord Howe Placostylus), has also been affected by the introduction of rats. Once common, the species is now endangered and a captive-breeding program is underway to save the snail from extinction. An endemic species that is likely to have become extinct due to human-introduced rats was the large rove beetle Hesperus gigas (Lea, 1929) comb. nov. (formerly Cafius gigas Lea, 1929) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae).

Marine life
Marine environments are near-pristine with a mixture of temperate, subtropical, and tropical species derived from cool-temperate ocean currents in the winter and the warm East Australian Current, which flows from the Great Barrier Reef, in summer. Of the 490 fish species recorded, 13 are endemic and 60% are tropical. The main angling fish are yellowtail kingfish and New Zealand bluefish, while game fish include marlin, tuna, and giant kingfish called "greenbacks". Over 80 species of corals occur in the reefs surrounding the islands. Australian underwater photographer Neville Coleman has photographed various nudibranchs at Lord Howe Island.

Various species of cetaceans inhabit or migrate through the waters in the vicinity, but very little about their biology in the area is known due to a lack of studies and sighting efforts caused by locational conditions. Bottlenose dolphins are the most commonly observed and are the only species confirmed to be seasonal or yearly residents, while some other dolphin species have also been observed. Humpback whales are the only large whales showing slow but steady recoveries as their numbers annually migrating past the island of Lord Howe are much smaller than those migrating along the Australian continent.

Historically, migratory whales such as blue, fin, and sei whales were very abundant in the island waters but were severely reduced in numbers to near-extinction by commercial and illegal hunts, including the mass illegal hunts by the Soviet Union and Japan in the 1960s to 1970s. Southern right and sperm whales were most severely hunted among these, hence the area was called the Middle Ground by whalers. These two were likely once seasonal residents around the island, where right whales prefer sheltered, very shallow bays, while sperm whales mainly inhabit deep waters.

Conservation
About 10% of Lord Howe Island's forests have been cleared for agriculture, and another 20% has been disturbed, mostly by domestic cattle and feral sheep, goats, and pigs. As a result, 70% of the island remains relatively untouched, with a variety of plants and animals, many of which are endemic, and some of which are rare or threatened. Two species of plants, nine terrestrial birds, one bat, and at least four invertebrates have become extinct since 1778. Endemism at the generic level includes the palms Howea, Hedyscepe and Lepidorrhachis, a woody daisy Lordhowea insularis, the tree Negria, the leech Quantenobdella howensis, three annelid worm genera (Paraplutellus, Pericryptodrilus and Eastoniella), an isopod shrimp Stigmops, a hemipteran bug Howeria, and a cricket Howeta.

The Lord Howe Island Board instigated an extensive biological and environmental survey (published in 1974), which has guided the island conservation program. In 1981, the Lord Howe Island Amendment Act proclaimed a "Permanent Park Preserve" over the north and south ends of the island. Administration of the preserve was outlined in a management plan for the sustainable development of the island prepared by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, which has a ranger stationed on the island. The island was cited under the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982.

Offshore environmental assets are protected by the Lord Howe Island Marine Park. This consists of a state marine park managed by the Marine Parks Authority of New South Wales in the waters out to three nautical miles around the island and including Ball's Pyramid. It also includes a Commonwealth Marine Park extending from 3 to 12 nautical miles out and managed by the federal Department of the Environment and Heritage. In total the Marine Park covers about 3005 sqkm.

Feral animals and plants
Pigs and goats were released on the island as potential food sources in the early 1800s; the goats destroyed shrubs and grasses used as nesting sites and the pigs ate eggs and chicks and disturbed the land by rooting for food. Several birds have become extinct on the island since the arrival of humans. The first round of extinctions included the Lord Howe swamphen or white gallinule, the white-throated pigeon, the red-crowned parakeet, and the Tasman booby, which were eliminated by visitors and settlers during the 19th century, either from overhunting for food or protection of crops. Black rats were released from provisioning whaling ships in the 1840s and mice from Norfolk Island in 1860. In 1918, the black rat was accidentally introduced with the shipwreck of the S.S. Makambo, which ran aground at Ned's Beach. This triggered a second wave of extinctions, including the vinous-tinted thrush, the robust white-eye, the Lord Howe starling, the Lord Howe fantail and the Lord Howe gerygone, as well as the destruction of the native phasmid and the decimation of palm fruits. Bounties were offered for rats and pig tails and 'ratting' became a popular pursuit. Subsequent poisoning programs have kept populations low. The Lord Howe boobook may have become extinct through predation by, or competition with, the Tasmanian masked owls, which were introduced in the 1920s in a failed attempt to control the rat population. Stray dogs are also a threat, as they could harm the native woodhen and other birds.

Invasive plants such as Crofton weed and Formosa lily occur in inaccessible areas and probably cannot be eradicated, but others are currently being managed. In 1995, the first action was taken to control the spread of introduced plants on the island, chiefly ground asparagus and bridal creeper, but also cherry guava, Madeira vine, Cotoneaster, Ochna, and Cestrum. This has been followed by weeding tours and the formation of the Friends of Lord Howe Island group in 2000. Programs have also been started to remove weeds from private properties and re-vegetate some formerly cultivated areas. An environmental unit was created by the board and it includes a flora management officer and a permanent weed officer. Weeds have been mapped and an eradication program is in place, supported by improved education and quarantine procedures.

Introduced species that harmed Lord Howe's native flora and fauna, namely feral pigs, cats, and goats, were eradicated by the early 2000s.

In July 2012, the Australian federal Environment Minister Tony Burke and the New South Wales Environment Minister Robyn Parker announced that the Australian and New South Wales governments would each contribute 50% of the estimated A$9 million cost of implementing a rodent eradication plan for the island, using the aerial deployment of poison baits. The plan was put to a local vote and is considered controversial. Around 230 woodhens were captured before the rodent eradication commenced in early 2019. Following the successful eradication of the rodents, all woodhens and currawongs were released across the island in late 2019 and early 2020.

A recovery program has restored the Lord Howe woodhen's numbers from only 20 in 1970 to about 200 in 2000, which is close to carrying capacity.

Climate change
According to an analysis by eminent Australian academic Tim Flannery, the ecosystem of Lord Howe Island is threatened by climate change and global warming, with the reefs at risk from rises in water temperature. The first international conference on global artificial photosynthesis as a climate-change solution occurred at Lord Howe Island in 2011, the papers being published by the Australian Journal of Chemistry.

Heritage listings
The Lord Howe Islands Group was inscribed on the World Heritage List for its unique landforms and biota, its diverse and largely intact ecosystems, its natural beauty, and its habitats for threatened species. It also has significant cultural heritage associations in the history of NSW.

Lord Howe Island and adjacent islets, Admiralty Islands, Mutton Bird Islands, Ball's Pyramid, and associated coral reefs and marine environs were added to the Australian National Heritage List on 21 May 2007, based on the World Heritage List.

Lord Howe Island was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

In September 2019 it was revealed that, in 2017, federal environment minister Josh Frydenberg overruled a recommendation from his department to install two wind turbines. The project, which would have substantially reduced the island's dependence on diesel-powered electricity generators, had been considered not to endanger the island's heritage status and was supported by the islanders.

Sport

 * Lord Howe Island Bowling Club
 * Lord Howe Island Golf Club

title: Lord Howe Island


text:
Lee wave

In meteorology, lee waves are atmospheric stationary waves. The most common form is mountain waves, which are atmospheric internal gravity waves. These were discovered in 1933 by two German glider pilots, Hans Deutschmann and Wolf Hirth, above the Giant Mountains. They are periodic changes of atmospheric pressure, temperature and orthometric height in a current of air caused by vertical displacement, for example orographic lift when the wind blows over a mountain or mountain range. They can also be caused by the surface wind blowing over an escarpment or plateau, or even by upper winds deflected over a thermal updraft or cloud street.

The vertical motion forces periodic changes in speed and direction of the air within this air current. They always occur in groups on the lee side of the terrain that triggers them. Sometimes, mountain waves can help to enhance precipitation amounts downwind of mountain ranges. Usually a turbulent vortex, with its axis of rotation parallel to the mountain range, is generated around the first trough; this is called a rotor. The strongest lee waves are produced when the lapse rate shows a stable layer above the obstruction, with an unstable layer above and below.

Strong winds (with wind gusts over 100 mph) can be created in the foothills of large mountain ranges by mountain waves. These strong winds can contribute to unexpected wildfire growth and spread (including the 2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires when sparks from a wildfire in the Smoky Mountains were blown into the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge areas).

Basic theory
Lee waves are a form of internal gravity waves produced when a stable, stratified flow is forced over an obstacle. This disturbance elevates air parcels above their level of neutral buoyancy. Buoyancy restoring forces therefore act to excite a vertical oscillation of the perturbed air parcels at the Brunt-Väisäla frequency, which for the atmosphere is:

$$N = \sqrt$$, where $$\theta_0(z)$$ is the vertical profile of potential temperature.

Oscillations tilted off the vertical axis at an angle of $$\phi$$ will occur at a lower frequency of $$N\cos{\phi}$$. These air parcel oscillations occur in concert, parallel to the wave fronts (lines of constant phase). These wave fronts represent extrema in the perturbed pressure field (i.e., lines of lowest and highest pressure), while the areas between wave fronts represent extrema in the perturbed buoyancy field (i.e., areas most rapidly gaining or losing buoyancy).

Energy is transmitted along the wave fronts (parallel to air parcel oscillations), which is the direction of the wave group velocity. In contrast, the phase propagation (or phase speed) of the waves points perpendicular to energy transmission (or group velocity).

Clouds

Both lee waves and the rotor may be indicated by specific wave cloud formations if there is sufficient moisture in the atmosphere, and sufficient vertical displacement to cool the air to the dew point. Waves may also form in dry air without cloud markers. Wave clouds do not move downwind as clouds usually do, but remain fixed in position relative to the obstruction that forms them.

 * Around the crest of the wave, adiabatic expansion cooling can form a cloud in shape of a lens (lenticularis). Multiple lenticular clouds can be stacked on top of each other if there are alternating layers of relatively dry and moist air aloft.
 * The rotor may generate cumulus or cumulus fractus in its upwelling portion, also known as a "roll cloud". The rotor cloud looks like a line of cumulus. It forms on the lee side and parallel to the ridge line.  Its base is near the height of the mountain peak, though the top can extend well above the peak and can merge with the lenticular clouds above. Rotor clouds have ragged leeward edges and are dangerously turbulent.
 * A foehn wall cloud may exist at the lee side of the mountains, however this is not a reliable indication of the presence of lee waves.
 * A pileus or cap cloud, similar to a lenticular cloud, may form above the mountain or cumulus cloud generating the wave.
 * Adiabatic compression heating in the trough of each wave oscillation may also evaporate cumulus or stratus clouds in the airmass, creating a "wave window" or "Foehn gap".

Aviation
Lee waves provide a possibility for gliders to gain altitude or fly long distances when soaring. World record wave flight performances for speed, distance or altitude have been made in the lee of the Sierra Nevada, Alps, Patagonic Andes, and Southern Alps mountain ranges. The Perlan Project is working to demonstrate the viability of climbing above the tropopause in an unpowered glider using lee waves, making the transition into stratospheric standing waves. They did this for the first time on August 30, 2006 in Argentina, climbing to an altitude of 15460 m. The Mountain Wave Project of the Organisation Scientifique et Technique du Vol à Voile focusses on analysis and classification of lee waves and associated rotors.

The conditions favoring strong lee waves suitable for soaring are:

 * A gradual increase in windspeed with altitude
 * Wind direction within 30° of perpendicular to the mountain ridgeline
 * Strong low-altitude winds in a stable atmosphere
 * Ridgetop winds of at least 20 knots

The rotor turbulence may be harmful for other small aircraft such as balloons, hang gliders and paragliders. It can even be a hazard for large aircraft; the phenomenon is believed responsible for many aviation accidents and incidents, including the in-flight breakup of BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707, near Mount Fuji, Japan in 1966, and the in-flight separation of an engine on an Evergreen International Airlines Boeing 747 cargo jet near Anchorage, Alaska in 1993.

The rising air of the wave, which allows gliders to climb to great heights, can also result in high-altitude upset in jet aircraft trying to maintain level cruising flight in lee waves. Rising, descending or turbulent air, in or above the lee waves, can cause overspeed, stall or loss of control.

Other varieties of atmospheric waves

There are a variety of distinctive types of waves which form under different atmospheric conditions.

 * Wind shear can also create waves. This occurs when an atmospheric inversion separates two layers with a marked difference in wind direction. If the wind encounters distortions in the inversion layer caused by thermals coming up from below, it will create significant shear waves in the lee of the distortions that can be used for soaring.

 * Hydraulic jump induced waves are a type of wave that forms when there exists a lower layer of air which is dense, yet thin relative to the size of the mountain. After flowing over the mountain, a type of shock wave forms at the trough of the flow, and a sharp vertical discontinuity called the hydraulic jump forms which can be several times higher than the mountain.  The hydraulic jump is similar to a rotor in that it is very turbulent, yet it is not as spatially localized as a rotor.  The hydraulic jump itself acts as an obstruction for the stable layer of air moving above it, thereby triggering wave.  Hydraulic jumps can be distinguished by their towering roll clouds, and have been observed on the Sierra Nevada range as well as mountain ranges in southern California.
 * Hydrostatic waves are vertically propagating waves which form over spatially large obstructions. In hydrostatic equilibrium, the pressure of a fluid can depend only on altitude, not on horizontal displacement.  Hydrostatic waves get their name from the fact that they approximately obey the laws of hydrostatics, i.e. pressure amplitudes vary primarily in the vertical direction instead of the horizontal.  Whereas conventional, non-hydrostatic waves are characterized by horizontal undulations of lift and sink, largely independent of altitude, hydrostatic waves are characterized by undulations of lift and sink at different altitudes over the same ground position.
 * Kelvin–Helmholtz instability can occur when velocity shear is present within a continuous fluid or when there is sufficient velocity difference across the interface between two fluids.
 * Rossby waves (or planetary waves) are large-scale motions in the atmosphere whose restoring force is the variation in Coriolis effect with latitude.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Lee wave


text:
Heinrich Wilhelm Schott

Heinrich Wilhelm Schott (7 January 1794 – 5 March 1865) was an Austrian botanist. He is known for his extensive work on aroids (Araceae).

Biography
Schott was born on 7 January 1794 in Brno, Moravia. He studied botany, agriculture and chemistry at the University of Vienna, where he was a pupil of Joseph Franz von Jacquin (1766–1839). He was a participant in the Austrian Brazil Expedition from 1817 to 1821. In 1828 he was appointed Hofgärtner (royal gardener) in Vienna, later serving as director of the Imperial Gardens at Schönbrunn Palace (1845). In 1852 he was in charge of transforming part of palace gardens in the fashion of an English garden. He also enriched the Viennese court gardens with his collections from Brazil. He was also interested in Alpine flora, and was responsible for development of the alpinum at Belvedere Palace in Vienna.

In 2008, botanists P.C.Boyce & S.Y.Wong published Schottarum, a genus of flowering plants from Borneo belonging to the family Araceae. Then they published Schottariella, a monotypic genus of flowering plants from Borneo belonging to the family Araceae, both genera were named in honour of Heinrich Wilhelm Schott.

Schott died on 5 March 1865 at Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, at the age of 71.

Publications

 * Meletemata botanica (with Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher), 1832
 * Rutaceae. Fragmenta botanica, 1834
 * Genera filicum, 1834–1836
 * Aroideae, 1853–1857
 * Analecta botanica (with Theodor Kotschy and Carl Fredrik Nyman), 1854
 * Synopsis Aroidearum, 1856
 * Icones Aroidearum, 1857
 * Genera Aroidearum Exposita, 1858
 * Prodromus Systematis Aroidearum, 1860

title: Heinrich Wilhelm Schott


text:
User talk:Hob/Archive1

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia. Here's some tips:
 * You can introduce yourself on the new users page.
 * You can sign your name using three tildes, like . If you use four, you can add a datestamp too.
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 * If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page.

Other useful pages are: how to edit, how to write a great article, naming conventions, manual of style and the Wikipedia policies.

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Angela. 21:32, Mar 16, 2004 (UTC)

Hi, Hob. Your contribution to Jakob Boehme is very clear and well-written. It is incredible you are an amateur writer. I would like you to add your references on this topic, if you don't mind. KIZU 10:29, 31 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Puritan hyperventilation
Thanks for the reassurance on the Puritans. I was daunted. I've decided to take them a bit at a time and research at leisure to make sure I hit the points properly. For a while, my edits are going to look shaggy, but it's kind of rotten (looking at the Discussion page) that it was originally a bash 'n trash entry. I'm a Swift/Pope/Dryden person, myself, so I haven't much fondness for the Puritans, but, well, they were kind of right, historically speaking, about a lot of things. If you're looking at the Puritan page in the next few days, it might look uneven, but it is under construction. Geogre 17:46, 29 Jun 2004 (UTC)

 * You're welcome and thanks! I'm pretty new at this, and it's easy for me to tell people to go write it themselves because, well, my own knowledge is awfully scattershot so I'm much better at editing than at providing the material.  It sure is a fascinating topic & I look forward to reading more. --Hob 03:36, 30 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Oops, Thanks for that, Hobs. I don't do this all that often, and It didn't even occur to me that I was adding a spoiler. I'll delete that part.

-LordSnow

Hob: please see the talk page for fleshlight -- deadbarnacle

David B.'s and other corrections
Thank you to have rewritten my article about David B.. Actually, I've never taken any material from the Dupuis website, but the other site I've done this (certainly encyclobd.com or bdtheque.com, which are free from copyright) certainly just copied the content of Dupuis and fooled me like this. Anyway, I'm still looking for an english speaking person who could correct my grammar & synthax in the articles I make. Could you check those please ?
 * Manu Larcenet
 * Juan Diaz Canales
 * Juanjo Guarnido
 * Luiz Eduardo De Olivera

Helldjinn 07:19, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Just wanted to take a minute to give you a pat on the back for the fine edit you did to the Zippy article. It is always a pleasure to me to see an edit done with care and consideration and with an encylopedic eye. Good job Jordan Langelier 06:46, 25 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Tran Can Ba
Can you check Requests for comment/Tran Van Ba? Cheers, Dunc_Harris|☺ 11:06, 12 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for developing the template Hob. Looks great.

--LordSnow 06:52, 13 Sep 2004 (UTC)

tran van ba
I have received a forward email from Tran Van Ba and will be looking over the discussion to see what was the issue of the articles that I submitted to him. I will go over the guidlines of Wikipedia and fix his submissions asap, Additionally thanks you for the concernJimmyvanthach

Tran Van Ba
I'm not the best person to ask about this as I haven't followed the dispute at all. If you link the RFC talk page on the village pump, I'm sure there are plenty of other admins who would want to comment on it. Angela. 13:28, Sep 13, 2004 (UTC)

Pictures
Mr. Hob, I am reading through the guidelines How do I make the corrections concerning the pictures for fair use that belong was given persmission from VCML for fair useJimmyvanthach

Thanks
I'd just like to say thanks for all the hard work you've been doing with regard to this (fake?) "Tran Van Ba". My understanding of the issue is limited (my focus on Vietnam is most related to the Provinces of Vietnam), but I'm glad someone is able (and willing) to deal with this properly. When this "Celindgren" appeared, I considered the possibility that the person was fictional, but never thought that maybe it was a real person being impersonated. (And would this "Jimmyvanthach" be the same person again, I wonder?) Again, really good work. -- Vardion 13:51, 13 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Heads up

 * Just as a "heads up", Tran Van Ba and Carl Lindgren have recently been doing a similar "double act" on the "alt.talk.royalty" group. (See here and here). Their claims were, I think, generally dismissed there. - Nunh-huh 23:04, 13 Sep 2004 (UTC)

finding on mediator
thank you for helping the situation, and I have cleared up instance of issue of jimmy van thach on the address you told me to goto I will goto pictures make additions that it is FAIR USE, I have question, I will goto Discussion page of each picture and notify that it is Fair Use and the address to the website were it can be confirmed at is correct, that is what I am getting from defining point of directions correctTran Van Ba 23:47, 13 Sep 2004 (UTC)

remove my name and email address
I understand you recieve confirmation from Dr.Lindgren but you never recieve confirmation to use my name and my email address. Please remove it at once. USER HOB E.B. thank you 00:38, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC) Jimmyvanthach 00:38, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC) ~

The Tran Van Ba saga continues
Asked Tim Starling to run a sockpuppet check, they're the same guy. -- Cyrius|✎ 05:11, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)

My mistake
What I meant to say was that I re-instated your edition HOB, and that I stated the reason why was the validation was given of third-party evidence to show that Prince Nguyen Phuc Buu Chanh is a "Prince" to 216.183.37.60  sorry for the mistake Jimmyvanthach 17:45, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Jimmyvanthach arbitration
I'll at least look at this tomorrow morning. Fred Bauder 17:35, Oct 21, 2004 (UTC)

work for ?
Hello, I do not recieve a pay check or work for anyone, I am a historian college graduate in history at saint johns university, and have studied Asian history. Also I attended law classes in China and studied comparative law. I am not and have never been employed by anyone that is or has connection with the Nguyen Dynasty. I am just a researcher that has contacted members that work for the Nguyen Dynasty and members of the Royal Family of Vietnam.

Concerning Tran Van Ba I had contacted him, and wanted to know more information about Emperor Bao Dai, who he worked for over 40 years, as the last Colonel-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard of Vietnam.

I had checked out the references, with Prince Nguyen Phuc Buu, the eldest member of the Vietnamese Royal Family, and have provided his contact information here, that is readily available if research is done concerning The link is: International Monarchist League Directory

VIETNAM

• Association de l'Imperiale Familie du Vietnam Arc-En-Ciel-Bellatrix, rue du Colonel Gassin, F-0600 Nice, France. Tel: +33 4 93851289 Contact: Prince Buu-Phuc

I have also researched the claim of a dispute, but have found no other member of the Nguyen Dynasty disputing Prince Buu Chanh role as Regent of the Imperial Nguyen Dynasty, and that Bao Long is the Crown Prince. Jimmyvanthach 22:54, 21 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Admin enforcement requested
Effective 6 November 2004

"Edits by User Jimmyvanthach, User Celindgrenand and User Tran Van Ba and obvious sockpuppets to articles which relate to the former royal family of Vietnam or to the recent history and politics of Vietnam may be removed by any user."

Thought you'd like to know if you didn't already. There's a bit more as well. Cross-spammed to User talk:Duncharris. -- Cyrius|✎ 03:29, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)

celindgren
I worked as a chancellor (i.e. working as a secretary for a nobleman) in the past. It was NOT my job to post 'advertisements' on the prince or to engage in arguments relating to the Family. Between April and September 2004, over 150 notices, comments and pages appeared on the Internet utilizing my name (which I did not approve). As I have stated to the Editor of this format I was never engaged in a dispute over the Prince, although my name was used constantly by "Jimmyvanthach" who is a young law student in New York. One can document this by identifying my IP address and Internet server which is located in Northern Mississippi. Also "Jimmyvanthach" I was informed was allowed to use the "signature" of Col. Tran Van Ba who later I believe started communicating with this forum directly. The Col, as I am informed was the Colonel in Chief to Emperor Bao Dai of Vietnam. This can be proven by any history book on Vietnamese culture. I am no longer engaged with any action relating to the political Vietnamese issue but I still teach a university graduate course on Vietnam (American Military University) and possess a doctorate in history and education from the University of South Africa (documents on request). As a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society (since 1982), the Royal Historical Society and a professor of history, it is my belief through research that the aforementioned individual (Buu Chanh) is indeed a royal (though far removed from the actual lineage). If this is not the fact, I would like to see any such documents proving otherwise. Other than from a purely historical viewpoint, I am not interested in the dispute.

 * ''(Copied the following to C.E. Lindgren at his publicly available E-mail; this is not the best way to have a discussion on Wikipedia!)

 * I'm assuming it was you, the real C.E. Lindgren, who recently posted these comments on my user page. However, addressing those comments to me isn't very useful.  Wikipedia is an open community.  I'm not some special person in charge of articles on Vietnam or royal families; my personal knowledge of those subjects is nil.  I entered the dispute only through my attempts to promote good-faith editing behavior in general.

 * If you want to contribute historical background to articles on Vietnam, Buu Chanh, or any other subject, here's what to do:

 * 1. Get a free Wikipedia account. You can still make edits or post comments without a login, but then no one will be able to tell whether they are all made by the same person and no one will be able to post comments to you.

 * Now, unfortunately, there was a "Celindgren" account on Wikipedia and it has now been banned. You've still never clarified to me whether it was ever really yours.  But if it was, then at some point it was hijacked by Jimmyvanthach or some similar person and used to make inappropriate edits; the IP address on those edits matched the one used by Jimmyvanthach and "Tran Van Ba".  I understand that you may be sensitive about the name "Celindgren" coming up in discussions of Jimmyvanthach's inappropriate behavior (which I'm guessing is why you tried to edit out some of those references on my talk page ), but please understand that those are simply references to the name of a Wikipedia account, not to you.

 * Anyway, you can still re-register with a new user name.

 * 2. If you want to correct facts on an article, just do so - and explain what you've done on the article's discussion page (not on mine!). Wikipedia is an open community; there is no need to get approval for edits, or to submit content for others to add, as long as you can justify what you do and be prepared for others to question it.  (Again, having a named Wikipedia account is essential, to show who's doing what and to allow for discussion.)  Now, on controversial subjects, justifying what you do must involve more than stating that it's your belief or challenging people to disprove it; otherwise others will be quite justified in removing your claims, as happened with Jimmyvanthach.  Citations of published material are obviously the best way to make Wikipedia a respectable source of information.

 * I also have absolutely no interest in prolonging any dispute, and I really don't want to serve as a contact person for you or Van Thach or anyone else on these matters. In future, if questions or complaints are addressed to me that could easily have been handled elsewhere on Wikipedia, I won't respond except to point you to a discussion or help page.

 * Best wishes  ←Hob 18:25, 2004 Nov 16 (UTC)

collaboration of the week
Hi- I've nominated American comic book for collaboration of the week. This if it is selected it will bring a many good contributors to work on the article. If you don't mind, please give your vote of support here (near the bottom of the page). Happy editing! ike9898 18:16, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)

Hi! I've gotten the impression that you're interested in articles related to comics and sequential art. I've just created a project called WikiProject on Comics in order to establish consensus on the organization and content of such articles, and I hope you'll join in. See the main project page and please leave comments on the Talk page. Thanks! -leigh (φθόγγος) 01:24, Dec 6, 2004 (UTC)

Article Licensing
Hi, I've started a drive to get users to multi-license all of their contributions that they've made to either (1) all U.S. state, county, and city articles or (2) all articles, using the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike (CC-by-sa) v1.0 and v2.0 Licenses or into the public domain if they prefer. The CC-by-sa license is a true free documentation license that is similar to Wikipedia's license, the GFDL, but it allows other projects, such as WikiTravel, to use our articles. Since you are among the top 1000 Wikipedians by edits, I was wondering if you would be willing to multi-license all of your contributions or at minimum those on the geographic articles. Over 90% of people asked have agreed. For More Information:
 * Multi-Licensing FAQ - Lots of questions answered
 * Multi-Licensing Guide
 * Free the Rambot Articles Project

To allow us to track those users who muli-license their contributions, many users copy and paste the " " template into their user page, but there are other options at Template messages/User namespace. The following examples could also copied and pasted into your user page:

 * Option 1
 * I agree to multi-license all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below:

OR
 * Option 2
 * I agree to multi-license all my contributions to any U.S. state, county, or city article as described below:

Or if you wanted to place your work into the public domain, you could replace " " with "  ". If you only prefer using the GFDL, I would like to know that too. Please let me know what you think at my talk page. It's important to know either way so no one keeps asking. -- Ram-Man (comment| talk)

title: User talk:Hob/Archive1


text:
Talk:Morphogenesis

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 1 September 2020 and 17 December 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Chocolatecalorimetry.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 04:28, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

This article needs some help
The first sentence in the article states that morphogenesis, differentiation and growth are the 3 essential aspects of development. Cell death and cell fate specification are not mentioned. Fate is not synonymous with differentiation. I am surprised to see the Bicoid gradient and A-P Drosophila polarity in this article. It is not an example of morphogenesis at all - this is an example of how different cell fates are specified based on position. All of the sections on the A-P/gradient/segmentation belong in an article on cell fate specification in a syncytium. Part of the confusion probably comes from the similarity of the words Morphogenesis (forming structure) and Morphogen (cell fate specifying molecule). The morphogenesis article should concentrate on cell migration, cell shape changes, structure formation, tube formation, cell aggregation, programmed cell death, tissue dispersion, cell adhesion, extracellular matrix... Dr d12 23:13, 30 September 2007 (UTC) == I cut the entire A-P patterning section and moved it into the "pattern formation" page. Dr d12 17:53, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

morphogenes
"Thes morphogenes (proteins that control morphogenesis) that determine the fate of cells are proteins that interact with DNA."

Can you provide a source that defines the use of the term "morphogene"?

I found this: "morphogenes (previously known as morphogenic genes)" but I'm not sure that "morphogenic genes" has a clear meaning either.

The term suggests "morphogenesis". There are many proteins besides DNA-binding proteins that control morphogenesis.

I assume that "the fate of cells" means their differentiation. Again, I agree that there are DNA binding proteins that "determine the fate of cells" but there are also other proteins that do not bind DNA and play roles in the control of differentiation. The control of morphogenesis by DNA-binding proteins is indirect: there must be other proteins that leave the nucleus and actually make things happen outside the nucleus.

Maybe it should be, "Many of the morphogenes (proteins that control morphogenesis) that determine the fate of cells are proteins that interact with DNA."

Morphogen

 * I think that this is a mis-understanding of the term "morphogen" (without the last E). I have never heard of a "morphogenE", and if anyone ever used that term it is bound to get confused with "morphogen" which is a common concept in developmental biology. As morphogenEs are defined here, they are a very broad category of genes. Morphogens are specific molecules. I think we should eliminate any reference to morphogenE and replace it with morphogen, which can be defined either as "a molecule that provides positional information to cells", or with a more strict definition of "a molecule that forms a concentration gradient within the developing organism, by which the local concentration provides positional information to cells." I'll have to do a little research to see which definition is accurate. AdamRetchless 18:08, 4 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * It appears that the more limited definition of morphogen is correct. According to Fly Move, "A morphogen is a diffusible signal produced in one part of the body, which can determine cell fates according to its local concentration." AdamRetchless

 * I feel much better about "morphogen". I vote that the morphogenesis page not even mention "morphogene". From the Gilbert textbook: "Cell fates may be specified by neighboring cells, but cell fates can also be specified by specific amounts of soluble molecules secreted at a distance from the target cells. Such a soluble molecule is called a morphogen, and a morphogen may specify more than one cell type by forming a concentration gradient." JWSchmidt 21:46, 4 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * Morphogens are secreted signaling molecules that organize a field of surrounding cells into patterns. They form a gradient of concentration emanating from a localized source, and determine the arrangement and fate of responding cells according to the different concentration of the morphogen perceived by the cells. The idea of a morphogen gradient is intimately associated with the concept of positional information. A cell is believed to read its position in a concentration gradient of an extracellular signal factor, and to determine its developmental fate accordingly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.18.14.24 (talk) 23:35, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

relation of morphogenesis to other parts of developmental biology
The developmental biology page gives a standard description of the parts of developmental biology, "...developmental biology studies the genetic control of cell growth, differentiation and morphogenesis."

It may be confusing for the reader to follow the link to "morphogenesis" and find this: "Morphogenesis.....describes the process of cellular differentiation, distribution and growth....which gives rise to tissues, organs and anatomy."

This is how the Gilbert text describes morphogenesis: "The question of morphogenesis. Our differentiated cells are not randomly distributed. Rather, they are organized into intricate tissues and organs. These organs are arranged in a given way: the fingers are always at the tips of our hands, never in the middle; the eyes are always in our heads, not in our toes or gut. This creation of ordered form is called morphogenesis. How can the cells form such ordered structures?" JWSchmidt 01:21, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC)

the morphogenesis of the species Drosophila melanogaster
There is no such thing as the morphogenesis of a species. What is actually described for Drosophila melanogaster is some of the key features of one basic developmental process, the establishment of the polarized body plan along the anterior-posterior axis.

I suspect that nobody is really concerned with the Morphogenesis page. It needs to be completely re-worked.

Suggested main sections:

 * The role of the nucleus in the control of morphogenesis (could incorporate existing Drosophila example).
 * Morphogenesis and Cell Adhesion.
 * Morphogenesis during embryogenesis compared to metamorphosis and regeneration.
 * A specific organ example: Limb morphogenesis (or heart). JWSchmidt 15:16, 30 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * This sounds good. I think there should be a section about axis-determination. I think this would be better than focusing on the role of the nucleus. This is what the Drosophila information is really about. AdamRetchless 18:00, 4 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * There could be a section on axis formation in mice or birds or frogs or fish.

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson
Shouldnt this D'Arcy Thompson's contribution to the topic not be mentioned ? Shyamal 10:25, 1 Apr 2004 (UTC)

 * From Gilbert's textbook: Mathematical Modeling of Development

embryology
would sympathtic editors consider a positive vote here? Slrubenstein  |  Talk 15:34, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Projective geometry
Why is there a link to Projective geometry in the article? Tbc2 12:36, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
 * at one time this was in the article: "More recently, Lawrence Edwards succeeded in applying the path curves of projective geometry to provide a rigorous mathematical description of biological forms such as eggs, buds and cones." --JWSchmidt 04:04, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Alan Turing
Three news reports saying that Alan Turing's theory of morphogenesis has been proven.    Anyone able to expand on that ? EdwardLane (talk) 13:06, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

I think to say it is proven is an exaggeration. The model is useful and helps in rational thought about morphogenesis but Turgins model is insufficient to explain all aspects of morphogenesis.Bjorklund21 (talk) 00:12, 23 September 2016 (UTC)

 * Turing's is certainly only one mechanism among many. What is striking is that it was predicted correctly so long before experimental evidence became available, and by a non-biologist. Chiswick Chap (talk) 06:43, 23 September 2016 (UTC)

Accurate referencing
After posting this comment, I will correct the citation for D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson's "On Growth and Form". The book cited is the abridged version, printed 2004, and first published 1961, and comprising some 349 pages, with an editor responsible for the abridgement. It is NOT the 1917 version. It is also not the unabridged version published by Dover in 1992, comprising 1116 pages.

The gold standard in referencing is that one cites sufficient information to be able track down the SPECIFIC publication being cited. One most certainly DOES NOT cite a given publication then reference a completely different version. For out of print, or reprinted publications of early books, this can get cumbersome, but this is in fact where the gold standard is most critical, and where dumbing things down is most unhelpful. Wotnow (talk) 13:40, 11 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Thank you Chiswick Chap, for your effort on the Thompson reference. You are right. The original publication date is a key point. I couldn't find the date in the publication details page of the preview, which is why I didn't mention it. I think it worth finding something to cite that gives us that date. I'll have a bit of a look and see what I can find, unless you or someone else finds something meantime. Cheers Wotnow (talk) 17:55, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

Morphogenesis, Morphogen, Morphogenetic field, Pattern formation: Expert needed
There are several articles which appear to form a cluster but with a) unclear relationships, and b) various states of undress - missing citations, over-technical explanations without decent introduction, and above all c) no proper co-ordination to give readers an overview either of the individual articles or of how to navigate among them.

I came to all this from Patterns in nature which touches on morphogenesis via its results. However the mechanisms are complicated and as yet poorly explained here in Wikipedia. We need a specialist to sort out the articles in this area. Chiswick Chap (talk) 10:54, 13 December 2012 (UTC)

Edit that I made
I removed the sentence about the "alternative hypotheses" of Albert Harris because it made no sense and had no citations. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.57.19.49 (talk) 00:43, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

And morphogenesis in plants?
More about morphogenesis in plants should be included. They provide more simple examples because, unlike animal cells, plant cells are restricted in movement about the organism by cellulose cell walls. Jonhorridge (talk) 20:55, 21 December 2016 (UTC)

title: Talk:Morphogenesis