Across a 1500-kilometre arc from the Gibson Desert to Shark Bay, researcher Richard McLellan is uncovering the ecological and cultural value of sandalwood.
In the rangelands of Western Australia, there is a slow growing, hardy and iconic tree. When rain rolls in over the arid and semi-arid plains, the tree flowers, a scent is released. Wasps, ants, butterflies and other insects feast on the nectar.
The scent is earthy and sweet and if you break open the tree, deep within the heartwood, the fragrance becomes more profound, more aromatic.
It is the Australian Sandalwood tree (Santalum spicatum), the most commercially valuable tree in Australia.
Commonly found in incense, perfumes and soaps, and hugely popular overseas, Australian Sandalwood has become a pillar of WA's forestry industry. But while a lot of recognition has been placed on its commercial value, what of its ecological and cultural value?
That's where researcher Richard McLellan comes in. Richard has been investigating the role of hemiparasitic trees (meaning they derive some of their water and nutrients from other plants) in desert communities for his PhD at Charles Sturt University.
Alarmingly, he has found Australian Sandalwood appears to be going extinct in the wild.
It is in such rapid decline that he is calling for it to be listed as a threatened species in Western Australia. Commercial exploitation, land clearing, grazing and climate change are all partially to blame, as is the loss of native animals that helped disperse its seed.