Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research
New Zealand's foremost environmental research organisation.
Re–defining the ‘Big Ice’
Landcare research scientists have taken a big step to ensuring ongoing protection of Antarctica.
Led by Fraser Morgan, they have undertaken a classification of the physical environment of the entire continent, which is now considered the leading environmental information database for the continent.
More: Discovery, Issue 20 »Topical IssuesCase study: National Vegetation Survey Databank (NVS – ‘NIVS’) How do we know how much carbon was stored in our forests back in 1990 for our Kyoto Protocol calculations? How much timber could be sustainably logged from an indigenous forest? The NVS databank, an invaluable record of New Zealand’s vegetation extending back over 50 years, helped provide answers to these questions and continues to inform decision making about our natural environment, as this 2007 case study for the Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit (CCMAU) explains. More» |
Media releases
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Science in Focus - Soils and Landscapes
Soils, landscapes and natural resources (such as water) underpin natural and managed ecosystems. They provide ecosystem and productive services on which we rely for agriculture and forestry and act as a platform for communities, infrastructure, and the national identity on which our culture and tourist trade is based. Current land uses, intensification, the changing geographic pattern of our land uses, as well as climate change and variability, are putting increasing pressures on our soils, landscapes, and natural resources threatening their ability to sustain the critical functions on which we depend.
The Soil and Landscapes team comprises of more than 40 staff, at five sites across New Zealand. We lead research on understanding the complex inter–relationships that control the response of soils and landscapes to climatic and human–induced pressures, evaluating current risk, and offering sustainable land use and natural resource allocation options. Our value is in providing opportunities for the future.
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