Supporting Information - Our Science

International links

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Manaaki Whenua scientists’ personal and strategic science networks include numerous links with with overseas colleagues. Links involve international colleagues working in Manaaki Whenua programmes, Manaaki Whenua staff working in other institutes’ programmes, short-term visits, exchange of data or methodology, and loan and exchange of herbarium specimens. Links include (click on relevant part of map for details):

Links with the UK Links with China and Japan Links with the USA and Canada Links with Australia Links with Europe

Australia
China and Japan
Europe
United Kingdom
USA and Canada

Overseas travel—trips and destinations

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Sources of data:

  1. Manaaki Whenua’s international travel database. Data is compiled from electronic reports from our travel agent, BTI, (departure date/flight course/cost/etc), and from reports from scientists who travel.
  2. International Business Group records

Country/Area visited

Visits by Science Staff

Visits by IBG Staff

Total

Australia

47

1

48

Austria

3

  

3

Belgium

2

  

2

Brazi

1

  

1

Brazil

1

  

1

Canada

6

  

6

China

2

4

6

Czech Republic

2

  

2

Fiji

  

6

6

Finland

1

  

1

France

2

  

2

Germany

3

  

3

Greece

2

  

2

Hong Kong

1

  

1

Indonesia

1

2

3

Italy

5

  

5

Japan

1

  

1

Kenya

1

  

1

Mexico

2

2

4

Netherlands

1

  

1

Papua New Guinea

  

3

3

Phillipines

1

  

1

Samoa

1

2

3

South Africa

6

  

6

Sweden

1

  

1

Switzerland

2

  

2

Tonga

1

2

3

United Kingdom

11

  

11

USA (ex Hawaii)

25

  

25

Hawaii

5

  

5

Total number of trips

137

22

159

 

NSOF allocation

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Manaaki Whenua receives approximately $2.8 m NSOF (non-specific output finding) annually from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.  Funding is allocated by Manaaki Whenua’s Science Management Team to a range of projects, as shown (average allocations over past 5 years).

Projects funded from 1999–2004, are listed below.

 Graph showing average funding allocations

NSOF-funded projects 2003–04

NSOF-funded projects 2002–03

NSOF-funded projects 2001–02

NSOF-funded projects 2000–01

NSOF-funded projects 1999–2000

Expenditure on Fellowships

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Expenditure on Fellowships

In 2004, 23 staff were employed on post-doctoral fellowships (26 in 2003).

Fellowship*

Funding**

2003

2004

Reinvestment

$943,568

$360,650

Other

$425,655

$480,755

Number of staff on a fellowship    
Reinvestment 18 14

Other

8

9

Number of new fellowships    

Reinvestment

1

0

Other 2 4

* Post-doctoral fellowships
** Labour and operating costs

In addition, approximately $0.5m non-specific output funding (NSOF) funding was used to fund research fellowships to bring overseas colleagues to work in New Zealand (Hayward, Manaaki Whenua), to enable Manaaki Whenua staff to work overseas (Manaaki Tangata) and to help 4 Manaaki Whenua staff undertake PhD research.

NSOF-funded Fellowships

  1. Hayward Fellowships
    • Post-doctoral fellowship: Biology and control of introduced birds in modified landscapes
    • Senior fellowship: Vertebrate pest ecology research in NZ
  2. Manaaki Whenua Fellowships for research on:
    • Revision of resupinate fungi
    • Interactions between indigenous and exotic shrubs in successions
    • Soil ecotoxicology technologies
  3. Manaaki Tangata Fellowships for research on:
    • Implications of native–exotic plant interactions for successional processes and restoration efforts
    • Wildlife diseases
    • Bird pest management in Europe and its application to at-risk NZ seed crops
    • Full carbon accounting: international approaches to modelling and inventory
    • Capability of forests to mitigate greenhouse effects
    • Modelling integration – establishing links with the leaders
    • Vitellogenin gene in the rainbowfish
  4. PhD Fellowships for research on:
    • N-fixing symbioses in NZ legume flora
    • Tui foraging in urban and rural landscapes
    • Invertebrate community re-assembly after wetland restoration
    • Suspended sediment in urban stormwater

New Zealand university students supervised by Manaaki Whenua staff July 2003 –June 2004

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Manaaki Whenua staff supervised 88 postgraduate (PhD and Masterate) students during 2003/04 at:

University of Auckland 10 PhD 9 MSc
University of Waikato 4 PhD 3 MSc
Massey University 15 PhD 3 MSc
Lincoln University 11 PhD 6 MSc
Victoria University of Wellington 2 PhD  
University of Canterbury 5 PhD 6 MSc
University of Otago 11 PhD 3 MSc

Research supervised included projects on:

1. PhD
2. Masterate

 

 

Use of animals in research at Manaaki Whenua

  
Animal ethics approval
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Manaaki Whenua’s Animal Ethics Committee (AEC) approves all our research involving the handling of live animals. This ensures our use of animals is kept to a minimum, complies with the Animal Welfare Act, and follows strict ethical guidelines and operating procedures. AEC decisions comply with Manaaki Whenua’s Code of Ethical Conduct for the Use of Animals in Research, and detailed operational guidelines are documented for both researchers and the AEC.

At the conclusion of AEC-approved studies, the number of animals involves and their fates are reported to MAF to form part of the publicly-available data on national use of animals in research (see Annual Report of the National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee — www.maf.govt.nz/biosecurity/animal-welfare/naeac/annual-report/naeac-ar-03.pdf). 

Table 1 details our use of animals in AEC-approved studies from 1999–2003.

Table 1: Animals used in AEC-approved studies

Data are for calendar years

 

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

Used

Killed

Used

Killed

Used

Killed

Used

Killed

Used

Killed

Possum

2070

791

2460

1527

4620

1439

1416

1321

3297

1747

Ferret

323

97

288

38

251

90

173

153

266

117

Stoat

129

99

16

5

20

0

75

75

186

50

Feral cat

56

56

77

0

    

30

30

6

6

Rabbit

20

20

89

83

        

559

559

Hare

43

43

                

Hedgehog

44

44

190

0

        

31

12

Guinea pig

                

10

10

Rat

198

174

22

20

363

363

602

424

1526

1504

Mouse

19

19

364

363

100

100

2314

976

193

140

Wallaby

        

56

25

        

Deer

        

15

6

        

Cattle

                

4

0

Sheep

120

120

50

46

        

18

1

Pig

    

17

17

        

28

28

Dog

                

6

6

Duck

                

10

10

Chicken

        

38

38

    

94

81

Introduced birds

62

49

22

0

            

Weka1

                

3

0

Skink1

            

534

10

22

5

Kereru1

23

0

                

Adelie penguin2

5826

1

        

2136

0

    

Eel1

    

386

361

            

Other fish

        

5

5

    

30

30

Frog

    

21

5

            

Totals

8933

1513

4002

2465

5468

2066

7280

2989

6289

4306

1 These species are protected by law and/or are culturally significant to Maori.?DOC permits or iwi consent in addition to AEC approval have been obtained to capture, house and undertake research on these animals.

2 Long-term studies on population dynamics of Adelie penguins in the Antarctic were completed in 1999 and 2002.

Bycatch associated with field studies

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In addition, we record data on all animals caught during fieldwork—both in AEC-approved studies and in trapping, which may not require AEC approval. We record information on the humaneness of, and bycatch associated with, the use of vertebrate capture techniques. These data are shown in Table 2.

The company’s policy is to follow acceptable standards of humaneness when dealing with captures of both target and non-target species, and to minimise the number of non-target captures (bycatch), particularly those of native species. These aims are taken into account when choosing trap types, trap sets, and set times for any field work involving vertebrate captures. Besides minimising the number of non-targets captured, the aim is to choose capture techniques that minimise the extent of any injuries to both target and non-target species. If animals cannot be released due to the severity of their injuries, they are destroyed humanely.

Collecting quantitative data allows an ongoing assessment of Manaaki Whenua’s performance, and offers the potential to improve it (i.e. minimising bycatch and maximising humaneness).

Table 2:?Summary of biological catch data (1996?2003)1 during fieldwork
 

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

Number of studies

NA

24

27

34

32

22

28

25

Number of target animals captured

NA

8350

7774

10 424

9122

10 307

8631

11 845

Number of non-target animals captured

364

1380

2507

1459

1383

1944

673

619
  (% of total captures) (NA) (14%) (24%) (12%) (13%) (16%) (7%) (5%)

 

 Number of non-target indigenous animals captured2

286

177

663

229

224

322

179

46
  (Number of species)3 (2) (2) (3) (7) (4) (8) (6) (6)

 

 Number of non-target introduced animals captured

1078

1203

1844

1230

1159

1622

494

573
  (Number of species)4 (18) (17) (17) (14) (19) (22) (17) (15)

Number of nights of cage trapping

27 702

25 289

20 203

26 986

21 500

29 314

24 779

32 566

 

 Number of non-target animals trapped in cages

101

40

31

132

67

104

184

371
  Capture rate 0.36% 0.16% 0.15% 0.49% 0.31% 0.35% 0.74% 1.14%
  (Number of species) (5) (5) (4) (7) (3) (4) (3) (8)

Number of nights of leg-hold trapping

21 819

25 971

34 811

27 681

38 544

41 295

25 626

24 555

 

 Number of non-target animals caught in leg-hold traps

1248

1320

2364

1253

1134

1517

204

81
  Capture rate 5.72% 5.08% 6.79% 4.53% 2.94% 3.67% 0.80% 0.80%
  (Number of species) (18) (17) (19) (17) (19) (19) (8) (10)

1These data are for calendar years.

2? Most (79-98%) of the captured non-target indigenous animals were released but typically less than half (32-48%) of the introduced animals were released (the one exception to this being in 2003 when 76% of non-target introduced animals were released), the remainder were killed either during capture or by euthanasia.

3Non-target native species caught were fantail, grey warbler, harrier hawk, kaka, kea, pukeko, red-billed gull, rifleman, robin, silvereye, tomtit, and weka.

4Non-target introduced species were mainly hedgehogs (26-68%), feral cats (2-31%), possums (0-25%), rats (5-49%), stoats (1-7%), and magpies (0-4%).

Summary of 2003 bycatch, and key comparisons with previous years (1995-2002)

(1 for simplicity, the three rat species are pooled since most field staff do not ifferentiate between rat species when recording bycatch)

Manaaki Whenua’s ERMA applications and approvals 2000–2004

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Source of data: ERMA New Zealand http://www.ermanz.govt.nz/search/application1.cfm

Application Code

Application Date

Description

Status

Decision Date

GMC00006

26 Sept 2000

To import into containment genetically modified attenuated bacterial strains of Salmonella typhimurium for use in mutagenicity assays assessing the DNA-damaging properties associated with a chemical or chemical mixtures.

Approved with controls

14 Feb 2001

GMC00020

21 Dec 2000

To import into containment genetically modified carrots and potatoes expressing possum contraceptive antigens (ZP3) with immune response enhancing proteins (s-LT-B), to develop an immunocontraceptive for possums.

Approved with controls

4 Apr 2001

GMD00073

6 Jun 2000

To modify E. coli with DNA from selected bacteria to 1) establish the extent to which genes may be transferred between bacterial species in nature and 2) develop specific diagnostic probes for plant pathogenic bacteria of significance to NZ's biosecurity.

Approved with controls

14 Jul 2000

GMD01007

15 Sept 2000

To develop genetically modified E. coli to: amplify possum egg ZP genes, make phage display libraries of possum egg ZP peptides, sequence selected phages to locate antigenic regions of posuum egg ZP proteins.

Approved with controls

19 Sept 2000

GMD01008

14 Aug 2000

Modify E.coli and P.putida to 1.allow the study of the molecular microbial ecology of contaminated urban soils, agricultural and non-contaminated soils 2.develop bacterial biosensors for detecting bioavailable pollutant concentrations in contaminated soil.

Approved with controls

19 Sept 2000

GMD01009

15 Aug 2000

To 1. examine the exposure of chemical contaminants on specific eukaryotic modes of action 2. design biosensors to detect chemical contamination in the environment 3. determine specific effects that contaminants have on organisms within the environment.

Approved with controls

19 Sept 2000

GMD01243

4 Dec 2001

To develop in containment Escherichia coli modified with DNA from Onychophora species and invertebrates (transfer of ACNGT approved organisms to approved status under the HSNO Act).

Approved with controls

11 Dec 2001

GMD01258

28 Nov 2001

To develop protocols to monitor expression of "biomarker" genes in wild fish that would indicate metabolic stress due to environmental pollution.

Approved with controls

5 Dec 2001

GMD01259

28 Nov 2001

To compare the protein sequence of a number of cell surface expressed proteins from several animal species. This information will be used to identify areas of low homology that may be exploited for developing new & improved pesticides.

Approved with controls

5 Dec 2001

GMD02042

4 Jun 2002

To include the mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) as an additional source of DNA. This is an update of GMO01/LR002.

Approved with controls

4 Jun 2002 (Delegated authority)

GMD02090

28 Aug 2002

Cloning mammalian endothelial cell marker proteins into E.coli for sequencing & functional cell based assay development to support proof-of-concept studies investigating the potential of incorporating selectivity into the design of new pesticides.

Approved with controls

28 Aug 2002 (Delegated authority)

GMD03011

17 Dec 2002

To develop genetic markers to assist in improving the effectiveness of the heather beetle (Lochmaea suturalis), introduced for the control of weed heather.

Approved with controls

17 Dec 2002 (Delegated authority)

GMD04001

27 Jan 2004

To develop in containment non-pathogenic Escherichia coli bacteria expressing possum zona (ZP) pellucida egg coat proteins for the development of vaccine delivery systems for possum fertility control.

Approved with controls

12 Feb 2004

HSR03049

27 Nov 2003

To manufacture a bait to control Argentine ants that contains fipronil (0.01%).

Approved with controls

3 May 2004

NOC00002

3 Aug 2000

To import into containment unknown microorganisms from Antarctic terrestrial samples of namely; soils, microbial mats, and wooden artefactual materials into for the isolation, identification and characterisation of the microbes.

Approved with controls

17 Feb 2001

NOC00005

9 Oct 2000

To import into containment soil/substrate samples from which unknown nematodes and associated microfauna will be extracted. The samples will relate to various research programmes concerned with ecosystems processes, biodiversity and environmental quality.

Approved with controls

3 Nov 2001

NOC02001

9 Apr 2002

Joint application: United States Department of Agriculture and Landcare Research

To import into containment cut shoots and seeds of a range of plant species from Hawaii (including native and valued plants, as well as their close relatives) to confirm the host specificity of gorse pod moth.

Approved with controls

26 Jun 2002

NOC02002

25 Jul 2002

To import into containment four insect species for host specificity testing to determine their suitability as biological control agents for banana passionfruit in New Zealand.

Approved with controls

24 Sep 2002

NOC02004

27 Jan 2003

This root and stem boring weevil may be considered for eventual release as a biocontrol agent for the problem pastoral and environmental weed Californian thistle (Cirsium arvense) found throughout New Zealand.

Approved with controls

22 Apr 2003

NOC03006

1 Dec 2003

To import into containment two species of insect, Cochylis atricapitana and Platyptilia isodactylus, for host specificity testing as potential biological control agents for ragwort (Senecio jacobaea L.).

Approved with controls

16 Apr 2004

NOC99014

31 Aug 1999

To gain approval under section 259 of the HSNO Act 1996 for the International Collection of Microorganisms from Plants (ICMP) for use as reference organisms for rapid responses in eradication.

Approved with controls

17 Jan 2001

NOC99018

23 Nov 2000

To import into containment unknown fungi for diagnostic purposes, and for ongoing scientific research projects in the fields of systematics and taxonomy.

Approved with controls

28 Feb 2001

NOC99023

12 Jul 2000

To import into containment microorganisms for the International Collection of Microorganisms from Plants (ICMP) as a reference collection in the investigation of plant quarantine outbreaks of plant diseases and for international and NZ research use.

Approved with controls

17 Jan 2001

S2600005

16 Jan 2000

To determine that 12 species within the fungal genus Neurospora (Family Sordariaceae, Ascomycota) are not new organisms.

All 12 species determined not to be a new organism

20 Mar 2001

Manaaki Whenua currently has no applications with ERMA awaiting a decision.

 

Manaaki Whenua’s Transitional and Containment Facilities

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The following facilities are approved by MAF as transitional or containment facilities:

Facility Location Containment level Relevant Standard(s)
Transitional Facilities
Toxicology laboratory Lincoln Transitional 154.02.17  Transitional facilities for biological products
Soil ecology laboratory Lincoln Transitional 152.04.03F  Requirements for holding and processing facilities (Class: transitional facilities) for uncleared risk goods
Plant quarantine facility Lincoln Plant quarantine PBC-NZ-TRA-PQCON  Specification for the registration of a Plant Quarantine or Containment facility and operator.
      155.02.06 Importation of nursery stock
      155.02.05 Importation of seed for sowing
Environmental quality Laboratory (including National Soils Archive) Palmerston North Transitional 152.04.03F  Requirements for holding and processing facilities (Class: transitional facilities) for uncleared risk goods
 
Containment Facilities
Animal research facility Lincoln PC2 154.03.03 Containment Facilities for Vertebrate Laboratory Animals
Gamete laboratory Lincoln PC2 155.04.09 Containment facilities for new organisms
Invertebrate quarantine facility Lincoln Invertebratequarantine 154.02.08 Transitional and containment facilities for invertebrates
Landcare Research, Lincoln Lincoln PC2 154.03.02 Containment facilities for microorganisms
Landcare Research, Tamaki Auckland PC2 154.03.02 Containment facilities for microorganisms
Landcare Research, Hamilton Hamilton PC1 154.03.02 Containment facilities for microorganisms
Palmerston North "Wet Lab" Palmerston North PC2 154.03.02 Containment facilities for microorganisms

 
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Annual Report 2003/04

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