Our toolbox of nationally significant collections
The main focus of our research is on sustainable development, to ensure that valuable natural resources are there for future generations to enjoy, use and benefit from. Protecting that value is critically important and is the basis of much of our research.
There are many threats to our natural resource and hence economic base in New Zealand. We need to protect our soil, waterways, air, indigenous biodiversity and introduced production crops. As with any good investment, a key strategy is to diversify to ensure the investment portfolio is resilient and can withstand shocks. We aim to reduce our vulnerability to those shocks and use our complete “toolbox” – of data, information and knowledge – to do so.
Our toolbox includes a number of biological collections of New Zealand’s flora, fauna, and fungi; national assemblages that represent many decades of scientific research and description of New Zealand’s land biota (biosystematics), based mainly on anatomical characteristics. Increasingly, these collections provide the basis for combined morphological and molecular characterisation of species, and enable new questions about origin, phylogenetic relationships and identity of isolated life stages to be answered. While collections have always been the cornerstone of our knowledge of New Zealand’s biota, appreciation of their value and relevance has increased significantly with the application of molecular tools.
Central to the study of biosystematics in New Zealand are five national biological collections that have been entrusted to Landcare Research on behalf of New Zealand. They are the International Collection of Micro-organisms from Plants (ICMP: 15,000 living strains of fungi and of plant-associated bacteria), NZ Fungal Herbarium (PDD: 75,000 dried collections of fungi), NZ Arthropod Collection (NZAC: 6 million specimens of insects and other arthropods), Allan Herbarium (CHR: 550,000 dried specimens of plants), and the National New Zealand Flax Collection. The ICMP, PDD, NZAC and the Allan Herbarium have had a strong relevance to plant health (pathogens and pests) and hence to national biosecurity since their inception, while all collections serve a key role in documenting the biodiversity of New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
The science of biosystematics involves discovery, description, and differentiation of all forms of life, and is fundamental to other fields of biological science. Biosystematics is aligned with national biological collections and databases that together provide reference material to substantiate presence of species in New Zealand and accurate records of their distribution and relationships with other organisms. The provision of national expertise in biosystematics research, spanning the breadth of New Zealand’s land biota and organisms that threaten our biota, supports effective practice by biosecurity and conservation agencies.
The following case studies are examples of the impact and relevance of biosystematics research to biosecurity and conservation. From biological collections, we progress to larger pests, some environmental technologies that help protect the environment, and our work in business sectors. Hence, this section focuses mainly on biosystematics as a tool for protecting our natural resources, but also includes key examples of other core areas of research with the same focus.
Talk to us |
On the web |
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| Peter Buchannan Tel 09 574 4166 
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www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/ |