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Science organisations combine to plot a path to net carbon zero

Eight government-owned science organisations have joined forces to accelerate the reduction of their greenhouse gas emissions.

Minister of Science, Research and Innovation, Hon Dr Megan Woods and MWLR board chair Mr Colin Dawson formally open the new buildings.

Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research celebrates formal opening of its new buildings

Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research (MWLR) marked an exciting direction in its research future today with the formal opening of its new bu...

ATT mites thumb

Natural enemy for invasive African tulip tree arrives in the Kingdom of Tonga

Despite ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions to the Kingdom of Tonga, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research (MWLR) this week shipped off a c...

Research technician Graeme Rogers working in the lysimeters at Ashley Dene.

Reducing nitrogen losses from dairy farms on stony soils

In the past two decades, much dryland farming has been converted to irrigated dairy farming in Aotearoa New Zealand, notably in eastern a...

  1. Managing lucerne to fix soil N losses

    Lucerne is a widely used grazing fodder crop, and like other legumes, is able to fix nitrogen (N) in the soil. Well-managed lucerne is highly productive and the plant also has deep roots, which allow water extraction from well below 2 m depth and extract N from the soil.

  2. Improved soil information for Aotearoa

    The Soils Portal, Pātaka Oneone, is Manaaki Whenua’s website for comprehensive infomation about New Zealand’s soil resources. It has been running for 15 years, and currently attracts some 40,000 visitors per year.

  3. How intensified irrigation affects soil physical properties – a pilot study

    New Zealand agriculture has seen rapid land-use change in recent decades, with a decrease in sheep numbers and corresponding rise in dairy cow numbers. This has been matched in the Canterbury region by an expansion in irrigated areas.

  4. Crowding out: why climate change action depends on more than just doing your bit

    Social science research shows that when people decide to “do their bit” for climate change (driving electric cars, recycling, installing solar panels), they may become less inclined to support government policy to combat climate change. This phenomenon, known as ‘crowding out’, can occur because an ...

  5. Software helps facilitate digital soil mapping

    Manaaki Whenua researcher Dr Pierre Roudier is enjoying being both author and contributor on two different software packages in his work on digital soil mapping.

  6. Trees of knowledge: our data at the root of global ecological science

    Researchers at Manaaki Whenua are currently participating in large collaborative research projects starting to answer really big, global-scale questions that tap into data from New Zealand’s Nationally Significant Databases and Collections – the biological and geological memory banks of the country,...

  7. Building Te Ao Māori thinking into science knowledge systems

    Indigenous knowledge systems and approaches hold a significant share in the well-being of the planet. Researchers say if we are to achieve our vision for Aotearoa New Zealand to improve the health of te taiao (the environment) and our people, we need to change the way people interact with the enviro...

  8. Swapping time for space to track the impact of climate change on soil microbes

    To test the effects of climate change on species at any scale is difficult. Scientists can’t manufacture realistic global warming in a test tube or in a lab over a few hours, or a few days. As a result, a big challenge for climate change researchers has always been how to best record potential shift...

  9. Celebrating our achievements

    The 2021 Science New Zealand Awards ceremony, held online in December, recognised research excellence across the CRIs. Dr Kenny Bell won an Early Career Researcher award for his work in climate econometrics – the future economic and social impacts of climate change. Dr David Whitehead was awarded a ...

  10. Prepare to arrive as guests: being manuhiri in the production of knowledge

    New research led by Manaaki Whenua’s Dr Alison Greenaway has focused on how non-indigenous scientists embrace the geographical, cultural, and social places they find themselves as manuhiri (guests).
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