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2020 News

  1. The forgotten fauna: introduced seed predators are no surrogate for extinct seed-eating animals on islands

    Whenever humans have reached islands, animal species on those islands have been exposed to a raft of new pressures, such as habitat loss and invasive species. As a result, many animals have gone extinct – the dodo of Mauritius being one the most well-known examples. Less well-known is that the extin...

  2. Major update of S-map Online soil data

    S-map Online, a tool developed and updated by Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, provides the best available soil survey data for New Zealand.

    The latest update to S-map is a significant nationwide update. A major focus is the update to the soil hydrology information. This is an outcome of an MBIE...

  3. Tracking climate change awareness among rural decision-makers

    Over the coming decades, changes in climate are likely to have serious effects on New Zealand’s productive land environments. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects a 0.8°C increase in temperature by 2040 for New Zealand, as well as more extreme rainfall events and increased d...

  4. Biotic interactions drive ecosystem responses to exotic plant invaders

    Introductions of exotic plants are transforming ecosystems worldwide and altering the ways in which they cycle carbon, but the various mechanisms driving these changes are not well understood.

  5. A new national soil carbon monitoring system for agricultural land

    Every year, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, New Zealand is obliged to report its national human-produced (anthropogenic) greenhouse gas emissions and removals. With average soil carbon stocks in New Zealand’s agricultural soils estimated at ab...

  6. Regen ag: does the science stack up?

    Regenerative agriculture, a term first coined in the 1970s, applies an adaptive ecological approach to agricultural landscape management, with a focus on ecosystem health.

  7. VR experience showcases prehistoric, present and future New Zealand environments

    Taking a virtual step back in time and experiencing untouched prehistoric, present and future New Zealand environments is soon going to be possible.

  8. Decision-making in freshwater management – a social learning approach

    Scientists have long-recognized that one of their biggest challenges is how to translate their recommendations into lasting management and behaviour changes among stakeholders. Individuals or people working in organisations may not be able to make changes easily, owing to a combination of norms and ...

  9. The post-lockdown future of work

    A constant in science is the need to interact with other scientists. New Zealand’s scientists maintain their credibility and skills by working with other science leaders, nationally and globally, and this cannot be done by staying at home. However, the COVID-19 lockdown has challenged our thinking a...

  10. Our COVID-19 research