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2020 Newsletters

  1. Outsmarting the smartest – progress in eradicating the last 5%

    New Zealand is a world leader in controlling and, in some areas, eradicating invasive mammalian predators. Much of that innovation has been in developing and deploying devices such as traps and bait delivery mechanisms, but those devices and methods can only achieve complete eradication if all indiv...

  2. DNA codes broken for stoats and ship rats

    The complete genome of the stoat (Mustela ermine) – one of New Zealand’s most destructive introduced predators – is now available to researchers, courtesy of the US-based National Center for Biotechnology Information genome database. This work comes hard on the heels of work to sequence the ship rat...

  3. Smarter trapping for better results

    Manaaki Whenua’s Dr Patrick Garvey and colleagues recently published new findings on the manipulation of stoat behaviour in work linked to the MBIE programme [Eradicating the Last 5%].

  4. Biosecurity Bonanza

    Manaaki Whenua’s annual one-day Biosecurity Bonanza is an established part of New Zealand’s biosecurity research conference calendar, normally attracting around 100 stakeholders and research partners.

  5. DNA sequencing for better identification of fungi

    It is an exciting time to be a fungal taxonomist (someone who specialises in the identification and classification of fungi) according to Dr Peter Johnston, one of Manaaki Whenua’s experts in the discipline.

  6. Moving New Zealand beyond myrtle rust

    Myrtle rust is a disease caused by an invasive pathogen that infects iconic native New Zealand trees in the Myrtaceae family. Spread by the windborne fungus [Austropuccinia psidii], myrtle rust affects many economically and culturally important species such as pōhutukawa, mānuka, kanuka and rata, le...

  7. Taking refuge from an invasive pathogen

    Researchers have identified areas, known as ‘refugia’ by ecologists, where Myrtaceae may be able to ride out the threat of myrtle rust.

  8. Biocontrol – slow and steady wins the race

    As is well known, invasive non-native plant species are a threat to New Zealand’s native biodiversity and ecosystems – and the list of invaders is long. Herbicides are widely used in the management of invasive plants, but they have non-target effects on native plants in treated areas and are expensi...

  9. More biocontrol agents in the pipeline

    Just before lockdown in early 2020, Zane McGrath of Manaaki Whenua travelled to Uruguay to collect specimens of [Anastrepha australis] (the moth plant pod fly), a prospective biocontrol agent for the invasive moth plant [Araujia hortorum] (also known as [Araujia sericifera]).

  10. Rats with chips: how radio-collared rats are helping scientists to protect our native birds

    Some of the highest rat densities ever measured on the New Zealand mainland are being recorded in a study run by Manaaki Whenua at Lake Alabaster in Fiordland, as part of the 5-year ‘More Birds in the Bush’ MBIE Endeavour research programme. The study, carried out in collaboration with DOC, is showi...