Tags / research
Fred the Thread
In 2003, Corinne Watts was standing in a Waikato domed peat bog (as wetland scientists sometime do) contemplating the stems of giant cane-rushes Sporadanthus ferrugineus. She chanced upon lovely Continue Reading...
From Spain to Central Otago
Carlos Rouco Zufiaurre is investigating possum ecology in dryland ecosystems Since arriving from Spain last January, Carlos has been working with Grant Norbury, James Smith, Roger Pech a Continue Reading...
Field work goes ahead, whatever the weather
Everyone's favourite sort of field trip ... smack in the middle of a cold weather bomb, as “wind, snow, horizontal sleet and hail, wind, rain, and wind wind wind. Scientist Grant Norbury s Continue Reading...
Impact of de-icing agents used on the Desert Road
In 1998, Transit NZ decided to trial the use of the de-icing salt calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) on the Desert Road, one of the highest highways in the country and one with chronic ice problems. Continue Reading...
National cycleway through Pureora Forest Park
Mark Smale of Landcare Research used (very) old maps of (even older) tramways to help plan the route. The Department of Conservation has been asked to assist with establishing the national cyclewa Continue Reading...
Volcanic Dunes of the Rangipo Desert
Mark Smale of Landcare Research says such dunes rare - one of only a few such ecosystems in the world. The wild and ever-changing Rangipo Desert is not really a desert because it has ample rain Continue Reading...
Heather beetle update
Simon Fowler notes beetles continued to spread over the 2009/210 summer, but not as far as predicted (or hoped). “Last year we predicted the area of beetle-spread would increase to a total area o Continue Reading...
Adélie Penguin Research
Scientists have been studying Adélie penguins (Pygoscelie adeliae) for over 50 years. Antarctica is one of the last places in the world where animals can be studied in a habitat still largely unmodi Continue Reading...
Antarctic - an extreme environment for soils
The total ice-free area of Antarctica comprises less than 0.4% of the continent, with the largest continuous expanse of ice-free ground in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. About 90% of the ice-free region Continue Reading...