Lincoln University Wildlife Management Report series
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Item Mt Grand Station – Wildlife Conservation(Lincoln University | Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki. Department of Pest Management & Conservation, 2023-10) Dickinson, Nicholas; Bowie, Michael; Maxwell, Thomas; Dickinson, Nicholas; Bowie, Michael; Maxwell, ThomasThis document is a collection of reports from students of ECOL609 Conservation Biology (Semester 1, 2023). The aim of this course is to investigate the challenges and future options for nature conservation management within the agricultural and policy framework and the landscape mosaic of the New Zealand High Country. The focus of the course this year was a case study of the Lincoln University’s High Country Station in Hawea, Central Otago. A 4-day residential field course was attended by more than 30 students with the support of five academic staff from the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Farm Manager. This paper typically attracts students from several different disciplines and postgraduate study programmes, mostly Masters programmes. Overseas students accounted for a large proportion of the group, particularly from our Master of International Nature Conservation (MINC) joint programme with University of Gottingen in Germany, together with a good number of New Zealand students from various postgraduate study programmes including MINC. Overseas visitors were from a diverse range of countries including USA, Sweden and Kazakhstan. Each student identified and developed their own research project that formed the practical component of the course. Although these were individual research projects, much value was placed on broader learning, sharing of knowledge, discussion, debate and teamwork. The breadth of research topics reflects the varied interests of the students, but all projects have a primary focus on some aspect of Conservation Biology at Mt Grand. These reports provide an original and unique contribution to knowledge of the agroecology of this beautiful landscape and, in our view, fully justify their collation.Item Establishment of restoration monitoring at Tārerekautuku Yarrs Lagoon: Conservation Biology (ECOL609) project reports(Lincoln University | Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki. Department of Pest Management & Conservation, 2022-11) Bowie, Michael; Gillette, J; Ross, James; Paterson, Adrian; Bowie, Michael; Gillette, J; Ross, James; Paterson, AdrianNinety percent of New Zealand’s wetlands have been lost along with the endemic plants, fish, birds, and invertebrates. Those that remain are threatened by choking weeds, suffocating sediment, pollution from livestock and continued drainage and clearance (Hansford, 2010). Therefore, all remaining wetlands, regardless of their ecological state, are precious and need to be restored and managed to maximise the biodiversity within. Tārerekautuku Yarrs Lagoon is a 76.9 ha reserve located along the Ararira/LII River between Lincoln and Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere. Tārerekautuku is administered by the Selwyn District Council (SDC) who have recognised the wetland’s intrinsic value. The lagoon area was known as a significant mahinga kai (food gathering) site for Ngāi Tahu, and particularly the local hapū of Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki based at Taumutu. Mahinga kai species being gathered at this site include tuna (eel), koareare (the edible rhizome of raupō/bullrush), koukoupara (bullies), mawehe (kōaro), pārera (grey duck), pūtakitaki (paradise duck), pākura (pukeko), whio (blue duck), kaaha (shag) and aruhe (bracken fern root) (Taiaroa 1880). The cultural and biodiversity values of Tārerekautuku are significant and ecological restoration of the lagoon has a huge potential to enhance these (Boffa Miskell, 2017). Selwyn District Council, with the support of the Department of Conservation (mainly Robin Smith), received approximately $800,000 from Ministry for the Environment ‘Freshwater Improvement Fund’ towards achieving five objectives: 1. To control willows and other weeds across approximately 87 ha in the Tārerekautuku Yarrs Lagoon Wetland. 2. To undertake predator control within the wetland and surrounding catchment to target mustelids, rats, and possums 3. To reduce sediment loads through instream works (up to five sediment traps or equivalent) and waterways re-battering work (approximately 2,000 m), including installing two bridges for site access. 4. To plant at least 12,516 native plants and trees across eight ha of Tārerekautuku wetland and connecting waterways. 5. To establish a monitoring programme at the Tārerekautuku wetland for Mātauranga Māori to measure ecological change over time. With Lincoln University’s proximity and MOU (pending) between them and SDC, this project provides a win-win scenario for students to help monitor ecological changes over time (objective 5). The project summaries that follow are an integral part of the ECOL609 (Conservation Biology) course that is undertaken in the first semester of 2022 where students chose a conservation area to monitor. Vegetation quadrat monitoring intended to replicate Stammer (2010); however, access to the site was deemed unsafe to proceed. This work has been added as an Appendix in this report to allow future comparisons.Item Sodium fluoroacetate (1080) in relation to its use in New Zealand revisited: A 2021 review(Lincoln University - Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki. Department of Pest Management & Conservation, 2021-06) Ross, James; Eason, CharlesTraps, poisons and hunting are pest control tools used internationally for crop protection and to restore ecosystems, particularly on islands and continents where introduced mammals endanger native species. Sodium fluoroacetate (1080) is a vertebrate pesticide, initially developed in the 1940s, principally used to control unwanted introduced mammals in New Zealand and Australia. During the last ten years, there have been over 260 new research and review publications, specifically on 1080 in scientific journals. These publications supplement a body of scientific information regarding mode of action, natural occurrence, toxicology, including poisoning incidents and antidotes, metabolism and fate in the environment and risk to non-target species. Multi-year studies now go beyond immediate non-target impacts and explore ecosystem-level outcomes, including population-level changes for multiple native bird species following the sustained removal of predators. Numerous review publications on community attitudes to pest control and the merits of different tools and techniques have been stimulated, in part by the Predator Free NZ 2050 campaign, and these are summarised. Many sectors of our communities would prefer not to use poisons for pest control, particularly if applied aerially. If 1080 is to continue to be used in New Zealand, research still needs to focus on additional improvements in target specificity, particularly concerning the interactions of kea and game species with bait, and address any new questions raised by regulatory agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; formally ERMA), communities, and iwi. Additionally, there is a need to innovate how different pest control tools are used and advance close-to-market tools with the highest public acceptance, such as species-specific poisons and more targeted bait delivery or trapping systems. Community engagement should continue to be open and transparent, highlight risks and benefits, and seek consensus. In most cases, consensus will involve an integrated approach to pest control using acceptable levels of both aerial and ground-based tools. Greater acceptance of any pest control tool occurs when use is discussed within the context of long-term goals for saving endangered species and ecosystem recovery, with communities that treasure the restoration of their landscapes. However, values are changing, such that no (or minimal) pesticide use is a theme that is increasingly mainstream. In this changing environment, strategies that rely on 1080 or other toxins as one-off treatments for eradicating pests or disease versus continued application for maintenance control are likely to be more and more important.Item Conservation biology project reports of Cleardale Station and Taniwha Farm, Rakaia Gorge, Canterbury, New Zealand(Lincoln University | Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki. Department of Pest Management & Conservation, 2020-09) Dickinson, Nicholas; Bowie, Michael H.; Dickinson, Nicholas; Bowie, Michael H.In each of the previous four years, ECOL609 (Conservation Biology) has been focussed on the South Island High Country, with a residential field course at Lincoln University’s Mt. Grand Station at Hawea. Students have spent the first 3-4 weeks of this paper beginning to understand the ecology, farming systems and the many associated complexities of the South Island High Country, whilst also planning a research project at Mt Grand within their own particular area of specialism.Item Feasibility study towards restoring missing fauna of Ōtamahua/Quail Island, with a focus on invertebrates(Lincoln University. Department of Pest Management & Conservation, 2019-08) Visser, S.; Bowie, Michael H.; Ross, J.Quail Island/Ōtamahua (85 ha.) located in the Lyttelton Harbour, Banks Peninsula, Canterbury is undergoing ecological restoration. Approximately 100,000 native trees have been planted and all mammalian pests (hedgehogs, rats, cats, rabbits, stoats) apart from mice have been eradicated. The Banks Peninsula tree weta (Hemideina ricta), Leaf vein slug (Pseudaneitea ‘maculata’) and ground beetle Megadromus guerinii have been successfully translocated to the island and have established sustainable populations in the presence of mice. However many flightless invertebrate species are absent from the island compared to similar habitat in the harbour basin and require human assistance to establish. Objectives of this study was to determine the suitability of reptile, bird and invertebrate candidate species for reintroduction to Quail Island, with more detailed information on the sources and methodology for translocation and monitoring for the invertebrate species. No one obvious bird species stands out as being easy to reintroduce to the island. Two species of local lizards could be reintroduced to the island, but it is unknown if the presence of mice is an impediment to their success. A small predator exclusion fence may be an option. Reasonable populations of all candidate carabids and spider species were found apart from Nuisiana arboris. Five ground beetles (Carabidae), five spiders (Arachnida), four aphids (Aphididae), the reticulate stag beetle, a darkling beetle (Tenebrionidae) and a weevil (Curculionidae) species are considered best as candidate species for reintroduction.