title: The role of vicariance and dispersal on New Zealand's estuarine biodiversity: the case of Paracorophium (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

authors: Knox, Matthew Andrew

subjects: allopatric isolation

abstract: To investigate the role of vicariance and dispersal on New Zealand's estuarine biodiversity, we examined variability in mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences for the amphipod genus Paracorophium. Individuals from the two nominate endemic species (Paracorophium excavatum and Paracorophium lucasi) were collected from sites throughout the North and South Islands. Sequence divergences of 12.8% were detected among the species. However, divergences of up to 11.7% were also observed between well supported clades, suggesting the possibility of cryptic species. Nested clade analyses identified four distinct lineages from within both P. excavatum and P. lucasi, with boundaries between clades corresponding to topographical features (e.g. Cook Straight, North and East Cape). Sequence divergences of 3.7–4.9% were also observed within geographic regions (e.g. east and west coasts of the upper North Island). Genetic structure in Paracorophium appears to represent prolonged isolation and allopatric evolutionary processes dating back to the Upper Miocene and continuing through the Pliocene and early Pleistocene. On the basis of molecular clock estimates from sequence divergences and reconstructions of New Zealand's geological past, we suggest that sea level and landmass changes during the early Pleistocene (2 Mya) resulted in the isolation of previously contiguous populations leading to the present-day patterns. COI genetic structure was largely congruent with previously observed allozyme patterns and highlights the utility of COI as an appropriate marker for phylogeographic studies of the New Zealand estuarine fauna.

text: The role of vicariance and dispersal on New Zealand's estuarine biodiversity: the case of Paracorophium (Crustacea: Amphipoda) To investigate the role of vicariance and dispersal on New Zealand's estuarine biodiversity, we examined variability in mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences for the amphipod genus Paracorophium. Individuals from the two nominate endemic species (Paracorophium excavatum and Paracorophium lucasi) were collected from sites throughout the North and South Islands. Sequence divergences of 12.8% were detected among the species. However, divergences of up to 11.7% were also observed between well supported clades, suggesting the possibility of cryptic species. Nested clade analyses identified four distinct lineages from within both P. excavatum and P. lucasi, with boundaries between clades corresponding to topographical features (e.g. Cook Straight, North and East Cape). Sequence divergences of 3.7–4.9% were also observed within geographic regions (e.g. east and west coasts of the upper North Island). Genetic structure in Paracorophium appears to represent prolonged isolation and allopatric evolutionary processes dating back to the Upper Miocene and continuing through the Pliocene and early Pleistocene. On the basis of molecular clock estimates from sequence divergences and reconstructions of New Zealand's geological past, we suggest that sea level and landmass changes during the early Pleistocene (2 Mya) resulted in the isolation of previously contiguous populations leading to the present-day patterns. COI genetic structure was largely congruent with previously observed allozyme patterns and highlights the utility of COI as an appropriate marker for phylogeographic studies of the New Zealand estuarine fauna.

year: 2011

title: An investigation into the use of machine learning for determining oestrus in cows

authors: Mitchell, R. Scott

subjects: computer science

abstract: A preliminary investigation of the application of two well-known machine learning schemes—C4.5 and FOIL—to detection of oestrus in dairy cows has been made. This is a problem of practical economic significance as each missed opportunity for artificial insemination results in 21 days lost milk production. Classifications were made on normalised deviations of milk volume production and milking order time series data. The best learning scheme was C4.5 which was able to detect 69% of oestrus events, albeit with an unacceptably high rate of "false positives" (74%). Several directions for further work and improvements are identified.

text: An investigation into the use of machine learning for determining oestrus in cows A preliminary investigation of the application of two well-known machine learning schemes—C4.5 and FOIL—to detection of oestrus in dairy cows has been made. This is a problem of practical economic significance as each missed opportunity for artificial insemination results in 21 days lost milk production. Classifications were made on normalised deviations of milk volume production and milking order time series data. The best learning scheme was C4.5 which was able to detect 69% of oestrus events, albeit with an unacceptably high rate of "false positives" (74%). Several directions for further work and improvements are identified.

year: 1995-08

title: Words on walls: The linguistic landscape of Kirikiriroa primary school classrooms

authors: Burnette, Jessie

abstract: Language contact between te reo Māori and English has resulted in one of the central features of New Zealand English (NZE): the integration of loanwords from the Indigenous, donor language, te reo Māori, into a dominant Lingua Franca (Hay et al., 2008). Previous works have analysed the presence and presentation of these loanwords across a number of mediums. Our study, however, examines data directed at a previously unexamined demographic: primary school-aged children.

We aim to establish which loanwords children are regularly exposed to, and thus examine a most relevant domain: the classroom. Considering the linguistic landscape of classrooms (schoolscapes) offers insight into the language use that occurs within them. Further, the classroom is educational in the traditional sense, but also in the developmental sense, in the acquisition of broader social meaning. Previous schoolscapes research has highlighted not only their pedagogical importance, but their influence in the construction and transmission of language ideologies (Pzymus and Huddleston 2021; Brown 2012), making these particularly valuable spaces to study.

This study presents a schoolscape investigation of nine Waikato classrooms by analysing loanwords arising in educational artefacts directed at primary-aged children (7-11) in an English-medium school setting. We make the following contributions: (1) a systematic schoolscape method for analysing contact-induced language phenomena; (2) quantitative and qualitative analyses of loanwords identified in our data; (3) a detailed taxonomic expansion of te reo Māori loanword categories (semantic and syntactic) in present day NZE.

In this talk, we ask the following questions:

RQ1) What type of te reo Māori (loan)words are children regularly exposed to through schoolscapes in A/NZ?

RQ2) What is their distribution across schools/classrooms/years?

We find that, in the classes examined, children encounter both high levels of exposure to te reo Māori (loan)words and high levels of variation in the types of words present. On average, children encounter one te reo Māori token for every ten English tokens. As in previously identified trends (Macalister, 2006b), most loanwords found are nouns belonging to semantic categories pertaining to the environment, place names and social culture items. However, we also identify prominently occurring words and word types that have not previously been identified in corpora. We show that, within classrooms, children regularly encounter a landscape richer in te reo Māori (loan)words than previously seen, but also one characterised by substantial variation.

text: Words on walls: The linguistic landscape of Kirikiriroa primary school classrooms Language contact between te reo Māori and English has resulted in one of the central features of New Zealand English (NZE): the integration of loanwords from the Indigenous, donor language, te reo Māori, into a dominant Lingua Franca (Hay et al., 2008). Previous works have analysed the presence and presentation of these loanwords across a number of mediums. Our study, however, examines data directed at a previously unexamined demographic: primary school-aged children.

We aim to establish which loanwords children are regularly exposed to, and thus examine a most relevant domain: the classroom. Considering the linguistic landscape of classrooms (schoolscapes) offers insight into the language use that occurs within them. Further, the classroom is educational in the traditional sense, but also in the developmental sense, in the acquisition of broader social meaning. Previous schoolscapes research has highlighted not only their pedagogical importance, but their influence in the construction and transmission of language ideologies (Pzymus and Huddleston 2021; Brown 2012), making these particularly valuable spaces to study.

This study presents a schoolscape investigation of nine Waikato classrooms by analysing loanwords arising in educational artefacts directed at primary-aged children (7-11) in an English-medium school setting. We make the following contributions: (1) a systematic schoolscape method for analysing contact-induced language phenomena; (2) quantitative and qualitative analyses of loanwords identified in our data; (3) a detailed taxonomic expansion of te reo Māori loanword categories (semantic and syntactic) in present day NZE.

In this talk, we ask the following questions:

RQ1) What type of te reo Māori (loan)words are children regularly exposed to through schoolscapes in A/NZ?

RQ2) What is their distribution across schools/classrooms/years?

We find that, in the classes examined, children encounter both high levels of exposure to te reo Māori (loan)words and high levels of variation in the types of words present. On average, children encounter one te reo Māori token for every ten English tokens. As in previously identified trends (Macalister, 2006b), most loanwords found are nouns belonging to semantic categories pertaining to the environment, place names and social culture items. However, we also identify prominently occurring words and word types that have not previously been identified in corpora. We show that, within classrooms, children regularly encounter a landscape richer in te reo Māori (loan)words than previously seen, but also one characterised by substantial variation.

year: 2024