title: Regeneration patterns, environmental filtering and tree species coexistence in a temperate forest

authors: Lusk, Christopher H.

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: • Forest ecologists researching the functional basis of tree regeneration patterns and species coexistence often attempt to correlate traits with light-gradient partitioning. However, an exclusive focus on light can overlook other important drivers of forest dynamics.
• We measured light, temperatures, humidity and sapling densities in each of four phases of a forest dynamic mosaic in New Zealand: shaded understoreys, tree-fall gaps, treefern groves and clearings. We then measured leaf, wood and seed traits, as potential predictors of species’ regeneration patterns.
• Saplings of 18 out of 21 species were significantly associated with one or other of the four phases, and associations were best predicted by a two-trait model (leaf size, wood density) explaining 51% of observed variation. Species associated with treefall gaps had traits favouring light pre-emption (large leaves, low-density wood), whereas those establishing in clearings mostly had small leaves and dense wood, traits probably conferring resistance to the frosts and summer water deficits that saplings were exposed to there.
• The dynamics of some forests cannot be explained adequately by light-gradient partitioning through a growth vs shade tolerance tradeoff, underpinned by the leaf economics spectrum. Consideration of multiple environmental filters and multiple traits will enhance understanding of regeneration patterns and species coexistence.

text: Regeneration patterns, environmental filtering and tree species coexistence in a temperate forest • Forest ecologists researching the functional basis of tree regeneration patterns and species coexistence often attempt to correlate traits with light-gradient partitioning. However, an exclusive focus on light can overlook other important drivers of forest dynamics.
• We measured light, temperatures, humidity and sapling densities in each of four phases of a forest dynamic mosaic in New Zealand: shaded understoreys, tree-fall gaps, treefern groves and clearings. We then measured leaf, wood and seed traits, as potential predictors of species’ regeneration patterns.
• Saplings of 18 out of 21 species were significantly associated with one or other of the four phases, and associations were best predicted by a two-trait model (leaf size, wood density) explaining 51% of observed variation. Species associated with treefall gaps had traits favouring light pre-emption (large leaves, low-density wood), whereas those establishing in clearings mostly had small leaves and dense wood, traits probably conferring resistance to the frosts and summer water deficits that saplings were exposed to there.
• The dynamics of some forests cannot be explained adequately by light-gradient partitioning through a growth vs shade tolerance tradeoff, underpinned by the leaf economics spectrum. Consideration of multiple environmental filters and multiple traits will enhance understanding of regeneration patterns and species coexistence.

year: 2017

title: The structure of a New Zealand community: An essay in the sociology of place

authors: Oppenheim, Roger Stanley

abstract: The study is concerned with the development of a sociology of place arising from observations made in 1969 - 71 in a small town (pop. 1759) in the Auckland region. The ecological approach used by Roger G. Barker and his associates (see for example, Barker, R.G., 1968, Ecological Psychology, Stanford) is used as the starting point for a sociological analysis of the ways in which meaning is embodied in the physical environment and the ways in which these meanings affect social life. 

Part I of the thesis, Preliminary Considerations, deals in three chapters with the problems of a phenomenological analysis of the community. Barker’s approach is critically reviewed and the main analytical concepts, “place” and “milieux” (its concrete isolates) are examined. 

In Part II, Place as a Social Fact, the discussion proceeds by applying and refining the ideas developed in Part I, with particular relationship to the analysis of the Harbourtown milieu inventory. The problems of milieu analysis including those of ecological relationship, of time, and of symbolism are examined in detail. 

Part III returns to a more theoretical consideration and sets out the main structure, problems and applications of the sociology of place. Community is seen as an intersection of time, place and social structure, and this triangle is transposed to deal with other problems. The application of the principles of the sociology of place to problems of planning is discussed. In the final chapter the problem of the relationship between place and community is reformulated as one of aesthetics; it is concluded that community is not compassed in an understanding of its functional or moral aspects out is the object of feeling as an ideal cultural form.

text: The structure of a New Zealand community: An essay in the sociology of place The study is concerned with the development of a sociology of place arising from observations made in 1969 - 71 in a small town (pop. 1759) in the Auckland region. The ecological approach used by Roger G. Barker and his associates (see for example, Barker, R.G., 1968, Ecological Psychology, Stanford) is used as the starting point for a sociological analysis of the ways in which meaning is embodied in the physical environment and the ways in which these meanings affect social life. 

Part I of the thesis, Preliminary Considerations, deals in three chapters with the problems of a phenomenological analysis of the community. Barker’s approach is critically reviewed and the main analytical concepts, “place” and “milieux” (its concrete isolates) are examined. 

In Part II, Place as a Social Fact, the discussion proceeds by applying and refining the ideas developed in Part I, with particular relationship to the analysis of the Harbourtown milieu inventory. The problems of milieu analysis including those of ecological relationship, of time, and of symbolism are examined in detail. 

Part III returns to a more theoretical consideration and sets out the main structure, problems and applications of the sociology of place. Community is seen as an intersection of time, place and social structure, and this triangle is transposed to deal with other problems. The application of the principles of the sociology of place to problems of planning is discussed. In the final chapter the problem of the relationship between place and community is reformulated as one of aesthetics; it is concluded that community is not compassed in an understanding of its functional or moral aspects out is the object of feeling as an ideal cultural form.

year: 1976

title: Key concepts in Māori and iwi histories: A critique of Te Takanga o te Wā (2015)

authors: Palmer, Georgia

subjects: History

abstract: In 2019, the New Zealand government announced a “reset” of the national history curriculum, with the intention of including more Māori content and addressing ongoing petitions to make the New Zealand Wars compulsory in all schools. Two curricula - one for mainstream schools and the other for Māori immersion Kura - were developed, with each drawing on a recent Ministry of Education publication Te Takanga o te Wā (2015) to provide key insights to Māori history concepts and themes. The Māori curricula has since taken on the name of that document, and uses those themes in its new framework, while the mainstream curriculum also adopts some of these same concepts. But how relevant are these proposed themes and concepts to Māori history, and what have Māori and iwi historians and experts actually written or said about the significance of these concepts to Māori historical practice, content, and theory?
This thesis critiques the five key themes and concepts presented in Te Takanga o te Wā and evaluates their relevance as leading Māori history concepts. These are Whakapapa, Tūrangawaewae; Mana-Motuhake; Kaitiakitanga, and Whānaungatanga. This study surveys the existing work produced by Māori historians and other experts over the past century, particularly the extent to which they have used these themes or discussed their significance to Māori and iwi historical practice and thinking. This dissertation argues that aside from whakapapa, the majority of the themes presented in Te Takanga o te Wā are not reflected in the historiography of the field, and that there are in fact a range of other crucial concepts missing. These include discussions about Wā, the importance of te reo Māori, tikanga, Mātauranga-a-iwi and other important approaches like “historical trauma”, “survivance”, Kaupapa Māori and decolonisation.

text: Key concepts in Māori and iwi histories: A critique of Te Takanga o te Wā (2015) In 2019, the New Zealand government announced a “reset” of the national history curriculum, with the intention of including more Māori content and addressing ongoing petitions to make the New Zealand Wars compulsory in all schools. Two curricula - one for mainstream schools and the other for Māori immersion Kura - were developed, with each drawing on a recent Ministry of Education publication Te Takanga o te Wā (2015) to provide key insights to Māori history concepts and themes. The Māori curricula has since taken on the name of that document, and uses those themes in its new framework, while the mainstream curriculum also adopts some of these same concepts. But how relevant are these proposed themes and concepts to Māori history, and what have Māori and iwi historians and experts actually written or said about the significance of these concepts to Māori historical practice, content, and theory?
This thesis critiques the five key themes and concepts presented in Te Takanga o te Wā and evaluates their relevance as leading Māori history concepts. These are Whakapapa, Tūrangawaewae; Mana-Motuhake; Kaitiakitanga, and Whānaungatanga. This study surveys the existing work produced by Māori historians and other experts over the past century, particularly the extent to which they have used these themes or discussed their significance to Māori and iwi historical practice and thinking. This dissertation argues that aside from whakapapa, the majority of the themes presented in Te Takanga o te Wā are not reflected in the historiography of the field, and that there are in fact a range of other crucial concepts missing. These include discussions about Wā, the importance of te reo Māori, tikanga, Mātauranga-a-iwi and other important approaches like “historical trauma”, “survivance”, Kaupapa Māori and decolonisation.

year: 2022