title: Diet selectivity in a terrestrial forest invertebrate, the Auckland tree wētā, across three habitat zones.

authors: Brown, Matthew

subjects: feeding behaviour

abstract: Insects are important but overlooked components of forest ecosystems of New Zealand. For many invertebrate species, information on foraging patterns and trophic relationships is lacking. We examined diet composition and selectivity in a large bodied invertebrate, the Auckland tree wētā, in three habitat zones in a lowland New Zealand forest. We asked if Hemideina thoracica selectively forage from available plant food sources, and if these choices were lipid-rich compared to non-preferred available plants. We also identified the proportion of invertebrates in their frass as a proxy for omnivory. From reconnaissance plot sampling, together with faecal fragment analysis, we report that more than 93% of individual wētā had eaten other invertebrates before capture. Wētā in the highest elevation hillslope habitat consumed significantly fewer plants on average than wētā on either the low elevation terrace or mid-slope habitat. Hillslope wētā also had the highest average number of invertebrate fragments in their frass, significantly more than wētā in the low elevation terrace habitat. Wētā showed high variability in the consumption of fruit and seeds across all habitats. Generally, we did not observe diet differences between the sexes (although it appears that male wētā in the mid hillslope habitat ate fruits and seeds more voraciously than females), suggesting that the sexes have similar niche breadths and display similar degrees of omnivorous behaviour. Extraction of leaf lipids demonstrated a range of lipid content values in available plants, and Ivlev’s electivity index indicated that plant species which demonstrated high electivity, tended to have higher concentrations of lipids in their leaves. Our findings indicate that H. thoracica forage omnivorously and selectively, and hence play multiple roles in native ecosystems and food webs.

text: Diet selectivity in a terrestrial forest invertebrate, the Auckland tree wētā, across three habitat zones. Insects are important but overlooked components of forest ecosystems of New Zealand. For many invertebrate species, information on foraging patterns and trophic relationships is lacking. We examined diet composition and selectivity in a large bodied invertebrate, the Auckland tree wētā, in three habitat zones in a lowland New Zealand forest. We asked if Hemideina thoracica selectively forage from available plant food sources, and if these choices were lipid-rich compared to non-preferred available plants. We also identified the proportion of invertebrates in their frass as a proxy for omnivory. From reconnaissance plot sampling, together with faecal fragment analysis, we report that more than 93% of individual wētā had eaten other invertebrates before capture. Wētā in the highest elevation hillslope habitat consumed significantly fewer plants on average than wētā on either the low elevation terrace or mid-slope habitat. Hillslope wētā also had the highest average number of invertebrate fragments in their frass, significantly more than wētā in the low elevation terrace habitat. Wētā showed high variability in the consumption of fruit and seeds across all habitats. Generally, we did not observe diet differences between the sexes (although it appears that male wētā in the mid hillslope habitat ate fruits and seeds more voraciously than females), suggesting that the sexes have similar niche breadths and display similar degrees of omnivorous behaviour. Extraction of leaf lipids demonstrated a range of lipid content values in available plants, and Ivlev’s electivity index indicated that plant species which demonstrated high electivity, tended to have higher concentrations of lipids in their leaves. Our findings indicate that H. thoracica forage omnivorously and selectively, and hence play multiple roles in native ecosystems and food webs.

year: 2018

title: Resource management, plan quality and governance: A report to Government

authors: Ericksen, Neil

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: This Report contains the main findings from FRST-funded research into planning under the Resource Management Act. It includes five sets of interrelated recommendations. These recommendations identify many actions that are essential if Government is serious about achieving its goal of environmental sustainability. Implementation of the recommendations will require a significant increase in expenditure at all levels of the planning hierarchy, but especially central government.

text: Resource management, plan quality and governance: A report to Government This Report contains the main findings from FRST-funded research into planning under the Resource Management Act. It includes five sets of interrelated recommendations. These recommendations identify many actions that are essential if Government is serious about achieving its goal of environmental sustainability. Implementation of the recommendations will require a significant increase in expenditure at all levels of the planning hierarchy, but especially central government.

year: 2001

title: Dis-lodging literature from English: Challenging linguistic hegemonies

authors: Locke, Terry

subjects: literature

abstract: This paper problematises the location of literature "teaching" within the English (L1) curriculum, as is the case in New Zealand and other settings. It defamiliarises this arrangement by drawing attention to official New Zealand policies of biculturalism and to the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in many New Zealand classrooms. It identifies a number of social justice issues arising from the current arrangement, and also raises issues in respect of educational policy and ways in which canonical subjects become constructed in practice. It then discusses ways in which a new qualifications template developed at the University of Waikato might provide a vehicle for establishing a new arrangement, in terms of which literature study is dislodged from English and reshaped as a course of study entitled Literature in Society. It indicates ways in which Comparative Literature, as a predominantly university-constituted discipline, might contribute to the theorisation of this new arrangement.

text: Dis-lodging literature from English: Challenging linguistic hegemonies This paper problematises the location of literature "teaching" within the English (L1) curriculum, as is the case in New Zealand and other settings. It defamiliarises this arrangement by drawing attention to official New Zealand policies of biculturalism and to the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in many New Zealand classrooms. It identifies a number of social justice issues arising from the current arrangement, and also raises issues in respect of educational policy and ways in which canonical subjects become constructed in practice. It then discusses ways in which a new qualifications template developed at the University of Waikato might provide a vehicle for establishing a new arrangement, in terms of which literature study is dislodged from English and reshaped as a course of study entitled Literature in Society. It indicates ways in which Comparative Literature, as a predominantly university-constituted discipline, might contribute to the theorisation of this new arrangement.

year: 2004-05-01