title: The influence of group size on learning and problem-solving in New Zealand spotted wrasse (Notolabrus celidotus)

authors: Georgeson, Sean Alexander

abstract: Foraging dynamics are a fundamental ecological process influencing a variety of other important processes including population dynamics and reproduction. This study investigated the influence of group size on the foraging success of 40 New Zealand spotted wrasse (Notolabrus celidotus) using a problem-solving apparatus. A pilot study using four fish was initially carried out to test equipment and gain an understanding of the individual learning capacity of these fish. Following this pilot study, the full study was separated into four stages. Stage 1 involved observing individual fish attempting a problem-solving foraging task on their own. Stages 2 and 3 increased the group size of fish attempting this foraging task to two fish and four fish, respectively. Stage 4 involved individual fish attempting the task on their own, however, mirrors were fitted to the experimental tank to simulate an increase in group size. Results of this research showed that the presence/perceived presence of conspecifics resulted in increased success rates and reduced latency to solve the problem over time. These results suggest that group size is an important contributor to foraging efficiency in the New Zealand spotted wrasse, as larger groups outperformed smaller groups in most cases, and individual fish with simulated increases to group size outperformed individual fish without this effect. There are three potential explanations for these results. (1) The presence of conspecifics provides passive predator vigilance, enabling individual fish to put more time into solving the foraging task instead of scanning for predators. (2) As a function of increased competition for a limited resource, fish put more effort into solving the foraging task. (3) Social learning resulted in fish learning foraging strategies from conspecifics. It is likely that the effects of reduced predator vigilance and increased competition in larger group sizes influenced foraging success rates of the fish in this study concurrently. Additionally, the pair and group treatments displayed a reduced latency for fish to leave the starting arena and to orient toward the food reward than the other treatments. It is unlikely that these results can be attributed to increased chance due to increased fish density, as fish from the pair and group treatments performed similarly in weeks one and three, despite the group treatment having twice as many fish per trial. This indicates the potential effect of a social learning mechanism, such as local enhancement, in the spotted wrasse in this study. Future studies could further assess the influence of social learning through use of reliable demonstrator fish in an observer-demonstrator experiment. Further study is required to conclusively suggest whether the effect of reduced predator vigilance, increased competition, or social learning has a greater influence on increased foraging success with increased group size in New Zealand spotted wrasse.

text: The influence of group size on learning and problem-solving in New Zealand spotted wrasse (Notolabrus celidotus) Foraging dynamics are a fundamental ecological process influencing a variety of other important processes including population dynamics and reproduction. This study investigated the influence of group size on the foraging success of 40 New Zealand spotted wrasse (Notolabrus celidotus) using a problem-solving apparatus. A pilot study using four fish was initially carried out to test equipment and gain an understanding of the individual learning capacity of these fish. Following this pilot study, the full study was separated into four stages. Stage 1 involved observing individual fish attempting a problem-solving foraging task on their own. Stages 2 and 3 increased the group size of fish attempting this foraging task to two fish and four fish, respectively. Stage 4 involved individual fish attempting the task on their own, however, mirrors were fitted to the experimental tank to simulate an increase in group size. Results of this research showed that the presence/perceived presence of conspecifics resulted in increased success rates and reduced latency to solve the problem over time. These results suggest that group size is an important contributor to foraging efficiency in the New Zealand spotted wrasse, as larger groups outperformed smaller groups in most cases, and individual fish with simulated increases to group size outperformed individual fish without this effect. There are three potential explanations for these results. (1) The presence of conspecifics provides passive predator vigilance, enabling individual fish to put more time into solving the foraging task instead of scanning for predators. (2) As a function of increased competition for a limited resource, fish put more effort into solving the foraging task. (3) Social learning resulted in fish learning foraging strategies from conspecifics. It is likely that the effects of reduced predator vigilance and increased competition in larger group sizes influenced foraging success rates of the fish in this study concurrently. Additionally, the pair and group treatments displayed a reduced latency for fish to leave the starting arena and to orient toward the food reward than the other treatments. It is unlikely that these results can be attributed to increased chance due to increased fish density, as fish from the pair and group treatments performed similarly in weeks one and three, despite the group treatment having twice as many fish per trial. This indicates the potential effect of a social learning mechanism, such as local enhancement, in the spotted wrasse in this study. Future studies could further assess the influence of social learning through use of reliable demonstrator fish in an observer-demonstrator experiment. Further study is required to conclusively suggest whether the effect of reduced predator vigilance, increased competition, or social learning has a greater influence on increased foraging success with increased group size in New Zealand spotted wrasse.

year: 2020

title: Registration, infringement, competition and markets under the New Zealand Trade Marks Act 2002

authors: Kingsbury, Anna

subjects: competition law

abstract: The traditional rationale for the legal protection of trade marks is that trade marks protect consumers from con fusion and reduce consumer search costs in the market place. Producers use trade marks to distinguish their goods and services from the goods and services of their competitors. Facilitating competition is therefore a fundamental, underlying principle of trade mark law. Trade mark protection provides incentives to producers to invest in consistency and quality, which benefits consumers. Trade marks thus have origin, guarantee and investment functions. They are indicators of trade source, they serve as guarantees of quality, and they provide a mechanism and incentive for investment in advertising and promotion.

text: Registration, infringement, competition and markets under the New Zealand Trade Marks Act 2002 The traditional rationale for the legal protection of trade marks is that trade marks protect consumers from con fusion and reduce consumer search costs in the market place. Producers use trade marks to distinguish their goods and services from the goods and services of their competitors. Facilitating competition is therefore a fundamental, underlying principle of trade mark law. Trade mark protection provides incentives to producers to invest in consistency and quality, which benefits consumers. Trade marks thus have origin, guarantee and investment functions. They are indicators of trade source, they serve as guarantees of quality, and they provide a mechanism and incentive for investment in advertising and promotion.

year: 2005

title: Heritage-making in Aotearoa planning: Unsettling norms in contested urban space

authors: Hill, Carolyn Joy

subjects: Authorised heritage discourse

abstract: Heritage is currently a high-profile and often contentious topic in urban environments. As cities face growing challenges of climate change, intensification needs and cultural contestation, state-mandated heritage continues to have a significant influence on how cities are perceived, whose pasts are remembered, and what future change can be. However, this is being increasingly tested as urban pressures bring questions of who has a right to the city to the fore. 
Situated within the field of critical heritage studies, this thesis critically examines how heritage is officially “made” in the cities of Aotearoa New Zealand, and how emerging views and values may reshape these established norms for more spatially and culturally just futures. Focused on urban locations within the so-called “CANZUS” states (Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America (USA)), the thesis centres on statutory heritage – the objects and places that are identified and managed within state-mandated planning systems that create dominant assumptions about what is worthy of protection. As such, its contribution is at the intersection of heritage and planning as it critically queries heritage’s future legacy claims and considers what other legacies may be imagined. 
The thesis includes four key enquiries. First, it explores the history of state-led heritage-making in Aotearoa, focusing on the city of Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland. It examines the tension between contemporary urban intensification priorities and heritage / special character regulation, critiquing the narrative of heritage as a “public good” given its entanglement with spatial and cultural inequity. Second, it studies three cases of urban heritage protest across Australia, Aotearoa and the USA. These cases expose the continued inadequacy of statutory heritage-making for Indigenous and emerging aspirations, as normative approaches are embedded not only by the heritage sector itself but by the planning and legislation systems that structure its mandate. 
Third, the thesis explores the current thinking of those shaping and working within heritage’s statutory framing across Aotearoa. It finds that heritage policy leaders are cognisant of, and concerned to change, heritage’s entrenched Eurocentricity, expert dominance and material orientation, but that shifting established practice remains a multi-dimensional challenge. Finally, it investigates the perspectives of young emerging planners in the city of Kirikiriroa / Hamilton, which again foregrounds the obstacles to displacing systemic norms but also highlights planning policy’s significant potential to shape different heritage futures. 
This thesis has important implications both for Aotearoa’s urban environments and for CANZUS cities more broadly. Grounded in contemporary real-world examples, it not only exposes heritage’s imbrication with issues of urban inequity but its deeper role in maintaining settler state security, making “home” on Indigenous land. It finds that unpicking this legacy will involve more than adding the heritages of “others” into the existing canon. Rather, deeper reconsideration of heritage’s societal purpose as part of Indigenous, multi-storied and dynamic cities is required. Finally, it highlights the central role for planning in transforming the heritage field, both through statutory policy reform and through integration with broader urban objectives. However, planners will need to be better equipped for critical engagement with heritage if they are to creatively support more inclusive, democratic and malleable alternatives.

text: Heritage-making in Aotearoa planning: Unsettling norms in contested urban space Heritage is currently a high-profile and often contentious topic in urban environments. As cities face growing challenges of climate change, intensification needs and cultural contestation, state-mandated heritage continues to have a significant influence on how cities are perceived, whose pasts are remembered, and what future change can be. However, this is being increasingly tested as urban pressures bring questions of who has a right to the city to the fore. 
Situated within the field of critical heritage studies, this thesis critically examines how heritage is officially “made” in the cities of Aotearoa New Zealand, and how emerging views and values may reshape these established norms for more spatially and culturally just futures. Focused on urban locations within the so-called “CANZUS” states (Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America (USA)), the thesis centres on statutory heritage – the objects and places that are identified and managed within state-mandated planning systems that create dominant assumptions about what is worthy of protection. As such, its contribution is at the intersection of heritage and planning as it critically queries heritage’s future legacy claims and considers what other legacies may be imagined. 
The thesis includes four key enquiries. First, it explores the history of state-led heritage-making in Aotearoa, focusing on the city of Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland. It examines the tension between contemporary urban intensification priorities and heritage / special character regulation, critiquing the narrative of heritage as a “public good” given its entanglement with spatial and cultural inequity. Second, it studies three cases of urban heritage protest across Australia, Aotearoa and the USA. These cases expose the continued inadequacy of statutory heritage-making for Indigenous and emerging aspirations, as normative approaches are embedded not only by the heritage sector itself but by the planning and legislation systems that structure its mandate. 
Third, the thesis explores the current thinking of those shaping and working within heritage’s statutory framing across Aotearoa. It finds that heritage policy leaders are cognisant of, and concerned to change, heritage’s entrenched Eurocentricity, expert dominance and material orientation, but that shifting established practice remains a multi-dimensional challenge. Finally, it investigates the perspectives of young emerging planners in the city of Kirikiriroa / Hamilton, which again foregrounds the obstacles to displacing systemic norms but also highlights planning policy’s significant potential to shape different heritage futures. 
This thesis has important implications both for Aotearoa’s urban environments and for CANZUS cities more broadly. Grounded in contemporary real-world examples, it not only exposes heritage’s imbrication with issues of urban inequity but its deeper role in maintaining settler state security, making “home” on Indigenous land. It finds that unpicking this legacy will involve more than adding the heritages of “others” into the existing canon. Rather, deeper reconsideration of heritage’s societal purpose as part of Indigenous, multi-storied and dynamic cities is required. Finally, it highlights the central role for planning in transforming the heritage field, both through statutory policy reform and through integration with broader urban objectives. However, planners will need to be better equipped for critical engagement with heritage if they are to creatively support more inclusive, democratic and malleable alternatives.

year: 2024-12-16