title: Drivers use of in-vehicle information systems and perceptions of their effects on driving

authors: Starkey, Nicola J.

abstract: In recent years the number of cars on the road with manufacturer installed in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) has increased dramatically, and with smartphones connecting directly to these systems drivers can access a wide range of applications on the move. Some IVIS features are designed to improve safety (e.g., speed and collision warnings) but access via an IVIS to all apps on a smartphone has the potential to distract drivers and increase crash risk. We undertook this study to find out what IVIS features and apps drivers use and to ask about their effects on driving. An online survey completed by 1,017 drivers (50% female, 16–85 years) revealed the most common activity drivers engaged in was listening to music, followed by listening to directions. Fewer than half of the drivers reported conversing on a hands-free phone and 25% reported texting/sending emails or using social media. Frequency of engagement in secondary tasks decreased with age. Using hand-held mobiles was rated as having the greatest negative impact on driving, with drivers attempting to mitigate the risk by carrying out the activity in slow moving traffic or at traffic lights. Females rated the risk of most of the secondary tasks as greater than males. Almost half of the sample had access to speed warnings systems but only a small proportion had experience of lane departure, dangerous curve or intersection warning systems. Of those with access to driver safety systems, 50–70% never used them despite rating the system as useful and as having safety benefits. As the number of vehicles with manufacturer installed IVIS continues to increase on the road, drivers' engagement with them while driving is also likely to increase. To address this, there is a need for a multi-agency approach to educate drivers on the safe use of these systems and apps in their vehicles. Incentives for drivers to use the safety-related features may also be worth considering.

text: Drivers use of in-vehicle information systems and perceptions of their effects on driving In recent years the number of cars on the road with manufacturer installed in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) has increased dramatically, and with smartphones connecting directly to these systems drivers can access a wide range of applications on the move. Some IVIS features are designed to improve safety (e.g., speed and collision warnings) but access via an IVIS to all apps on a smartphone has the potential to distract drivers and increase crash risk. We undertook this study to find out what IVIS features and apps drivers use and to ask about their effects on driving. An online survey completed by 1,017 drivers (50% female, 16–85 years) revealed the most common activity drivers engaged in was listening to music, followed by listening to directions. Fewer than half of the drivers reported conversing on a hands-free phone and 25% reported texting/sending emails or using social media. Frequency of engagement in secondary tasks decreased with age. Using hand-held mobiles was rated as having the greatest negative impact on driving, with drivers attempting to mitigate the risk by carrying out the activity in slow moving traffic or at traffic lights. Females rated the risk of most of the secondary tasks as greater than males. Almost half of the sample had access to speed warnings systems but only a small proportion had experience of lane departure, dangerous curve or intersection warning systems. Of those with access to driver safety systems, 50–70% never used them despite rating the system as useful and as having safety benefits. As the number of vehicles with manufacturer installed IVIS continues to increase on the road, drivers' engagement with them while driving is also likely to increase. To address this, there is a need for a multi-agency approach to educate drivers on the safe use of these systems and apps in their vehicles. Incentives for drivers to use the safety-related features may also be worth considering.

year: 2020

title: Reproductive Biology and Ecology of the Endemic New Zealand Tree Ixerba brexioides (tāwari)

authors: Thomson, Rachel Elizabeth

subjects: Ixerba brexioides

abstract: This research investigated the ecology of Ixerba brexioides (tāwari) with regard to pollination, breeding strategy, seed biology, and forest composition. Research was focused around three main questions:
1.	How is tāwari pollinated with regard to vector and pollen source? How is it adapted for this?
2.	How is seed dispersal of tāwari achieved and under what conditions is germination most successful?
3.	What are the dominant community associations of tāwari what how are they constrained by environmental variables?
The first research question was addressed using video surveillance, nectar analysis, and artificial pollination experiments in a small tract of tāwari forest at Tūī Ridge Park in the Mamaku Range, North Island, New Zealand. Analysis of 125 hours of video footage showed that tāwari is predominantly insect pollinated with occasional bird visitation. The most frequent flower visitors were flies and nocturnal moths. Tāwari nectar volume peaked at midday, and declined toward the late afternoon, before increasing again at dusk. This pattern of nectar secretion followed closely the activity patterns of flies during the day and moths at night. Nectar sugar concentration was 11% on average (range 3% to 20%) which is considered low, but is suited to moths, bats, birds, and bees. Exclusion experiments demonstrated that tāwari is capable of producing viable seed under cross-fertilisation, self-fertilisation, and agamospermy. Breeding system indices demonstrated that tāwari is medium pollen limited (PLI = 0.31), self-compatible (SCI = 0.93), and autonomously selfing (ASI = 0.65).
Question two was addressed by video surveillance of tāwari seed capsules, morphological observation, and by a series of germination experiments. Video failure meant that with limited footage (mostly at night) no dispersal activity was captured on film. However, using available literature and observations of seed morphology birds were considered the most probable effective disperser. Germination trials included standard conditions, shade, seeds left in fruit, seeds deposited on soil surface, and seeds buried at 5 cm soil depth. Germination was most effective in the buried treatment (average 85% germination) and the soil surface treatment (average 75% germination).
Cluster analysis and NMS (Non-Metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling) ordination of 641 plots of tāwari forest from the NVS (National Vegetation Survey) database was used to assess the community associations of tāwari. Based on plot species assemblage, the analysis showed four main forest types that are largely separate in geographical space: Northland, Coromandel, Kaimai, and Urewera. Each type had significant indicator species that were constrained in range by latitudinal limits. Recent literature suggests that environmental variables that most influence tāwari forest distribution are annual temperature and rainfall in conjunction with solar radiation. Tāwari forest occupies only areas which are cool and moist, and seedlings are biased toward high light conditions. In the central North Island tāwari had the highest probability of occurrence in sites with a mean annual temperature of 11° to 13° Celsius, mean annual rainfall between 2000 and 2250 mm annually, and mean solar radiation of 143 to 145 MJ m2 per day. Parent material also plays an important part, especially the depth of Taupō Pumice deposits as tāwari forest is more prone to occur in areas of mature soil where depth of volcanic deposits is not excessive. 
Information on tāwari from the present thesis combined with other published and unpublished sources is presented in the form of a New Zealand Biological Flora Series journal contribution.
Recommendations for further research on tāwari and New Zealand reproductive biology in general are given.

text: Reproductive Biology and Ecology of the Endemic New Zealand Tree Ixerba brexioides (tāwari) This research investigated the ecology of Ixerba brexioides (tāwari) with regard to pollination, breeding strategy, seed biology, and forest composition. Research was focused around three main questions:
1.	How is tāwari pollinated with regard to vector and pollen source? How is it adapted for this?
2.	How is seed dispersal of tāwari achieved and under what conditions is germination most successful?
3.	What are the dominant community associations of tāwari what how are they constrained by environmental variables?
The first research question was addressed using video surveillance, nectar analysis, and artificial pollination experiments in a small tract of tāwari forest at Tūī Ridge Park in the Mamaku Range, North Island, New Zealand. Analysis of 125 hours of video footage showed that tāwari is predominantly insect pollinated with occasional bird visitation. The most frequent flower visitors were flies and nocturnal moths. Tāwari nectar volume peaked at midday, and declined toward the late afternoon, before increasing again at dusk. This pattern of nectar secretion followed closely the activity patterns of flies during the day and moths at night. Nectar sugar concentration was 11% on average (range 3% to 20%) which is considered low, but is suited to moths, bats, birds, and bees. Exclusion experiments demonstrated that tāwari is capable of producing viable seed under cross-fertilisation, self-fertilisation, and agamospermy. Breeding system indices demonstrated that tāwari is medium pollen limited (PLI = 0.31), self-compatible (SCI = 0.93), and autonomously selfing (ASI = 0.65).
Question two was addressed by video surveillance of tāwari seed capsules, morphological observation, and by a series of germination experiments. Video failure meant that with limited footage (mostly at night) no dispersal activity was captured on film. However, using available literature and observations of seed morphology birds were considered the most probable effective disperser. Germination trials included standard conditions, shade, seeds left in fruit, seeds deposited on soil surface, and seeds buried at 5 cm soil depth. Germination was most effective in the buried treatment (average 85% germination) and the soil surface treatment (average 75% germination).
Cluster analysis and NMS (Non-Metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling) ordination of 641 plots of tāwari forest from the NVS (National Vegetation Survey) database was used to assess the community associations of tāwari. Based on plot species assemblage, the analysis showed four main forest types that are largely separate in geographical space: Northland, Coromandel, Kaimai, and Urewera. Each type had significant indicator species that were constrained in range by latitudinal limits. Recent literature suggests that environmental variables that most influence tāwari forest distribution are annual temperature and rainfall in conjunction with solar radiation. Tāwari forest occupies only areas which are cool and moist, and seedlings are biased toward high light conditions. In the central North Island tāwari had the highest probability of occurrence in sites with a mean annual temperature of 11° to 13° Celsius, mean annual rainfall between 2000 and 2250 mm annually, and mean solar radiation of 143 to 145 MJ m2 per day. Parent material also plays an important part, especially the depth of Taupō Pumice deposits as tāwari forest is more prone to occur in areas of mature soil where depth of volcanic deposits is not excessive. 
Information on tāwari from the present thesis combined with other published and unpublished sources is presented in the form of a New Zealand Biological Flora Series journal contribution.
Recommendations for further research on tāwari and New Zealand reproductive biology in general are given.

year: 2013

title: Vital evidence: Change in the marine ¹⁴C reservoir around New Zealand (Aotearoa) and implications for the timing of Polynesian settlement.

authors: Petchey, Fiona

abstract: Precise and accurate radiocarbon chronologies are essential to achieve tight chronological control for the ~ 750-years since Polynesian settlement of New Zealand. This goal has, however, been elusive. While radiocarbon datasets in the region are typically dominated by marine and estuarine shell dates, such chronological information has been ignored by those interpreting the timing of key events because a detailed regional calibration methodology for marine shell, comparable to the highly precise Southern Hemisphere calibration curve, is lacking. In this paper, we present the first temporal ¹⁴C marine offset (ΔR) model for New Zealand based on paired estuarine/marine and terrestrial radiocarbon dates from 52 archaeological contexts. Our dataset displays significant offsets between the measured New Zealand data and the modelled global marine radiocarbon curve. These shifts are associated with oceanographic fluctuation at the onset of the Little Ice Age ~ AD 1350-1450 (650-500 BP). The application of a regional and temporal correction to archaeological shell dates provides complimentary information to terrestrial radiocarbon production and has the potential to add structure to the blurred chronology that has plagued archaeological theories about the colonization of New Zealand, and other Pacific islands, for decades.

text: Vital evidence: Change in the marine ¹⁴C reservoir around New Zealand (Aotearoa) and implications for the timing of Polynesian settlement. Precise and accurate radiocarbon chronologies are essential to achieve tight chronological control for the ~ 750-years since Polynesian settlement of New Zealand. This goal has, however, been elusive. While radiocarbon datasets in the region are typically dominated by marine and estuarine shell dates, such chronological information has been ignored by those interpreting the timing of key events because a detailed regional calibration methodology for marine shell, comparable to the highly precise Southern Hemisphere calibration curve, is lacking. In this paper, we present the first temporal ¹⁴C marine offset (ΔR) model for New Zealand based on paired estuarine/marine and terrestrial radiocarbon dates from 52 archaeological contexts. Our dataset displays significant offsets between the measured New Zealand data and the modelled global marine radiocarbon curve. These shifts are associated with oceanographic fluctuation at the onset of the Little Ice Age ~ AD 1350-1450 (650-500 BP). The application of a regional and temporal correction to archaeological shell dates provides complimentary information to terrestrial radiocarbon production and has the potential to add structure to the blurred chronology that has plagued archaeological theories about the colonization of New Zealand, and other Pacific islands, for decades.

year: 2020