title: Seeing the forest for the genes: using metagenomics to infer the aggregated traits of microbial communities

authors: Fierer, Noah

subjects: metagenomics

abstract: Most environments harbor large numbers of microbial taxa with ecologies that remain poorly described and characterizing the functional capabilities of whole communities remains a key challenge in microbial ecology. Shotgun metagenomic analyses are increasingly recognized as a powerful tool to understand community-level attributes. However, much of this data is under-utilized due, in part, to a lack of conceptual strategies for linking the metagenomic data to the most relevant community-level characteristics. Microbial ecologists could benefit by borrowing the concept of community-aggregated traits (CATs) from plant ecologists to glean more insight from the ever-increasing amount of metagenomic data being generated. CATs can be used to quantify the mean and variance of functional traits found in a given community. A CAT-based strategy will often yield far more useful information for predicting the functional attributes of diverse microbial communities and changes in those attributes than the more commonly used analytical strategies. A more careful consideration of what CATs to measure and how they can be quantified from metagenomic data, will help build a more integrated understanding of complex microbial communities.

text: Seeing the forest for the genes: using metagenomics to infer the aggregated traits of microbial communities Most environments harbor large numbers of microbial taxa with ecologies that remain poorly described and characterizing the functional capabilities of whole communities remains a key challenge in microbial ecology. Shotgun metagenomic analyses are increasingly recognized as a powerful tool to understand community-level attributes. However, much of this data is under-utilized due, in part, to a lack of conceptual strategies for linking the metagenomic data to the most relevant community-level characteristics. Microbial ecologists could benefit by borrowing the concept of community-aggregated traits (CATs) from plant ecologists to glean more insight from the ever-increasing amount of metagenomic data being generated. CATs can be used to quantify the mean and variance of functional traits found in a given community. A CAT-based strategy will often yield far more useful information for predicting the functional attributes of diverse microbial communities and changes in those attributes than the more commonly used analytical strategies. A more careful consideration of what CATs to measure and how they can be quantified from metagenomic data, will help build a more integrated understanding of complex microbial communities.

year: 2014-11-12

title: An Integrated Stratigraphy of Tauranga Harbour

authors: MacPherson, David

subjects: Tauranga

abstract: Tauranga Basin is a Quaternary basin filled with successions of terrestrial and coastal sediments. The largest feature of Tauranga Basin is Tauranga Harbour, a 570km2 estuary. This is home to the Port of Tauranga, New Zealands largest export port. Studies conducted following an initial study by Davis and Healy (1993) have found complex distributions of the sediments within the dredged shipping channel. This research used 86 vibracores and limited seismic data to identify four main facies within the shallow subsurface of the dredged channel and establish their distribution.
Four facies were identified within the shallow subsurface: the Volcanic Sand facies, a silt to fine sand volcaniclastic succession; the Silt facies, a silt to very fine sand lacustrine deposit; the Coastal Sands facies, a medium to coarse coastal sand deposit; and the Pumiceous Sand Facies, a medium to coarse sand succession with abundant pumice.

Within the dredged shipping channel, the Volcanic Sands and Silt facies outcrop at the surface, and appear as ridges in the subsurface. Draped over these ridges is the Coastal Sands facies, which in some cores is overlain by Pumiceous Sands. The Volcanic Sands facies represents a succession of tephra deposits, with some reworking between depositional events. In the Maunganui Roads region of the harbour this is overlain by the lacustrine Silt facies, formed from the reworking of the Volcanic Sands. The region was then inundated by the Holocene marine transgression, leading to the deposition of the Coastal Sands facies, sourced from offshore. This Coastal Sands facies is then overlain in areas by Pumiceous Sands, small mobile sand waves that exist within the shipping channel. These are formed following the erosion of ignimbrite cliffs around the harbour, with some input from the outside the harbour. This represents a change in source for sedimentation in the harbour.

An updated model of the paleogeographic development of the harbour is presented, using data from this and other studies. This model shows the presence of a braided river flowing through Stella Passage, before the development of a lake and the subsequent Holocene marine transgression leading to the evolution of the sand spit and Matakana barrier island.

text: An Integrated Stratigraphy of Tauranga Harbour Tauranga Basin is a Quaternary basin filled with successions of terrestrial and coastal sediments. The largest feature of Tauranga Basin is Tauranga Harbour, a 570km2 estuary. This is home to the Port of Tauranga, New Zealands largest export port. Studies conducted following an initial study by Davis and Healy (1993) have found complex distributions of the sediments within the dredged shipping channel. This research used 86 vibracores and limited seismic data to identify four main facies within the shallow subsurface of the dredged channel and establish their distribution.
Four facies were identified within the shallow subsurface: the Volcanic Sand facies, a silt to fine sand volcaniclastic succession; the Silt facies, a silt to very fine sand lacustrine deposit; the Coastal Sands facies, a medium to coarse coastal sand deposit; and the Pumiceous Sand Facies, a medium to coarse sand succession with abundant pumice.

Within the dredged shipping channel, the Volcanic Sands and Silt facies outcrop at the surface, and appear as ridges in the subsurface. Draped over these ridges is the Coastal Sands facies, which in some cores is overlain by Pumiceous Sands. The Volcanic Sands facies represents a succession of tephra deposits, with some reworking between depositional events. In the Maunganui Roads region of the harbour this is overlain by the lacustrine Silt facies, formed from the reworking of the Volcanic Sands. The region was then inundated by the Holocene marine transgression, leading to the deposition of the Coastal Sands facies, sourced from offshore. This Coastal Sands facies is then overlain in areas by Pumiceous Sands, small mobile sand waves that exist within the shipping channel. These are formed following the erosion of ignimbrite cliffs around the harbour, with some input from the outside the harbour. This represents a change in source for sedimentation in the harbour.

An updated model of the paleogeographic development of the harbour is presented, using data from this and other studies. This model shows the presence of a braided river flowing through Stella Passage, before the development of a lake and the subsequent Holocene marine transgression leading to the evolution of the sand spit and Matakana barrier island.

year: 2016

title: Te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori: He aronga motuhake – ngā mokopuna a Te Kapunga

authors: Dewes, Te Kuru o te Marama

subjects: Reo Māori

abstract: Ko te tāhū o tēnei rangahau ko te reo Māori. Ko te ariā matua ko te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori, arā, ko te tuku iho o te reo ki rō whānau mai i ngā mātua ki ngā tamariki, ā, tae rawa iho ki ngā mokopuna. Kia whakawhāiti i te kaupapa, he aronga motuhake tēnei kei te titiro hāngai atu ki ngā whānau e whā ki ngā tāone e toru o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Tāmakimakaurau me Te Rotorua-Nui-a-Kahumatamomoe. Nā te hurahura i ngā āhuatanga reo i roto i ngā kāenga o ngā whānau e whā i kitea mehemea kei te tutuki tēnei tūāhua te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori. Tuia, he aha ngā momo āhuatanga kei te taunaki i tēnei mahi, ā, he aha hoki ngā ārai e whakahōtaetae ana i a ia.  piti atu, i noho ki te ketuketu i ngā whakaaro o ngā mātua e pā ana ki tēnei kaupapa te tuku iho i te reo ki ngā tamariki mokopuna. Kāre i aro ki te kounga o te reo, he kaute noa i ngā whakamahinga reo Māori me whakamahinga reo Pākehā. Kia whakaritea ngā āhuatanga reo o ngā whānau me ngā tamariki, i tū ngā mahi whakarongo ki ngā wāhi e toru, arā, ki rō kāenga, ki rō kura, ka mutu, i tū ki wāhi kē atu hoki. Nā runga i te whakaaro kei te mōrearea tonu te reo Māori, kua herea tēnei kaupapa ki te ahurea me te tuakiri Māori, te mana motuhake me te tino rangatiratanga.

text: Te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori: He aronga motuhake – ngā mokopuna a Te Kapunga Ko te tāhū o tēnei rangahau ko te reo Māori. Ko te ariā matua ko te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori, arā, ko te tuku iho o te reo ki rō whānau mai i ngā mātua ki ngā tamariki, ā, tae rawa iho ki ngā mokopuna. Kia whakawhāiti i te kaupapa, he aronga motuhake tēnei kei te titiro hāngai atu ki ngā whānau e whā ki ngā tāone e toru o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Tāmakimakaurau me Te Rotorua-Nui-a-Kahumatamomoe. Nā te hurahura i ngā āhuatanga reo i roto i ngā kāenga o ngā whānau e whā i kitea mehemea kei te tutuki tēnei tūāhua te tukuihotanga o te reo Māori. Tuia, he aha ngā momo āhuatanga kei te taunaki i tēnei mahi, ā, he aha hoki ngā ārai e whakahōtaetae ana i a ia.  piti atu, i noho ki te ketuketu i ngā whakaaro o ngā mātua e pā ana ki tēnei kaupapa te tuku iho i te reo ki ngā tamariki mokopuna. Kāre i aro ki te kounga o te reo, he kaute noa i ngā whakamahinga reo Māori me whakamahinga reo Pākehā. Kia whakaritea ngā āhuatanga reo o ngā whānau me ngā tamariki, i tū ngā mahi whakarongo ki ngā wāhi e toru, arā, ki rō kāenga, ki rō kura, ka mutu, i tū ki wāhi kē atu hoki. Nā runga i te whakaaro kei te mōrearea tonu te reo Māori, kua herea tēnei kaupapa ki te ahurea me te tuakiri Māori, te mana motuhake me te tino rangatiratanga.

year: 2017