title: Abundance, behaviour and habitat requirements of the banded kokopu Galaxias fasciatus Gray (Pisces: Galaxiidae)

authors: McCullough, Cherie

subjects: Fisheries

abstract: The native freshwater banded kokopu (Galaxias fasciatus Gray) is generally regarded as a nocturnal predator of small native forest streams.  Current methods for determining absolute abundances of this species in these streams is usually by the expensive, labour intensive, and invasive method of electric fishing.  Spotlighting at night has previously been used to determine their presence and relative abundance, although the proportion seen (the bias of the method) was unknown.  This bias was quantified by determining the numbers of banded kokopu seen at night in 20 m reaches against population estimates made in the same reaches the following day by removal electric fishing.  This showed that, on average, only around 64% of fish of all sizes were being seen.  Counts made by spotlighting therefore should be multiplied by 1.57 to correct for this bias and to estimate for the actual number of fish present.  Spotlighting was found to be less efficient for smaller fish (approximately <60 mm total length), with only around 42% being observed.  Spotlight counts for smaller fish therefore needed to be multiplied by 2.41 to estimate the actual abundances of fish of this size.  Fish larger than this size, however, were more often seen (0.70) requiring their spotlight counts only to be multiplied by 1.42 to correct for their spotlight estimates.

	Banded kokopu diel activity was studied using time-lapse video recordings with a low-light sensitive camera placed above pools in natural streams.  Two major activity peaks were noted; one from 6:00 a.m. to around 8:00 a.m., the other from around 2:00 p.m. to around 7:30 p.m.  Foraging behaviour, intra- and interspecific behaviours, and mode of swimming were all also noted.

	Nocturnal habitat preferences and suitability functions were derived for all sizes of banded kokopu together, and then for the two aforementioned size classes separately.  The following variables were tested for; mean column water velocity, surface water velocity, column depth, substrate size, and cover type.  Used habitat data was collected at night by a colour filtered spotlight, with a small floating marker being placed at the focal point of the fish.  The particular characteristics of this point were then measured along with available habitat data the following day.  Fish were found to have a very narrow preference for very slow water velocities (around 0.05 m/s), with juveniles preferring slightly faster than adults when considered separately.  Preferred water depths for both sizes were around 0.8 m, and preferred substrate sizes were fine gravels, sand, and silt.  Preferred cover for all sizes was for tree and tree fern roots and undercut banks, as it also was for larger fish when considered separately.  Smaller fish did not use tree fern roots significantly, but instead preferred the cover of cobbles.  This smaller sized fish also made use of tree roots and undercut banks.

	These new banded kokopu habitat preference data were then applied to an IFIM situation in the Waitakere River (West Auckland), where Resource Consent for abstraction of 0.0041 m³/ s (total daily abstraction of 119 m³) was being requested for irrigation of the adjacent Waitakere Golf Course.  The headwaters of this river are situated in the pristine native forest of the Waitakere Ranges.  This river also contains a significant dam (the Waitakere Reservoir) a few kilometres upstream of the proposed site of abstraction which diverts 16, 000 m³ a day to out of stream uses.  This figure represents approximately 80% of water that would otherwise continue downstream and eventually to the ecologically significant freshwater Te Henga Wetland.  Changes in weighted useable area (WUA) as flow decreased as a result of this abstraction were modelled on the DOS program “RHYHABSIM” for fish and invertebrates known to be in this river.  A comparison was also made of this habitat flow method with the North American Tennant method; an historical flow method which determines the effects of flows by set proportions of the mean low flow.  No substantial reduction in WUA was noted for any of the species following abstraction from either a mean low flow (0.0200 m³/s), or a one-in-five-year low flow (0.0134 m³/s).  Endorsement was therefore given for the proposed abstraction to Receive Consent.  Recommendations on the time of day that the abstraction should take place, and other further methods to mitigate the ecological effects of this abstraction are also made.

text: Abundance, behaviour and habitat requirements of the banded kokopu Galaxias fasciatus Gray (Pisces: Galaxiidae) The native freshwater banded kokopu (Galaxias fasciatus Gray) is generally regarded as a nocturnal predator of small native forest streams.  Current methods for determining absolute abundances of this species in these streams is usually by the expensive, labour intensive, and invasive method of electric fishing.  Spotlighting at night has previously been used to determine their presence and relative abundance, although the proportion seen (the bias of the method) was unknown.  This bias was quantified by determining the numbers of banded kokopu seen at night in 20 m reaches against population estimates made in the same reaches the following day by removal electric fishing.  This showed that, on average, only around 64% of fish of all sizes were being seen.  Counts made by spotlighting therefore should be multiplied by 1.57 to correct for this bias and to estimate for the actual number of fish present.  Spotlighting was found to be less efficient for smaller fish (approximately <60 mm total length), with only around 42% being observed.  Spotlight counts for smaller fish therefore needed to be multiplied by 2.41 to estimate the actual abundances of fish of this size.  Fish larger than this size, however, were more often seen (0.70) requiring their spotlight counts only to be multiplied by 1.42 to correct for their spotlight estimates.

	Banded kokopu diel activity was studied using time-lapse video recordings with a low-light sensitive camera placed above pools in natural streams.  Two major activity peaks were noted; one from 6:00 a.m. to around 8:00 a.m., the other from around 2:00 p.m. to around 7:30 p.m.  Foraging behaviour, intra- and interspecific behaviours, and mode of swimming were all also noted.

	Nocturnal habitat preferences and suitability functions were derived for all sizes of banded kokopu together, and then for the two aforementioned size classes separately.  The following variables were tested for; mean column water velocity, surface water velocity, column depth, substrate size, and cover type.  Used habitat data was collected at night by a colour filtered spotlight, with a small floating marker being placed at the focal point of the fish.  The particular characteristics of this point were then measured along with available habitat data the following day.  Fish were found to have a very narrow preference for very slow water velocities (around 0.05 m/s), with juveniles preferring slightly faster than adults when considered separately.  Preferred water depths for both sizes were around 0.8 m, and preferred substrate sizes were fine gravels, sand, and silt.  Preferred cover for all sizes was for tree and tree fern roots and undercut banks, as it also was for larger fish when considered separately.  Smaller fish did not use tree fern roots significantly, but instead preferred the cover of cobbles.  This smaller sized fish also made use of tree roots and undercut banks.

	These new banded kokopu habitat preference data were then applied to an IFIM situation in the Waitakere River (West Auckland), where Resource Consent for abstraction of 0.0041 m³/ s (total daily abstraction of 119 m³) was being requested for irrigation of the adjacent Waitakere Golf Course.  The headwaters of this river are situated in the pristine native forest of the Waitakere Ranges.  This river also contains a significant dam (the Waitakere Reservoir) a few kilometres upstream of the proposed site of abstraction which diverts 16, 000 m³ a day to out of stream uses.  This figure represents approximately 80% of water that would otherwise continue downstream and eventually to the ecologically significant freshwater Te Henga Wetland.  Changes in weighted useable area (WUA) as flow decreased as a result of this abstraction were modelled on the DOS program “RHYHABSIM” for fish and invertebrates known to be in this river.  A comparison was also made of this habitat flow method with the North American Tennant method; an historical flow method which determines the effects of flows by set proportions of the mean low flow.  No substantial reduction in WUA was noted for any of the species following abstraction from either a mean low flow (0.0200 m³/s), or a one-in-five-year low flow (0.0134 m³/s).  Endorsement was therefore given for the proposed abstraction to Receive Consent.  Recommendations on the time of day that the abstraction should take place, and other further methods to mitigate the ecological effects of this abstraction are also made.

year: 1998

title: Motivation factors for students using Generative AI

authors: Sheridan, Brendan Daniel

subjects: Academic Integrity

abstract: Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has caused a shift in approaches to assessment and academic integrity in tertiary institutions. Recent research internationally and within Australasia underscores the need for responsible GenAI conduct and preparation for a future where work and education are shaped by GenAI technologies. However, ethical considerations often need to be made based on the impact on human research, intellectual property rights, and AI literacy in higher education. Academic integrity and ethical considerations should be used to balance hasty approaches to GenAI to ensure tertiary institutions provide inclusive learning opportunities. All of these impact on the need to understand what motivates student use of GenAI. Using the framework proposed by Bouteraa et al. (2024) as a model, this presentation applies data and results from recent literature to explore the factors which motivate use of Generative AI in a tertiary education context. These factors consist of Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Technological Self-Efficacy, Educational Self-Efficacy, Integrity, and Personal Anxiety. The presentation highlights what factors make students likely to use Generative AI, what factors demotivate use, and how motivation and demotivation do not always produce a desired outcome.

text: Motivation factors for students using Generative AI Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has caused a shift in approaches to assessment and academic integrity in tertiary institutions. Recent research internationally and within Australasia underscores the need for responsible GenAI conduct and preparation for a future where work and education are shaped by GenAI technologies. However, ethical considerations often need to be made based on the impact on human research, intellectual property rights, and AI literacy in higher education. Academic integrity and ethical considerations should be used to balance hasty approaches to GenAI to ensure tertiary institutions provide inclusive learning opportunities. All of these impact on the need to understand what motivates student use of GenAI. Using the framework proposed by Bouteraa et al. (2024) as a model, this presentation applies data and results from recent literature to explore the factors which motivate use of Generative AI in a tertiary education context. These factors consist of Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Technological Self-Efficacy, Educational Self-Efficacy, Integrity, and Personal Anxiety. The presentation highlights what factors make students likely to use Generative AI, what factors demotivate use, and how motivation and demotivation do not always produce a desired outcome.

year: 2025-09-05

title: Science-practice roadshow 1: Summary perspectives from centralised entities and agencies

authors: Serrao-Neumann, Silvia

abstract: Flooding is Aotearoa-New Zealand’s most frequent natural hazard, regularly damaging buildings and infrastructure networks, and causing months of disruption to communities and businesses (Hutchings et al. 2019). Also, floods have indirect, cascading, and more intangible impacts (Lawrence, Blackett, and Cradock-Henry 2020), such as the withdrawal of future investment or the emotional stress of recovery. flood risk is predicted to rise quickly due to the combination of climate change and rapid urban intensification (Ministry for the Environment and The Flood Risk Management and River Control Review Steering Group 2008). 

Currently, there is no consistent approach to accurately determine flood risk on a national scale, nor how this may be changing as the climate warms. Instead, flooding risk assessments are done for individual catchments or locations, with the goal of managing and mitigating on the local scale. Local and regional governments vary widely in their capability and capacity to undertake this work (Ford, Berrang-Ford, and Berrang Ford 2011) and, thus, significant differences in data availability and modelling approaches mean that integration of results to gain a pan-region or nationwide picture has not been possible. 

The ‘Mā te haumaru ō nga puna wai ō Rākaihautū ka ora mo ake tonu: Increasing flood resilience across Aotearoa’ research develop a detailed nationwide model that could inform strategic and co-ordinated nationwide decision-making and regulations to support improved resilience to flood risk across the country. Utilising new methods and advances in computer processing and automation, the programme is developing a dynamic risk modelling framework that will assess flood hazard for every catchment in the country and under differing climate scenarios. The model will account for the risks to both built infrastructure and communities so that a fuller understanding of societal costs and impacts can be established. The model’s utility for supporting decision-making will be investigated using an initial set of scenarios for environmental planning, policy settings and infrastructure investment options. Two overarching themes across all of the research - Mtauranga Mori and Uncertainty – are designed to utilise the diverse knowledge systems available to develop tools that are relevant for communities throughout Aotearoa-New Zealand, and to take into account and communicate more clearly flood risks. 

Improved resilience to flooding across Aotearoa-New Zealand is a key outcome sought by the research programme, however it cannot be achieved by research alone. Instead, knowledge and information developed within the programme must be utilised by practitioners in their work to assist communities to plan for, manage, mitigate and avoid flood risks. New knowledge from the programme must be incorporated by practitioners into further tools, policy and decision-making frameworks. This knowledge translation however is not a straight forward process (Dilling and Lemos 2011). Cultural, behavioural and cognitive differences between those who produce and those who utilise knowledge mean that research outputs may not fit the requirements of their intended users, and thus, uptake of research outputs may be compromised. Conversely, strong engagement of knowledge users in the knowledge production process is known to increase the likelihood, and impact, of knowledge implementation. 

Stakeholders are key members of the programme’s research team, representing views across central and local government, engineering, planning consultancies, emergency management, insurance and banking industries, and Te Rūnanga o Wairewa (Banks Peninsula). To broaden the range of stakeholder perspectives, and to facilitate relationships across the programme, we have established a boundary organisation – Te W Te W . Boundary organisations (Guston 2001; Kirchhoff, Esselman, and Brown 2015) are forums that bridge between the two relatively different social worlds of knowledge producers (researchers/scientists) and users (practitioners/policy makers). These forums create and sustain legitimate space and collaboration for knowledge/information to be co-designed, co-produced and co-disseminated (Serrao-Neumann, Di Giulio, and Low Choy 2020). Within our programme, Te W Te W is responsible for organising and facilitating communication and collaboration activities – events (Science-Practice oadshows), communications channels such as an electronic newsletter and website, and learning opportunities. Through this organisation, we are fostering trust, legitimacy and capacity for information use so that our research results will be usable, useful, and used. 

This report summarises the discussion and perspectives shared at the first Science-Practice Roadshow held in October 2021.

text: Science-practice roadshow 1: Summary perspectives from centralised entities and agencies Flooding is Aotearoa-New Zealand’s most frequent natural hazard, regularly damaging buildings and infrastructure networks, and causing months of disruption to communities and businesses (Hutchings et al. 2019). Also, floods have indirect, cascading, and more intangible impacts (Lawrence, Blackett, and Cradock-Henry 2020), such as the withdrawal of future investment or the emotional stress of recovery. flood risk is predicted to rise quickly due to the combination of climate change and rapid urban intensification (Ministry for the Environment and The Flood Risk Management and River Control Review Steering Group 2008). 

Currently, there is no consistent approach to accurately determine flood risk on a national scale, nor how this may be changing as the climate warms. Instead, flooding risk assessments are done for individual catchments or locations, with the goal of managing and mitigating on the local scale. Local and regional governments vary widely in their capability and capacity to undertake this work (Ford, Berrang-Ford, and Berrang Ford 2011) and, thus, significant differences in data availability and modelling approaches mean that integration of results to gain a pan-region or nationwide picture has not been possible. 

The ‘Mā te haumaru ō nga puna wai ō Rākaihautū ka ora mo ake tonu: Increasing flood resilience across Aotearoa’ research develop a detailed nationwide model that could inform strategic and co-ordinated nationwide decision-making and regulations to support improved resilience to flood risk across the country. Utilising new methods and advances in computer processing and automation, the programme is developing a dynamic risk modelling framework that will assess flood hazard for every catchment in the country and under differing climate scenarios. The model will account for the risks to both built infrastructure and communities so that a fuller understanding of societal costs and impacts can be established. The model’s utility for supporting decision-making will be investigated using an initial set of scenarios for environmental planning, policy settings and infrastructure investment options. Two overarching themes across all of the research - Mtauranga Mori and Uncertainty – are designed to utilise the diverse knowledge systems available to develop tools that are relevant for communities throughout Aotearoa-New Zealand, and to take into account and communicate more clearly flood risks. 

Improved resilience to flooding across Aotearoa-New Zealand is a key outcome sought by the research programme, however it cannot be achieved by research alone. Instead, knowledge and information developed within the programme must be utilised by practitioners in their work to assist communities to plan for, manage, mitigate and avoid flood risks. New knowledge from the programme must be incorporated by practitioners into further tools, policy and decision-making frameworks. This knowledge translation however is not a straight forward process (Dilling and Lemos 2011). Cultural, behavioural and cognitive differences between those who produce and those who utilise knowledge mean that research outputs may not fit the requirements of their intended users, and thus, uptake of research outputs may be compromised. Conversely, strong engagement of knowledge users in the knowledge production process is known to increase the likelihood, and impact, of knowledge implementation. 

Stakeholders are key members of the programme’s research team, representing views across central and local government, engineering, planning consultancies, emergency management, insurance and banking industries, and Te Rūnanga o Wairewa (Banks Peninsula). To broaden the range of stakeholder perspectives, and to facilitate relationships across the programme, we have established a boundary organisation – Te W Te W . Boundary organisations (Guston 2001; Kirchhoff, Esselman, and Brown 2015) are forums that bridge between the two relatively different social worlds of knowledge producers (researchers/scientists) and users (practitioners/policy makers). These forums create and sustain legitimate space and collaboration for knowledge/information to be co-designed, co-produced and co-disseminated (Serrao-Neumann, Di Giulio, and Low Choy 2020). Within our programme, Te W Te W is responsible for organising and facilitating communication and collaboration activities – events (Science-Practice oadshows), communications channels such as an electronic newsletter and website, and learning opportunities. Through this organisation, we are fostering trust, legitimacy and capacity for information use so that our research results will be usable, useful, and used. 

This report summarises the discussion and perspectives shared at the first Science-Practice Roadshow held in October 2021.

year: 2022-02