title: Competition between native bees and honey bees on mānuka flowers in New Zealand

authors: Fale, Grant

abstract: Humans have introduced the European subspecies of the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) to every other continent except Antarctica, resulting in the presence of this generalist forager many ecosystems that honey bees are not native to. The impacts of introduced honey bees on these ecosystems are still not well understood. Honey bees were introduced to New Zealand in 1839, and are common visitors to native flowers throughout the country. As honey bees are generalist flower visitors and can present at high abundances, they could potentially be competing with and displacing native flower visitors. The aim of this study was to investigate interactions and possible competition between European-derived honey bees (A. mellifera sspp.) and native bee species (Leioproctus spp) for mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium) floral resources in New Zealand. I assessed a) temporal overlap in activity, b) abundances across time of day, and c) foraging behaviours of honey bees and Leioproctus bees. In a combination of field observations and behaviour experiments I found that a) temporal niche partitioning occurs daily and seasonally and b) both Leioproctus sp and honey bees display behavioural changes in the presence of the other. My observations suggest that competition does occur between honey bees and Leioproctus sp and that both alter their foraging behaviour and activity to reduce this competition. However, more research is required to assess this interspecific competition is great enough to adversely affect either species. Evidence-based understanding of the impacts of honey bees in native ecosystems is critical to our ability to improve honey bee management strategies and/or mitigate adverse effects of honey bee competition to endemic species where honey bees have been introduced.

text: Competition between native bees and honey bees on mānuka flowers in New Zealand Humans have introduced the European subspecies of the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) to every other continent except Antarctica, resulting in the presence of this generalist forager many ecosystems that honey bees are not native to. The impacts of introduced honey bees on these ecosystems are still not well understood. Honey bees were introduced to New Zealand in 1839, and are common visitors to native flowers throughout the country. As honey bees are generalist flower visitors and can present at high abundances, they could potentially be competing with and displacing native flower visitors. The aim of this study was to investigate interactions and possible competition between European-derived honey bees (A. mellifera sspp.) and native bee species (Leioproctus spp) for mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium) floral resources in New Zealand. I assessed a) temporal overlap in activity, b) abundances across time of day, and c) foraging behaviours of honey bees and Leioproctus bees. In a combination of field observations and behaviour experiments I found that a) temporal niche partitioning occurs daily and seasonally and b) both Leioproctus sp and honey bees display behavioural changes in the presence of the other. My observations suggest that competition does occur between honey bees and Leioproctus sp and that both alter their foraging behaviour and activity to reduce this competition. However, more research is required to assess this interspecific competition is great enough to adversely affect either species. Evidence-based understanding of the impacts of honey bees in native ecosystems is critical to our ability to improve honey bee management strategies and/or mitigate adverse effects of honey bee competition to endemic species where honey bees have been introduced.

year: 2023

title: Democracy vs. populism: the transformation of politics in Nigeria?

authors: Adeakin, Ibikunle

subjects: neo-liberal military-directed populism

abstract: Since the return of electoral democracy to Nigeria in 1999, two of the four elected presidents have been former military dictators who have stressed anti-corruption and national security policies in populist campaigns. As military dictators in previous years, they had instigated regimes that had practiced stern military discipline; as populists they have leaned toward these two policies. Reactions to civilian corruption and threats to national security have represented the primary military rationales for mil-itary intervention in the past. A popular vote in 2015 for former military dictator Gen- eral Muhammadu Buhari seems to have represented a continuing preference for popu- lism over democracy. We will examine the new populism in Nigeria, complicated as it is by questions of ethnicity, religion and military identity, with a view to explaining the like- ly outcome of the first peaceful transference of power from one political party to anoth- er in Africa’s most populous country.

text: Democracy vs. populism: the transformation of politics in Nigeria? Since the return of electoral democracy to Nigeria in 1999, two of the four elected presidents have been former military dictators who have stressed anti-corruption and national security policies in populist campaigns. As military dictators in previous years, they had instigated regimes that had practiced stern military discipline; as populists they have leaned toward these two policies. Reactions to civilian corruption and threats to national security have represented the primary military rationales for mil-itary intervention in the past. A popular vote in 2015 for former military dictator Gen- eral Muhammadu Buhari seems to have represented a continuing preference for popu- lism over democracy. We will examine the new populism in Nigeria, complicated as it is by questions of ethnicity, religion and military identity, with a view to explaining the like- ly outcome of the first peaceful transference of power from one political party to anoth- er in Africa’s most populous country.

year: 2017

title: Collective Indigenous approaches to centring Pacific voices of leadership for our futures

authors: Uasike Allen, JM

abstract: Education systems in western nations are often built on a long history of centralising the western canon of knowledge and colonial norms. These norms are perpetuated and reinforced via western research which amplifies the voices of the dominant, while working to silence the values, practices, and knowledges of minority groups. As a colonial nation, Aotearoa New Zealand continues to be impacted by its colonial histories, where colonial (read white) ways of being, knowing, and understanding dominate initial teacher education, schools, tertiary institutions, research, and our everyday lives. However, within education and research more generally, Indigenous and Pacific researchers and practitioners have been working hard to carve out space in institutions to challenge colonial hierarchies of knowledge and make space for Indigenous ways of being, knowing, seeing, doing, and feeling. This article contributes to the work being done by Indigenous and Pacific scholars in Aotearoa New Zealand by detailing our collective, relational approach to convening the special issue of Shifting the System for the Ethnographic Edge journal. Convening a special issue is not unique and groups of academics do it regularly across a range of academic journals and fields. However, our experiences of convening this special issue were quite different. Here we share the journey and reflect on how our focus on privileging the often-marginalised voices of Pacific school leaders was underpinned by an Indigenous, collective approach embedded in the pedagogical practice of Indigenous Storywork. Employing collaborative critical autoethnography, we articulate the ways in which our engagement with each other and the authors within this special issue disrupted western power relations often present in interactions between ‘researchers’ within the university and ‘practitioners’ at the coalface. Furthermore, we demonstrate how engaging in relational practices builds a space that encourages the principles of respect, responsibility, reverence, reciprocity, holism, interrelatedness, and synergy.

text: Collective Indigenous approaches to centring Pacific voices of leadership for our futures Education systems in western nations are often built on a long history of centralising the western canon of knowledge and colonial norms. These norms are perpetuated and reinforced via western research which amplifies the voices of the dominant, while working to silence the values, practices, and knowledges of minority groups. As a colonial nation, Aotearoa New Zealand continues to be impacted by its colonial histories, where colonial (read white) ways of being, knowing, and understanding dominate initial teacher education, schools, tertiary institutions, research, and our everyday lives. However, within education and research more generally, Indigenous and Pacific researchers and practitioners have been working hard to carve out space in institutions to challenge colonial hierarchies of knowledge and make space for Indigenous ways of being, knowing, seeing, doing, and feeling. This article contributes to the work being done by Indigenous and Pacific scholars in Aotearoa New Zealand by detailing our collective, relational approach to convening the special issue of Shifting the System for the Ethnographic Edge journal. Convening a special issue is not unique and groups of academics do it regularly across a range of academic journals and fields. However, our experiences of convening this special issue were quite different. Here we share the journey and reflect on how our focus on privileging the often-marginalised voices of Pacific school leaders was underpinned by an Indigenous, collective approach embedded in the pedagogical practice of Indigenous Storywork. Employing collaborative critical autoethnography, we articulate the ways in which our engagement with each other and the authors within this special issue disrupted western power relations often present in interactions between ‘researchers’ within the university and ‘practitioners’ at the coalface. Furthermore, we demonstrate how engaging in relational practices builds a space that encourages the principles of respect, responsibility, reverence, reciprocity, holism, interrelatedness, and synergy.

year: 2022