title: Lake Tarawera - The costs of P mitigation and pest control

authors: Corbett, Greg

abstract: Firstly, we have been asked to talk about the costs of mitigating P in the Tarawera catchments. It is reasonably well understood that farming activities can lead to phosphorus loss if they are not managed properly. Recent studies have also shown the possible links between pests and phosphorus loss in forested catchments.
John and I will give this presentation in two parts. I will talk about pests and then John will move to farming. Neither of us will predict how much phosphorus could be managed nor comment on the cost-effectiveness of any actions. We simply attempt to provide ballpark figures for work that could reduce phosphorus losses to the lakes to some degree.

text: Lake Tarawera - The costs of P mitigation and pest control Firstly, we have been asked to talk about the costs of mitigating P in the Tarawera catchments. It is reasonably well understood that farming activities can lead to phosphorus loss if they are not managed properly. Recent studies have also shown the possible links between pests and phosphorus loss in forested catchments.
John and I will give this presentation in two parts. I will talk about pests and then John will move to farming. Neither of us will predict how much phosphorus could be managed nor comment on the cost-effectiveness of any actions. We simply attempt to provide ballpark figures for work that could reduce phosphorus losses to the lakes to some degree.

year: 2017

title: Investigating the use of coreboards by children with developmental disabilities and teachers in a school environment.

authors: Oldfield, Ainsley

subjects: Autism

abstract: Coreboards have become popular as an aid for individuals with disorders, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), who may have issues with speech-language production, but who also often lack more fundamental functional communication skills. The aims of this study were to explore the extent coreboards as an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) were a useful tool for children with developmental disabilities and their teachers to communicate independently and functionally, if they were used effectively in the school environment, if they were used for their intended purpose, and if they were used to facilitate functional communication skills for children with developmental disabilities. The research in this project involved data collection on student and teacher communicative behaviour. The participants in this study were three children aged 9 to 10 with developmental disabilities and their teacher and learning support assistants. The study is a mixed-methods descriptive design and data was collected by direct observations being recorded on a data sheet. The main findings are the student participants did use the coreboard for independent communication as they each individually initiated with the coreboard less than 3% of the time and two of the student participants purpose of initiating use of the coreboard was unknown over half the time. Furthermore, if the adult participants are unable to determine what the purpose of the coreboard use is from the student participants, then the communication act will not be successful as the adult participant will not be able to respond appropriately to the student participant and the lack of success will discourage the student participants from initiating in the future.

text: Investigating the use of coreboards by children with developmental disabilities and teachers in a school environment. Coreboards have become popular as an aid for individuals with disorders, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), who may have issues with speech-language production, but who also often lack more fundamental functional communication skills. The aims of this study were to explore the extent coreboards as an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) were a useful tool for children with developmental disabilities and their teachers to communicate independently and functionally, if they were used effectively in the school environment, if they were used for their intended purpose, and if they were used to facilitate functional communication skills for children with developmental disabilities. The research in this project involved data collection on student and teacher communicative behaviour. The participants in this study were three children aged 9 to 10 with developmental disabilities and their teacher and learning support assistants. The study is a mixed-methods descriptive design and data was collected by direct observations being recorded on a data sheet. The main findings are the student participants did use the coreboard for independent communication as they each individually initiated with the coreboard less than 3% of the time and two of the student participants purpose of initiating use of the coreboard was unknown over half the time. Furthermore, if the adult participants are unable to determine what the purpose of the coreboard use is from the student participants, then the communication act will not be successful as the adult participant will not be able to respond appropriately to the student participant and the lack of success will discourage the student participants from initiating in the future.

year: 2021

title: The Effects of Contaminated Rena Sediments on Juvenile Paua (Haliotis iris)

authors: McSweeney, Caleb S.

subjects: contamiant

abstract: The grounding of the MV Rena on Otaiti resulted in the release of heavy fuel oil and container debris contaminants into the surrounding environments including the rocky shores of the adjacent Mōtītī Island. This is the habitat where significant populations of benthic paua reside. Paua (Haliotis iris) are a staple and consistent food source for Mōtītī Island. Being an offshore island with no amenities, Mōtītī Island residents are reliant on the ocean as a pataka kai (food cupboard) and are therefore acutely aware of environmental influences to the harvest of kaimoana.
This thesis aimed to address concerns relating to the effects of contaminated boundary layer water emanating from contaminated ‘Rena’ sediment on juvenile paua. Research was focused in two areas: 1) the sublethal behavioural effects of contaminated Rena sediment to Paua and 2) the accumulation of trace metals in the edible tissue and viscera mass. The experiments were carried out with the use of a close circuit aquaria in a laboratory environment, followed by a field experiment.
In all experiments, paua in control treatments were healthy by comparison to paua exposed to treatments with Rena contaminated sediments and copper as judged by survivorship and behaviour. The most likely cause of of behavioural aberrations and mortality observed was deemed to be copper as demonstrated by Diffusive Gradient in thin film (DGT) and ambient water analyses in both experiments. Copper that is bioavailable can increase quickly in the edible tissue and viscera mass as was identified as the visceral mass of Rena and copper exposed paua had a higher mean concentration of this and other trace metals.
On Otaiti, the effects to paua from the Rena ship wreck and lost container contents, know to include a medly of metals and other contaminants, is not likely to be limited to copper alone. Results demosntrate the relevance of examining the effects of water borne contaminated plumes emanating from complex mixtures of contaminants. This is rarely done in ecotoxicological studies which tend to focus on individual contaminant compounds.

text: The Effects of Contaminated Rena Sediments on Juvenile Paua (Haliotis iris) The grounding of the MV Rena on Otaiti resulted in the release of heavy fuel oil and container debris contaminants into the surrounding environments including the rocky shores of the adjacent Mōtītī Island. This is the habitat where significant populations of benthic paua reside. Paua (Haliotis iris) are a staple and consistent food source for Mōtītī Island. Being an offshore island with no amenities, Mōtītī Island residents are reliant on the ocean as a pataka kai (food cupboard) and are therefore acutely aware of environmental influences to the harvest of kaimoana.
This thesis aimed to address concerns relating to the effects of contaminated boundary layer water emanating from contaminated ‘Rena’ sediment on juvenile paua. Research was focused in two areas: 1) the sublethal behavioural effects of contaminated Rena sediment to Paua and 2) the accumulation of trace metals in the edible tissue and viscera mass. The experiments were carried out with the use of a close circuit aquaria in a laboratory environment, followed by a field experiment.
In all experiments, paua in control treatments were healthy by comparison to paua exposed to treatments with Rena contaminated sediments and copper as judged by survivorship and behaviour. The most likely cause of of behavioural aberrations and mortality observed was deemed to be copper as demonstrated by Diffusive Gradient in thin film (DGT) and ambient water analyses in both experiments. Copper that is bioavailable can increase quickly in the edible tissue and viscera mass as was identified as the visceral mass of Rena and copper exposed paua had a higher mean concentration of this and other trace metals.
On Otaiti, the effects to paua from the Rena ship wreck and lost container contents, know to include a medly of metals and other contaminants, is not likely to be limited to copper alone. Results demosntrate the relevance of examining the effects of water borne contaminated plumes emanating from complex mixtures of contaminants. This is rarely done in ecotoxicological studies which tend to focus on individual contaminant compounds.

year: 2015