title: Do ship rats display predatory behaviour towards house mice?

authors: Bridgman, Lucy Jade

subjects: black rat

abstract: Control operations for invasive ship rats, Rattus rattus, in New Zealand forests are often followed by increased house mouse, Mus musculus, detections suggesting rats suppress mice. A potential mechanism is intraguild predation, either by interference competition or as simple predatory behaviour. If aggression by rats towards mice is mainly competitive, it should include threat and display features associated with, for example, intraspecific fighting. If predatory, it should lack these features and be associated with feeding. In the first of two captive experiments we observed interactions between paired, live rodents, either side of a wire-mesh screen, and found that most rats were aggressive to mice. This aggression lacked threat and display characteristics typical of encounters with conspecifics and was rarely reciprocated by mice. In a second experiment, euthanized mice were drawn by a line through cages occupied by rats fed either a restricted or unrestricted diet. Rats of both groups attacked and restrained the euthanized mice, and all rats that interacted with the mice ate at least part of them, although food-restricted rats tended to eat more. As the aggressive response of ship rats towards mice lacked threat and display features and was related to feeding, we conclude that it resembles predatory behaviour. Our findings provide a better understanding of the interactions between ship rats and house mice, which hinder their management where they coexist as damaging invaders. However, further research is required to determine whether the results of our captive experiments are consistent with wild rat behaviour.

text: Do ship rats display predatory behaviour towards house mice? Control operations for invasive ship rats, Rattus rattus, in New Zealand forests are often followed by increased house mouse, Mus musculus, detections suggesting rats suppress mice. A potential mechanism is intraguild predation, either by interference competition or as simple predatory behaviour. If aggression by rats towards mice is mainly competitive, it should include threat and display features associated with, for example, intraspecific fighting. If predatory, it should lack these features and be associated with feeding. In the first of two captive experiments we observed interactions between paired, live rodents, either side of a wire-mesh screen, and found that most rats were aggressive to mice. This aggression lacked threat and display characteristics typical of encounters with conspecifics and was rarely reciprocated by mice. In a second experiment, euthanized mice were drawn by a line through cages occupied by rats fed either a restricted or unrestricted diet. Rats of both groups attacked and restrained the euthanized mice, and all rats that interacted with the mice ate at least part of them, although food-restricted rats tended to eat more. As the aggressive response of ship rats towards mice lacked threat and display features and was related to feeding, we conclude that it resembles predatory behaviour. Our findings provide a better understanding of the interactions between ship rats and house mice, which hinder their management where they coexist as damaging invaders. However, further research is required to determine whether the results of our captive experiments are consistent with wild rat behaviour.

year: 2013

title: The carbon-based environmental impact of learning at the University of Waikato

authors: Harlow, Stephen

abstract: In a world where man-made carbon emissions are exacerbating the natural warming of the earth, with serious consequences, it is beholden on universities to show leadership by accounting for, and mitigating, their carbon emissions. This research accounts for the carbon-based environmental impact of the face-to-face and online delivery of higher education at the University of Waikato. Drawing on an existing environmental assessment methodology, data was gathered by web-based survey on the key sources of carbon emissions associated with a student’s university study, namely: travel, place of residence, and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and paper. As part of updating and localising the methodology, new calculations were made for internet, textbook, residential and campus site energies and an improved method for computing the impact of printing was developed. The data were analysed, allowing for comparisons to be made between online and face-to-face students’ carbon emissions, and with some care the limited previous research. The main sources of carbon-based environmental impact were travel, campus and residential energy. Online students’ emissions were, on average, one-third of those of their on-campus peers.

text: The carbon-based environmental impact of learning at the University of Waikato In a world where man-made carbon emissions are exacerbating the natural warming of the earth, with serious consequences, it is beholden on universities to show leadership by accounting for, and mitigating, their carbon emissions. This research accounts for the carbon-based environmental impact of the face-to-face and online delivery of higher education at the University of Waikato. Drawing on an existing environmental assessment methodology, data was gathered by web-based survey on the key sources of carbon emissions associated with a student’s university study, namely: travel, place of residence, and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and paper. As part of updating and localising the methodology, new calculations were made for internet, textbook, residential and campus site energies and an improved method for computing the impact of printing was developed. The data were analysed, allowing for comparisons to be made between online and face-to-face students’ carbon emissions, and with some care the limited previous research. The main sources of carbon-based environmental impact were travel, campus and residential energy. Online students’ emissions were, on average, one-third of those of their on-campus peers.

year: 2016

title: E kui Rāwinia

authors: Maxwell, Te Kahautu

subjects: Waiata tangi

abstract: He waiata tangi tēnei mō Rāwinia Te Kani he uri nō Te Whakatōhea.  I whānau mai a Rāwinia ki roto o Ngāti Rua he hapū nō Te Whakatōhea, i pakeke mai ia ki roto o Ngāti Rua ki Ōmarumutu, ā, i kuraina ia ki reira.  He wahine rongonui a Rāwinia ki roto o Tūranga i moe ia i a Tokorua Te Kani he ariki nō roto o Tūranga.  Hoi anō he wahine haka a Rāwinia he kuia tāngia ki te moko kauae me te tautoko i ngā mokopū wānanga puta i te motu.  He waiata tangi tēnei mōna nā tana iwi a Te Whakatōhea.

text: E kui Rāwinia He waiata tangi tēnei mō Rāwinia Te Kani he uri nō Te Whakatōhea.  I whānau mai a Rāwinia ki roto o Ngāti Rua he hapū nō Te Whakatōhea, i pakeke mai ia ki roto o Ngāti Rua ki Ōmarumutu, ā, i kuraina ia ki reira.  He wahine rongonui a Rāwinia ki roto o Tūranga i moe ia i a Tokorua Te Kani he ariki nō roto o Tūranga.  Hoi anō he wahine haka a Rāwinia he kuia tāngia ki te moko kauae me te tautoko i ngā mokopū wānanga puta i te motu.  He waiata tangi tēnei mōna nā tana iwi a Te Whakatōhea.

year: 2016