title: Ecological restoration in Hamilton City, North Island, New Zealand

authors: Clarkson, Bruce D.

subjects: Hamilton City

abstract: Hamilton City (New Zealand) has less than 20 hectares of high-quality, indigenous species dominated ecosystems, and only 1.6% of the original indigenous vegetation remains within the ecological district. A gradual recognition of the magnitude of landscape transformation has gathered momentum to the stage that there is now a concerted public and private effort to retrofit the City by restoring and reconstructing indigenous ecosystems. The initial focus was on rehabilitating existing key sites, but has shifted to restoring parts of the distinctive gully landform that occupies some 750 ha or 8% of the City. A new initiative at Waiwhakareke (Horseshoe Lake) will involve reconstruction from scratch of a range of ecosystems characteristic of the ecological district over an area of 60 ha. This address will examine a vision for ecological restoration in Hamilton City within the context of policy, education, and community dimensions that have triggered a shift from traditional parks and gardens management to ecosystem management.

text: Ecological restoration in Hamilton City, North Island, New Zealand Hamilton City (New Zealand) has less than 20 hectares of high-quality, indigenous species dominated ecosystems, and only 1.6% of the original indigenous vegetation remains within the ecological district. A gradual recognition of the magnitude of landscape transformation has gathered momentum to the stage that there is now a concerted public and private effort to retrofit the City by restoring and reconstructing indigenous ecosystems. The initial focus was on rehabilitating existing key sites, but has shifted to restoring parts of the distinctive gully landform that occupies some 750 ha or 8% of the City. A new initiative at Waiwhakareke (Horseshoe Lake) will involve reconstruction from scratch of a range of ecosystems characteristic of the ecological district over an area of 60 ha. This address will examine a vision for ecological restoration in Hamilton City within the context of policy, education, and community dimensions that have triggered a shift from traditional parks and gardens management to ecosystem management.

year: 2004

title: Two solutions for deflationism: assertion, explanation, and alethic desires

authors: Wyatt, Jeremy

abstract: Deflationists aim to upend traditional metaphysical inquiry about truth, proposing that we instead investigate why we think and speak about truth as we do. This iconoclastic agenda has faced a consistent barrage of criticisms, many of which have been ably dispatched. In this talk, I’ll focus on two recent challenges to deflationism about the concept TRUTH (or 'conceptual deflationism') that have yet to be addressed. Dorit Bar-On and Keith Simmons have argued that conceptual deflationists cannot account for the plausible Fregean idea that to assert a proposition is to present it as being true. In response, I’ll explain how revisiting the deflationary claim that facts involving TRUTH lack explanatory power reveals the compatibility of this Fregean proposal with conceptual deflationism. Even more recently, Jamin Asay has appealed to ‘alethic desires’ in arguing that TRUTH is a more robust concept than conceptual deflationists allow. The problem is meant to be that conceptual deflationists cannot accommodate the fact that someone who has a belief that p can desire that their belief be true without desiring that p. In response, I’ll explain why the case that Asay presents is likely a product of framing effects and thus poses no threat to conceptual deflationism.

text: Two solutions for deflationism: assertion, explanation, and alethic desires Deflationists aim to upend traditional metaphysical inquiry about truth, proposing that we instead investigate why we think and speak about truth as we do. This iconoclastic agenda has faced a consistent barrage of criticisms, many of which have been ably dispatched. In this talk, I’ll focus on two recent challenges to deflationism about the concept TRUTH (or 'conceptual deflationism') that have yet to be addressed. Dorit Bar-On and Keith Simmons have argued that conceptual deflationists cannot account for the plausible Fregean idea that to assert a proposition is to present it as being true. In response, I’ll explain how revisiting the deflationary claim that facts involving TRUTH lack explanatory power reveals the compatibility of this Fregean proposal with conceptual deflationism. Even more recently, Jamin Asay has appealed to ‘alethic desires’ in arguing that TRUTH is a more robust concept than conceptual deflationists allow. The problem is meant to be that conceptual deflationists cannot accommodate the fact that someone who has a belief that p can desire that their belief be true without desiring that p. In response, I’ll explain why the case that Asay presents is likely a product of framing effects and thus poses no threat to conceptual deflationism.

year: 2022

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