title: A biodiversity jigsaw: A review of current New Zealand legislation and initiatives

authors: Schneider, Annika Barbara Sabine

subjects: biodiversity

abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the current legislation and initiatives surrounding biodiversity management, protection and sustainable use related to the New Zealand local government sector.
Design/methodology/approach: This paper takes the form of an archival review of the academic databases, legislation and biodiversity related websites to ascertain the current legislation and initiatives in place in New Zealand surrounding biodiversity.
Findings: The paper found biodiversity to be managed through a combination of legislation, national policies, strategies, trusts and contestable funds. The majority of biodiversity protection on private land is the responsibility of the 78 local authorities that comprise the local government sector through their administration of the Resource Management Act 1991. Despite the legislative requirement to protect and manage biodiversity the paper confirmed that no statutory framework currently exists to guide biodiversity reporting.
Research limitations/implications: This study is limited to New Zealand biodiversity related legislation and initiatives. As such it may not necessarily be applicable to any other jurisdictions.
Practical implications:This review illustrates the difficulty that exists in navigating the disjointed legislation and other initiatives relating to biodiversity. This currently hinders the development of framework for reporting on biodiversity by local government. However the development of such a framework is crucial to the conservation and sustainable use of New Zealand’s unique biodiversity for the benefit of current and future generations.
Originality/value: This paper adds to the limited literature in the field of biodiversity reporting and extends it to the local government sector in New Zealand.

text: A biodiversity jigsaw: A review of current New Zealand legislation and initiatives Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the current legislation and initiatives surrounding biodiversity management, protection and sustainable use related to the New Zealand local government sector.
Design/methodology/approach: This paper takes the form of an archival review of the academic databases, legislation and biodiversity related websites to ascertain the current legislation and initiatives in place in New Zealand surrounding biodiversity.
Findings: The paper found biodiversity to be managed through a combination of legislation, national policies, strategies, trusts and contestable funds. The majority of biodiversity protection on private land is the responsibility of the 78 local authorities that comprise the local government sector through their administration of the Resource Management Act 1991. Despite the legislative requirement to protect and manage biodiversity the paper confirmed that no statutory framework currently exists to guide biodiversity reporting.
Research limitations/implications: This study is limited to New Zealand biodiversity related legislation and initiatives. As such it may not necessarily be applicable to any other jurisdictions.
Practical implications:This review illustrates the difficulty that exists in navigating the disjointed legislation and other initiatives relating to biodiversity. This currently hinders the development of framework for reporting on biodiversity by local government. However the development of such a framework is crucial to the conservation and sustainable use of New Zealand’s unique biodiversity for the benefit of current and future generations.
Originality/value: This paper adds to the limited literature in the field of biodiversity reporting and extends it to the local government sector in New Zealand.

year: 2012

title: Transformative practice in teaching: How experienced teachers explain the profound transformative influences on their teaching practice.

authors: Holden, Cynthia

subjects: teacher change

abstract: The social transformation represented by a shift from the industrial economy to the knowledge economy presents a challenge to the education sector. That challenge is to provide high-quality teaching that results in improved outcomes for students who are developing the habit of continuous learning. A challenge such as this may be met by teachers transforming their teaching practice.

This small-scale qualitative research project seeks an understanding of and insight into those factors which influence transformative practice for experienced teachers. It uses semi-structured interviews to gather the perspectives of seven experienced teachers and explores the themes derived from their stories of transformative practice in relation to themes derived from the literature. The literature reveals four significant dimensions of influence on transformative practice: professional development, individual factors, school factors, and an emerging theme of communities of practice. 

The research findings confirm that experienced teachers' perceptions of the profound transformative influences on their teaching practice are consistent with some of the literature. These congruencies include teachers working individually or collaboratively on problems of practice using a process of trial and error experimentation, and where workplace conditions support risk-taking and promote ownership of learning. The findings confirm that transformative practice is driven by powerful emotions that connect teachers to the learning needs of their students, and is sustained by intrinsic rewards.

The research findings reveal two significant areas of divergence. The literature identifies the need for depth and breadth of content knowledge and assessment knowledge, and for critical reflection on the effectiveness of transformative teaching practices on student outcomes, neither of which were identified by participants as factors which influenced transformative practice. This indicated that teachers were unlikely to be developing local knowledge-of-practice, a necessary prerequisite for linking the purpose of transformative practice with its goal - to improve outcomes for students.

Drawing on the understandings of, and insights into, transformative practice, this research presents a diagrammatic representation of a framework to illustrate the transformative influences on teaching practice. It also presents a knowledge-building learning cycle as a diagrammatic representation of the process required to generate knowledge-of-practice. 

This research project includes recommendations suggesting that teachers develop a rich understanding of the concept of knowledge-of-practice and embed this practice in their daily work.  It recommends that the knowledge-building learning cycle is facilitated by leaders of learning who have the skills to activate teacher learning, and that during the knowledge-building learning cycle, teachers develop depth and breadth of content knowledge and assessment knowledge. It recommends that leaders of learning guard against transformative practice becoming an end in itself, and suggests that utilizing the knowledge-building learning cycle could lead to a new form of professionalism that is continuous and sustainable. This study proposes that by acting on these recommendations, leaders of learning may enhance their ability to influence transformative teaching practice where students receive high-quality teaching which simultaneously achieves improved outcomes for students.

text: Transformative practice in teaching: How experienced teachers explain the profound transformative influences on their teaching practice. The social transformation represented by a shift from the industrial economy to the knowledge economy presents a challenge to the education sector. That challenge is to provide high-quality teaching that results in improved outcomes for students who are developing the habit of continuous learning. A challenge such as this may be met by teachers transforming their teaching practice.

This small-scale qualitative research project seeks an understanding of and insight into those factors which influence transformative practice for experienced teachers. It uses semi-structured interviews to gather the perspectives of seven experienced teachers and explores the themes derived from their stories of transformative practice in relation to themes derived from the literature. The literature reveals four significant dimensions of influence on transformative practice: professional development, individual factors, school factors, and an emerging theme of communities of practice. 

The research findings confirm that experienced teachers' perceptions of the profound transformative influences on their teaching practice are consistent with some of the literature. These congruencies include teachers working individually or collaboratively on problems of practice using a process of trial and error experimentation, and where workplace conditions support risk-taking and promote ownership of learning. The findings confirm that transformative practice is driven by powerful emotions that connect teachers to the learning needs of their students, and is sustained by intrinsic rewards.

The research findings reveal two significant areas of divergence. The literature identifies the need for depth and breadth of content knowledge and assessment knowledge, and for critical reflection on the effectiveness of transformative teaching practices on student outcomes, neither of which were identified by participants as factors which influenced transformative practice. This indicated that teachers were unlikely to be developing local knowledge-of-practice, a necessary prerequisite for linking the purpose of transformative practice with its goal - to improve outcomes for students.

Drawing on the understandings of, and insights into, transformative practice, this research presents a diagrammatic representation of a framework to illustrate the transformative influences on teaching practice. It also presents a knowledge-building learning cycle as a diagrammatic representation of the process required to generate knowledge-of-practice. 

This research project includes recommendations suggesting that teachers develop a rich understanding of the concept of knowledge-of-practice and embed this practice in their daily work.  It recommends that the knowledge-building learning cycle is facilitated by leaders of learning who have the skills to activate teacher learning, and that during the knowledge-building learning cycle, teachers develop depth and breadth of content knowledge and assessment knowledge. It recommends that leaders of learning guard against transformative practice becoming an end in itself, and suggests that utilizing the knowledge-building learning cycle could lead to a new form of professionalism that is continuous and sustainable. This study proposes that by acting on these recommendations, leaders of learning may enhance their ability to influence transformative teaching practice where students receive high-quality teaching which simultaneously achieves improved outcomes for students.

year: 2010

title: Studies on Paphies australis (Mesodesmatidae) in Whangārei, Aotearoa New Zealand: an investigation into their declining health.

authors: Howells, Joanne Elizabeth

abstract: Disease outbreaks in marine species can have devastating consequences, including increasing host mortality, destabilising commercial production, altering ecosystem functioning, and jeopardising human health. A changing ocean climate is expected to increase host stress and the risk of disease outbreaks. Particularly through new and emerging diseases and opportunistic infections.
Wild bivalve molluscs provide economic, ecological, and socio-cultural benefits. Healthy and sustainable kaimoana (shellfish/bivalves, seafood) are intrinsically linked to the wellbeing of many communities in New Zealand. Over the past decade there has been a noticeable decline in the general health of native marine bivalves, characterised by an increase in observation of mass die-offs. Reasons for this are not clear and could be due to a number of factors, such as sedimentation, harvesting pressures, or disease. Baseline health data on wild bivalve populations are very rare and therefore it is very difficult to identify the causation of ill health. There is a need to establish health baselines to help benchmark changes in infection prevalence and intensity and identify drivers of bivalve mortality events.
Wild bivalve populations are often located in remote and isolated parts of New Zealand. When a mortality event occurs, the logistics of obtaining quality samples for accurate diagnosis can be hindered due to time delays and sample degradation. To gain a better understanding of these limitations for diagnostics using bacteriology, in Chapter 2 I investigate typical sample collection methods (i.e., samples collected and sent to a testing laboratory) and sample collections immediately in the field to understand what effect different sample methods have on number and types of bacteria isolated. Although the results of Chapter 2 found there were limitations to both sampling methods, it did identify that typical sampling techniques were not wholly optimal, and the information gained by sampling immediately in the field retained additional information that could be essential for disease diagnostics. Field sampling for bacteriology was applied throughout this thesis research.
Pipi (Paphies australis) are native bivalves to New Zealand, inhabiting the shallow subtidal of estuaries and bays. Pipi have suffered serious population declines in an area of northern New Zealand (Whangārei) since 2009. I investigate possible drivers of the poor health of pipi in Whangārei, with the objective of identifying the mechanisms that have contributed to the decline, and prevention of the recovery of pipi in Whangārei, with a primary focus of disease as a causative agent. I establish a health baseline of pipi from Whangārei using histopathology, bacteriology, and qPCR of Endozoicomonas spp., a bacteria previously identified in mortality bivalves (Chapter 3). The health baseline was compared against samples collected during three mass mortality events to help identify drivers of mass mortality events (Chapter 4). Through laboratory experimentation, I test whether pipi exposed to stressors had higher infection intensity and prevalence of Endozoicomonas spp. (Chapter 5). Finally, using archived samples, I test whether the baseline data established was consistent through time and help to provide insights into considerations when analysing bivalve mass mortality events (Chapter 6).
I found that Endozoicomonas spp. make an important part of pipi host microbiome. Although Endozoicomonas spp. are highly prevalent in pipi collected during a mass mortality event, their infection intensity was significantly lower in moribund pipi than healthy pipi. The prevalence and infection intensity of Endozoicomonas spp. were not driven by environmental stressors. The stressors, however, did appear to impact host health, with high suspended sediment loads and water temperatures of 24°C appeared to be unfavourable to pipi. Overall, Endozoicomonas sp. does not appear to be a main driver in the declining population of pipi from Whangārei and is probably not important to bivalve health. The reduced prevalence and infection intensity of Endozoicomonas sp. in healthy pipi strongly suggests these bacteria are symbiotic. A relationship that has been reported for this bacterial group in species of coral and sponges.
The establishment of a health baseline represents a significant step forward towards biosecurity preparedness by being able to identify changes in infection prevalence and intensity against it. The operational use of these data when paired with historical data will be a powerful tool to identify patterns of disease dynamics and emerging disease.

text: Studies on Paphies australis (Mesodesmatidae) in Whangārei, Aotearoa New Zealand: an investigation into their declining health. Disease outbreaks in marine species can have devastating consequences, including increasing host mortality, destabilising commercial production, altering ecosystem functioning, and jeopardising human health. A changing ocean climate is expected to increase host stress and the risk of disease outbreaks. Particularly through new and emerging diseases and opportunistic infections.
Wild bivalve molluscs provide economic, ecological, and socio-cultural benefits. Healthy and sustainable kaimoana (shellfish/bivalves, seafood) are intrinsically linked to the wellbeing of many communities in New Zealand. Over the past decade there has been a noticeable decline in the general health of native marine bivalves, characterised by an increase in observation of mass die-offs. Reasons for this are not clear and could be due to a number of factors, such as sedimentation, harvesting pressures, or disease. Baseline health data on wild bivalve populations are very rare and therefore it is very difficult to identify the causation of ill health. There is a need to establish health baselines to help benchmark changes in infection prevalence and intensity and identify drivers of bivalve mortality events.
Wild bivalve populations are often located in remote and isolated parts of New Zealand. When a mortality event occurs, the logistics of obtaining quality samples for accurate diagnosis can be hindered due to time delays and sample degradation. To gain a better understanding of these limitations for diagnostics using bacteriology, in Chapter 2 I investigate typical sample collection methods (i.e., samples collected and sent to a testing laboratory) and sample collections immediately in the field to understand what effect different sample methods have on number and types of bacteria isolated. Although the results of Chapter 2 found there were limitations to both sampling methods, it did identify that typical sampling techniques were not wholly optimal, and the information gained by sampling immediately in the field retained additional information that could be essential for disease diagnostics. Field sampling for bacteriology was applied throughout this thesis research.
Pipi (Paphies australis) are native bivalves to New Zealand, inhabiting the shallow subtidal of estuaries and bays. Pipi have suffered serious population declines in an area of northern New Zealand (Whangārei) since 2009. I investigate possible drivers of the poor health of pipi in Whangārei, with the objective of identifying the mechanisms that have contributed to the decline, and prevention of the recovery of pipi in Whangārei, with a primary focus of disease as a causative agent. I establish a health baseline of pipi from Whangārei using histopathology, bacteriology, and qPCR of Endozoicomonas spp., a bacteria previously identified in mortality bivalves (Chapter 3). The health baseline was compared against samples collected during three mass mortality events to help identify drivers of mass mortality events (Chapter 4). Through laboratory experimentation, I test whether pipi exposed to stressors had higher infection intensity and prevalence of Endozoicomonas spp. (Chapter 5). Finally, using archived samples, I test whether the baseline data established was consistent through time and help to provide insights into considerations when analysing bivalve mass mortality events (Chapter 6).
I found that Endozoicomonas spp. make an important part of pipi host microbiome. Although Endozoicomonas spp. are highly prevalent in pipi collected during a mass mortality event, their infection intensity was significantly lower in moribund pipi than healthy pipi. The prevalence and infection intensity of Endozoicomonas spp. were not driven by environmental stressors. The stressors, however, did appear to impact host health, with high suspended sediment loads and water temperatures of 24°C appeared to be unfavourable to pipi. Overall, Endozoicomonas sp. does not appear to be a main driver in the declining population of pipi from Whangārei and is probably not important to bivalve health. The reduced prevalence and infection intensity of Endozoicomonas sp. in healthy pipi strongly suggests these bacteria are symbiotic. A relationship that has been reported for this bacterial group in species of coral and sponges.
The establishment of a health baseline represents a significant step forward towards biosecurity preparedness by being able to identify changes in infection prevalence and intensity against it. The operational use of these data when paired with historical data will be a powerful tool to identify patterns of disease dynamics and emerging disease.

year: 2023