title: Colonisation, Fragment Recovery, and Disturbance in Zostera muelleri Beds, Raglan

authors: Cade, Octavia Jane

subjects: Seagrass

abstract: Zostera muelleri is a seagrass currently on the decline in New Zealand. Potential conservation methods rely on accurate information tailored to local sites. This thesis considers the Z. muelleri beds at Raglan harbour, New Zealand. It focuses on their mechanisms for acquiring genetic diversity, and their ability to prove resilient to small-scale disturbance.

Extensive sediment sampling at four different study sites within the Raglan harbour has yielded no evidence of a seed bank. Z. muelleri reproduction at this site is likely therefore vegetative. Without sexual reproduction to increase the genetic diversity (and therefore the resilience) of the beds, this diversity can be increased by the natural mechanism of seagrass fragments or the deliberate transplantation of seeds, seedlings, or adult plants. This, however, raises conservation questions regarding the tension between “original” and “resilient” environmental states. 

Genetic diversity within the seagrass beds may be introduced via the natural dispersal of seagrass fragments. Fragments collected in austral autumn (April) and spring (September) were tested to determine if length of dispersal (floating) time impacted their ability to grow either rhizome length or new shoots. Fragments were randomly assigned to one of five treatments (T0-T4) and left to float for between 0-28 days before planting (T0 = 0 days; T1 = 7 days; T2 = 14 days; T3 = 21 days; T4 = 28 days). After a six-week planting there was no statistically significant difference in rhizome or shoot growth between treatments or between collection times.   

The ability of Z. muelleri to respond to small-scale disturbance was also assessed. The presence of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) has been noted feeding on New Zealand seagrass for the first time, and an experiment mimicking their feeding patterns performed. Z. muelleri proved highly resilient to single-event, small scale disturbance at all tidal levels. However, the rapidly increasing population of geese in the Waikato region is expected to increase the level of disturbance to the Raglan beds, and their ability to respond to repetitive, large-scale disturbance may be crucial to their continued survival.

text: Colonisation, Fragment Recovery, and Disturbance in Zostera muelleri Beds, Raglan Zostera muelleri is a seagrass currently on the decline in New Zealand. Potential conservation methods rely on accurate information tailored to local sites. This thesis considers the Z. muelleri beds at Raglan harbour, New Zealand. It focuses on their mechanisms for acquiring genetic diversity, and their ability to prove resilient to small-scale disturbance.

Extensive sediment sampling at four different study sites within the Raglan harbour has yielded no evidence of a seed bank. Z. muelleri reproduction at this site is likely therefore vegetative. Without sexual reproduction to increase the genetic diversity (and therefore the resilience) of the beds, this diversity can be increased by the natural mechanism of seagrass fragments or the deliberate transplantation of seeds, seedlings, or adult plants. This, however, raises conservation questions regarding the tension between “original” and “resilient” environmental states. 

Genetic diversity within the seagrass beds may be introduced via the natural dispersal of seagrass fragments. Fragments collected in austral autumn (April) and spring (September) were tested to determine if length of dispersal (floating) time impacted their ability to grow either rhizome length or new shoots. Fragments were randomly assigned to one of five treatments (T0-T4) and left to float for between 0-28 days before planting (T0 = 0 days; T1 = 7 days; T2 = 14 days; T3 = 21 days; T4 = 28 days). After a six-week planting there was no statistically significant difference in rhizome or shoot growth between treatments or between collection times.   

The ability of Z. muelleri to respond to small-scale disturbance was also assessed. The presence of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) has been noted feeding on New Zealand seagrass for the first time, and an experiment mimicking their feeding patterns performed. Z. muelleri proved highly resilient to single-event, small scale disturbance at all tidal levels. However, the rapidly increasing population of geese in the Waikato region is expected to increase the level of disturbance to the Raglan beds, and their ability to respond to repetitive, large-scale disturbance may be crucial to their continued survival.

year: 2016

title: Administration Service for the Tourist Information System (TIP)

authors: Hsieh, Ping-Ju

subjects: Administration Interface

abstract: The modern day tourists do not want to deal with the hassle of using a large number of travel guides and paper maps while travelling. They would prefer to be able to access required information via their mobile phones or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). We realise that the delivered information may be originally available in numerous information formats. To support the administrator of the tourist guides the programme is required to help sorting information from these different sources and to help inserting them into a system. Our goal with this project is to develop a software support for processing information import via a graphical user interface, to support the administrator in identifying and extracting the appropriate sight information from various resources. The interface also helps in transferring and storing the structured and unstructured data into the TIP database.

text: Administration Service for the Tourist Information System (TIP) The modern day tourists do not want to deal with the hassle of using a large number of travel guides and paper maps while travelling. They would prefer to be able to access required information via their mobile phones or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). We realise that the delivered information may be originally available in numerous information formats. To support the administrator of the tourist guides the programme is required to help sorting information from these different sources and to help inserting them into a system. Our goal with this project is to develop a software support for processing information import via a graphical user interface, to support the administrator in identifying and extracting the appropriate sight information from various resources. The interface also helps in transferring and storing the structured and unstructured data into the TIP database.

year: 2008

title: The timing of the human discovery and colonization of New Zealand

authors: Sutton, Douglas G.

abstract: In discriminating between the proposed Long, Short and Intermediate Chronologies for New Zealand prehistory, archaeologists have recently voted by a narrow majority that the human commensal, Rattus exulans, was present in New Zealand up to 2000 years BP, although the preferred date of ‘first settlement’ by people was ca 800 years BP. A recalibration of New Zealand chronometric data has resulted in reinterpretations of the date and duration of occupation on critical archaeological sites. A remodelling of the ages of the putatively earliest sites in New Zealand has shown these to indicate only a broadly defined period when settlement occurred rather than the date when New Zealand was discovered (as the Short Chronology advocates have insisted). Finally, comparisons with archaeological research on islands elsewhere in the world have brought with them recognition that the discovery, exploration, initial settlement and colonization of New Zealand by Polynesian voyagers were broadly consecutive processes. This paper reviews a range of current evidence in the context of its current theorization and affirms the Long Chronology, recognizing it as the most plausible hypothesis.

text: The timing of the human discovery and colonization of New Zealand In discriminating between the proposed Long, Short and Intermediate Chronologies for New Zealand prehistory, archaeologists have recently voted by a narrow majority that the human commensal, Rattus exulans, was present in New Zealand up to 2000 years BP, although the preferred date of ‘first settlement’ by people was ca 800 years BP. A recalibration of New Zealand chronometric data has resulted in reinterpretations of the date and duration of occupation on critical archaeological sites. A remodelling of the ages of the putatively earliest sites in New Zealand has shown these to indicate only a broadly defined period when settlement occurred rather than the date when New Zealand was discovered (as the Short Chronology advocates have insisted). Finally, comparisons with archaeological research on islands elsewhere in the world have brought with them recognition that the discovery, exploration, initial settlement and colonization of New Zealand by Polynesian voyagers were broadly consecutive processes. This paper reviews a range of current evidence in the context of its current theorization and affirms the Long Chronology, recognizing it as the most plausible hypothesis.

year: 2008