title: The ecological consequences of stream sedimentation for freshwater macroinvertebrates in the Te Awanui/Tauranga Harbour catchment

authors: Lea, Brooklyn

subjects: freshwater ecology

abstract: Sedimentation is a significant stressor in streams and rivers globally. The natural sediment regime 
paradigm posits that human activities have greatly altered the natural transport of sediment in river 
networks and that land-uses leading to increased bank erosion and surface runoff have resulted in 
large quantities of fine sediment being deposited in streams and rivers. In New Zealand, land 
conversion from native forest to pastoral agriculture has dramatically increased riverine sediment 
loads, making deposited fine sediment (DFS) a major stressor that negatively impacts stream 
ecosystem health. Consequently, DFS is an important attribute managed under the National Policy 
Statement for Freshwater Management 2020. However, uncertainties remain in how best to 
monitor the effects of DFS, and what impacts different land-use types have on stream ecosystems 
in addition to the adverse influence of sedimentation.  
In my study, I surveyed 24 stream sites allocated evenly to three land-use types (native forest, 
pastoral agriculture, and horticulture, e.g. kiwifruit orchards) in the Tauranga Harbour basin. I 
measured habitat attributes, including DFS, and sampled stream macroinvertebrate communities 
at each site. Using macroinvertebrate data, I calculated and compared taxonomic and trait-based 
metrics as indicators of ecosystem health across land-use types. I used a variety of metrics, 
including the Macroinvertebrate Community Index (MCI) and its quantitative equivalent, the 
QMCI, the Average Score Per Metric (ASPM) index, and community-weighted mean trait 
abundances, including facets of functional diversity to assess impacts on stream health.  
I found that human land uses negatively influenced stream health, indicated by greatly reduced 
MCI, QMCI, and ASPM scores. Although DFS explained most of the negative influences on 
macroinvertebrate communities in pastoral and horticultural streams, there were differences 
between native forest and horticultural streams not accounted for by DFS that contributed to 
declines in ecosystem health. I also found that sediment-specific macroinvertebrate metrics 
(sediment ‘decreasers’) were the best indicators of DFS impacts on stream health. Contrary to my 
predictions, I did not find that functional diversity was strongly reduced by land use or DFS, 
although several key traits responded to these stressors. Notably, life history trait modalities 
involving the number of reproductive cycles per year and oviposition site responded strongly to 
DFS and land use, indicating potential mechanisms contributing towards the impacts of these 
stressors on macroinvertebrate communities.  
ii 
My study points to the need to continuously manage the deposition of fine sediment in streams to 
help mitigate the adverse effects of human land use. Future research should further explore the 
role that fine sediment and other stressors associated with human land uses play in the degradation 
of streams ecosystems in the Tauranga Harbour basin. Quantifying land use and land cover 
(LULC) attributes using geospatial tools will help further explore the relationship between 
catchment properties and macroinvertebrate responses. Additionally, issues regarding trait 
syndromes, trade-offs, and database inconsistencies must be addressed to better understand the 
mechanistic links between specific macroinvertebrate traits and fine sediment.

text: The ecological consequences of stream sedimentation for freshwater macroinvertebrates in the Te Awanui/Tauranga Harbour catchment Sedimentation is a significant stressor in streams and rivers globally. The natural sediment regime 
paradigm posits that human activities have greatly altered the natural transport of sediment in river 
networks and that land-uses leading to increased bank erosion and surface runoff have resulted in 
large quantities of fine sediment being deposited in streams and rivers. In New Zealand, land 
conversion from native forest to pastoral agriculture has dramatically increased riverine sediment 
loads, making deposited fine sediment (DFS) a major stressor that negatively impacts stream 
ecosystem health. Consequently, DFS is an important attribute managed under the National Policy 
Statement for Freshwater Management 2020. However, uncertainties remain in how best to 
monitor the effects of DFS, and what impacts different land-use types have on stream ecosystems 
in addition to the adverse influence of sedimentation.  
In my study, I surveyed 24 stream sites allocated evenly to three land-use types (native forest, 
pastoral agriculture, and horticulture, e.g. kiwifruit orchards) in the Tauranga Harbour basin. I 
measured habitat attributes, including DFS, and sampled stream macroinvertebrate communities 
at each site. Using macroinvertebrate data, I calculated and compared taxonomic and trait-based 
metrics as indicators of ecosystem health across land-use types. I used a variety of metrics, 
including the Macroinvertebrate Community Index (MCI) and its quantitative equivalent, the 
QMCI, the Average Score Per Metric (ASPM) index, and community-weighted mean trait 
abundances, including facets of functional diversity to assess impacts on stream health.  
I found that human land uses negatively influenced stream health, indicated by greatly reduced 
MCI, QMCI, and ASPM scores. Although DFS explained most of the negative influences on 
macroinvertebrate communities in pastoral and horticultural streams, there were differences 
between native forest and horticultural streams not accounted for by DFS that contributed to 
declines in ecosystem health. I also found that sediment-specific macroinvertebrate metrics 
(sediment ‘decreasers’) were the best indicators of DFS impacts on stream health. Contrary to my 
predictions, I did not find that functional diversity was strongly reduced by land use or DFS, 
although several key traits responded to these stressors. Notably, life history trait modalities 
involving the number of reproductive cycles per year and oviposition site responded strongly to 
DFS and land use, indicating potential mechanisms contributing towards the impacts of these 
stressors on macroinvertebrate communities.  
ii 
My study points to the need to continuously manage the deposition of fine sediment in streams to 
help mitigate the adverse effects of human land use. Future research should further explore the 
role that fine sediment and other stressors associated with human land uses play in the degradation 
of streams ecosystems in the Tauranga Harbour basin. Quantifying land use and land cover 
(LULC) attributes using geospatial tools will help further explore the relationship between 
catchment properties and macroinvertebrate responses. Additionally, issues regarding trait 
syndromes, trade-offs, and database inconsistencies must be addressed to better understand the 
mechanistic links between specific macroinvertebrate traits and fine sediment.

year: 2024

title: Textual and discoursal resources used in the essay genre in sociology and English

authors: Bruce, Ian

subjects: essay genre

abstract: Research that has examined university assignment writing has varied from large-scale, inventorial surveys across disciplines to more specific, finer-grained analyses of the assignment requirements of specific disciplines. However, while such research has involved surveys of the views and expectations of faculty or the analysis of assignment tasks, less attention has been given to the written texts that are the outcomes of assignment tasks. Furthermore, previous studies have not tended to employ theories of text or discourse in systematic ways to account for the organisational and linguistic resources employed in assignment writing. In addressing these issues, this study examines the essay as an assignment genre in the disciplines of sociology and English. For each discipline, a sample of ten extended student essays, taken from the British Academic Written English (BAWE) Corpus, is examined in terms of the dual approach to genre (social and cognitive) of Bruce (2008a). Each essay text is subject to close analysis of the rhetorical purposes, discoursal and textual resources that it draws upon. The findings of the study indicate significant differences between the essay genre in the two disciplines in the complex variety of rhetorical purposes and associated textual resources that they draw upon.

text: Textual and discoursal resources used in the essay genre in sociology and English Research that has examined university assignment writing has varied from large-scale, inventorial surveys across disciplines to more specific, finer-grained analyses of the assignment requirements of specific disciplines. However, while such research has involved surveys of the views and expectations of faculty or the analysis of assignment tasks, less attention has been given to the written texts that are the outcomes of assignment tasks. Furthermore, previous studies have not tended to employ theories of text or discourse in systematic ways to account for the organisational and linguistic resources employed in assignment writing. In addressing these issues, this study examines the essay as an assignment genre in the disciplines of sociology and English. For each discipline, a sample of ten extended student essays, taken from the British Academic Written English (BAWE) Corpus, is examined in terms of the dual approach to genre (social and cognitive) of Bruce (2008a). Each essay text is subject to close analysis of the rhetorical purposes, discoursal and textual resources that it draws upon. The findings of the study indicate significant differences between the essay genre in the two disciplines in the complex variety of rhetorical purposes and associated textual resources that they draw upon.

year: 2010-09

title: COVID-19 and blind spaces: Responding to digital (in)accessibility and social isolation during lockdown for blind, deafblind, low vision, and vision impaired persons in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Graham, Rebekah Sarah

abstract: In this chapter we, as Indigenous (Māori) and non-Indigenous (Pākehā) academics, practitioners, and disability advocates critically examine the experiences of people who are blind, deafblind, low vision and vision impaired (BLV) during the COVID-19 lockdown of Aotearoa New Zealand. We pay particular attention to the ways in which access (or lack thereof) to digital spaces facilitated experiences of social inclusion (and exclusion). Digital connectivity was heavily relied upon during lockdown in Aotearoa New Zealand to disseminate health information and to connect people socially. The use of digital technologies during lockdown extended the interpersonal space of the home beyond the physicality of the urban home people were confined to, drawing people together across the country and creating a sense of shared experience. However, these experiences were not shared equally across the citizenry. Conversations during lockdown with disability advocates and practitioners working with BLV persons identified that. For example, the government website on COVID19 was initially inaccessible for BLV persons and there were assumptions of digital accessibility and literacy within the domestic space of the home. Taken together, these exacerbated existing inequities for BLV persons, some of whom experience multiple domains of exclusion (for example, Indigenous BLV persons with reduced access to services and for whom English is their second language). Drawing on Lefebvre’s (1991) work on the dialectics of space and Lewin’s (1936/2013) construction of the life-space, we consider the interplay of space and experience with regards to the digital and physical space(s) available and inhabited during the shared social experience of lockdown. We discuss possibilities for co-creating socially inclusive (digital) spaces of belonging that reflect and refract life-space relational connections across social groups. Our reflections on the lockdown experience include opportunities post-pandemic for policy makers and practitioners to address digital accessibility inequities.

text: COVID-19 and blind spaces: Responding to digital (in)accessibility and social isolation during lockdown for blind, deafblind, low vision, and vision impaired persons in Aotearoa New Zealand In this chapter we, as Indigenous (Māori) and non-Indigenous (Pākehā) academics, practitioners, and disability advocates critically examine the experiences of people who are blind, deafblind, low vision and vision impaired (BLV) during the COVID-19 lockdown of Aotearoa New Zealand. We pay particular attention to the ways in which access (or lack thereof) to digital spaces facilitated experiences of social inclusion (and exclusion). Digital connectivity was heavily relied upon during lockdown in Aotearoa New Zealand to disseminate health information and to connect people socially. The use of digital technologies during lockdown extended the interpersonal space of the home beyond the physicality of the urban home people were confined to, drawing people together across the country and creating a sense of shared experience. However, these experiences were not shared equally across the citizenry. Conversations during lockdown with disability advocates and practitioners working with BLV persons identified that. For example, the government website on COVID19 was initially inaccessible for BLV persons and there were assumptions of digital accessibility and literacy within the domestic space of the home. Taken together, these exacerbated existing inequities for BLV persons, some of whom experience multiple domains of exclusion (for example, Indigenous BLV persons with reduced access to services and for whom English is their second language). Drawing on Lefebvre’s (1991) work on the dialectics of space and Lewin’s (1936/2013) construction of the life-space, we consider the interplay of space and experience with regards to the digital and physical space(s) available and inhabited during the shared social experience of lockdown. We discuss possibilities for co-creating socially inclusive (digital) spaces of belonging that reflect and refract life-space relational connections across social groups. Our reflections on the lockdown experience include opportunities post-pandemic for policy makers and practitioners to address digital accessibility inequities.

year: 2021