Wasp Wipeout
In 2016 Stuff’s Nelson office joined forces with the Department of Conservation and the Tasman Environmental Trust to target one of New Zealand’s most destructive…
Media
Publication
High-Quality Assemblies for Three Invasive Social Wasps from the Vespula Genus
We sequenced and annotated the genomes of the common wasp (Vespula vulgaris), German wasp (Vespula germanica), and the western yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica). Our chromosome-level Vespula assemblies…
Publication
Invasion success and management strategies for social Vespula wasps
Three species of Vespula have become invasive in Australia, Hawai‘i, New Zealand, and North and South America and continue to spread. These social wasp species can achieve…
Media
Biodiversity brought to Fonterra farms
A new project supported by Fonterra’s Living Water Partnership with the Department of Conservation will help on-farm advisors grow their understanding of biodiversity, with a…
Publication
Characterising uncertainty in risk assessments for biological control: using case studies from New Zealand to inform future research
Areas of uncertainty in the assessment of risks and benefits in applications for new biological control agents submitted to the regulator for proposed introduction into…
Publication
Harnessing CRISPR-Cas for oomycete genome editing
Oomycetes are a group of microorganisms that include pathogens responsible for devastating diseases in plants and animals worldwide. Despite their importance, the development of genome…
Webinar
Sensing Wetlands
Kevan Cote explains how the Eco-index team are using remote sensing data (satellites and AI) to detect wetlands across Aotearoa. Presented at the Wetlands…
Presentation
Understanding a taonga killer: how does Austropuccinia psidii cause myrtle rust? – Grant Smith
Presented as part of the Kaurilands Summit 2023, hosted by Ngā Rākau Taketake. To find out more about the Host, Pathogen & Environment research…
Publication
A metatranscriptomic analysis of diseased social wasps (Vespula vulgaris) for pathogens, with an experimental infection of larvae and nests
Social wasps are a major pest in many countries around the world. Pathogens may influence wasp populations and could provide an option for population management…
Publication
MapSafe: A complete tool for achieving geospatial data sovereignty
Sensitive geographic data are invaluable assets for the people to whom they belong and their disclosure should be decided by the sovereign data owner (SDO).…
Publication
Advances in cryopreservation of Syzygium maire (swamp maire, maire tawake) zygotic embryos, a critically endangered tree species endemic to New Zealand
Syzygium maire is a threatened Myrtaceae tree species endemic to New Zealand. Due to its highly recalcitrant seed, cryopreservation is the only viable long-term ex situ…
Report
Cultural monitoring tools: A mana whenua narrative
This report reflects the narrative captured whilst developing and trialing a cultural monitoring survey tool for the Ngā Rākau Taketake Theme, Control Protect, Cure; Cultural…
Publication
Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis as a tool to estimate absolute abundances from compositional 16S rRNA bacterial metabarcoding data.
Microbial biodiversity monitoring through the analysis of DNA extracted from environmental samples is increasingly popular because it is perceived as being rapid, cost-effective, and flexible concerning the…
Publication
Invasion disharmony in the global biogeography of native and non-native beetle species
Aim The concept of “island disharmony” has been widely applied to describe the systematic over- and under-representation of taxa on islands compared to mainland regions.…
Publication
Conservation pest control with new technologies: public perceptions
New genetic tools can potentially mitigate the decline of biodiversity. Democratisation of science mandates public opinion be considered while new technologies are in development. We…
Publication
Modeling CRISPR gene drives for suppression of invasive rodents using a supervised machine learning framework
Invasive rodent populations pose a threat to biodiversity across the globe. When confronted with these invaders, native species that evolved independently are often defenseless. CRISPR…
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