Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua

Landcare-Research -Manaaki Whenua

Characterising Land Biota

Research activity 2015/16 Key Achievements Core Funding Investment ($M excl GST)
  2015/16 (planned) 2015/16 (actual)
Characterising Land Biota $6.08 $6.22
End-users: MPI; DOC; MfE; EPA; regional councils; CRIs; Universities; educators; museums; Te Papa; researchers; Better Border Biosecurity (B3); National Science Challenges; Māori and other New Zealanders; primary industries and sector groups, notably the horticultural industry.
Characterising Plants – Outcomes 1 and 4 $2.42 $2.42
  • Progressed discovery, description and interpretation of New Zealand’s indigenous and naturalised flora:
    • improved eFlora information content for endusers (DOC, MPI, CRIs, universities) and public (c. 84 000 page views) by adding 2400 diagnostic character images and 10 new moss and fern treatments
    • provided identification guides and described new species of mosses and liverworts, and completed editing for Flora of New Zealand Liverworts, volume 2, essential information for DOC, MPI, EPA, MfE, universities, and regional councils
    • identified the algal species (Lindavia intermedia) causing lake snot in three large clean water lakes, which has potential to impact significantly on recreational and other uses
    • clarified taxonomic concepts in the diverse and taxonomically difficult genera Carex and Cotoneaster, which include significant weeds
    • submitted publication on spatial analyses of collection and phylogenetic data to identify hotspots of biodiversity thereby providing new information for conservation prioritisation and reporting for DOC and MfE
    • added 6500 specimens to Allan Herbarium, increased records and data quality in the Specimen Database (9558 records added) and the Plant Names Database (1359 records added), and digitised the first set of the earliest records of naturalised plants (c. 2000 specimens) providing essential information to DOC, MPI, and regional councils
    • identified c. 790 plants in response to queries related to biosecurity and biodiversity, including plants breaching border biosecurity, an essential service for DOC, MPI, and regional councils
    • progressed enhancement and use of National NZ Flax and other living collections, and the further development of the infobase Ngā Tipu Whakaoranga on cultural uses of plants. There were 19 000 visits to infobase, with over 25 000 sessions.
Characterising Invertebrates – Outcomes 1 and 4 $1.70 $1.75
  • Progressed discovery, description and interpretation of NZ’s indigenous and naturalised terrestrial invertebrate fauna for utilisation by NZ biosecurity and biodiversity end users:
    • improved online information content by 15,000 new records and enhanced the web portal for NZ Land Invertebrates with new names, images and specimens
    • supported MPI biosecurity responses by co-funding two training courses for MPI staff on diagnostics of beetles and moths and undertaking taxonomic studies on Meloidigyne nematodes, which are currently the target of a biosecurity response
    • collaborating with MPI, we published a taxonomic revision of the mite genus Pneumolaelaps, which is a potential wasp biocontrol agent. The revision includes critical descriptions of new mite species associated with introduced wasps, basic biological information, and a diagnostic key for NZ species
    • published checklists and catalogues of the hyperdiverse beetle groups Aleocharinae and Carabidae, providing stakeholders with up-to-date names. These beetle groups include many species of major biodiversity, ecological and biosecurity significance
    • described two new genera of true bug (Saldidae) with accompanying information on diagnostics, geographic distribution and biology of species. These species are excellent indicators of riparian ecological health
    • published new species and diagnostic tools for oribatid mites, important components of many native ecosystems.
Characterising Fungi and Bacteria – Outcomes 1 and 4 $1.37 $1.39
  • Progressed discovery, description and interpretation of New Zealand’s fungi and bacteria:
    • more than 80 Trichoderma cultures accessioned into the International Collection of Microorganisms from Plants providing an important resource for biosecurity management of these fungi, used extensively in the biological control of fungal pathogen
    • training courses on fungi and on the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum were conducted in Auckland, Brisbane, and Freemantle. The participants from biodiversity and biosecurity agencies will be better able to incorporate fungal impacts into their management plans
    • DNA sequencing showed a Sophora powdery mildew is exotic rather than indigenous as previously believed; this is important for biosecurity management and the wine industry
    • new species of fungal pathogens were described from Tradescantia fluminensis in a biological control survey; two have potential as new biocontrol controls for this weed
    • our survey of mycorrhizal fungi associated with the roots of kauri provides a better understanding of the drivers of kauri dieback, contributing to minimising the disease and its impact
    • we released genome sequences for 62 type strains of the plant pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas syringae. This resource will enable biosecurity managers (e.g. MPI) to develop more rapid and accurate diagnostic tests for these pathogens
    • analysis of NZ Fungi data quantified host switches between exotic and indigenous pathogens and their exotic and indigenous hosts, providing the framework to allow new approaches to assessing biosecurity risk of newly introduced fungi
    • NZ endemic fungi were added to the IUCN Red List, providing a robust framework to allow DOC to manage threatened fungi in New Zealand.
Collections – Information, Access and Value – Outcomes 1 and 4 $0.59 $0.66
  • Progressed pan-organisation research initiatives:
    • contributed to Better Border Biosecurity (B3) through agreed nematode research towards better border biosecurity
    • engaged with the formal Landcare Research Characterising Land Biota Advisory Group and implemented agreed stakeholder priorities to underpin biosecurity and biodiversity management
    • correctly annotated DNA sequences from our Collection specimens in the global DNA database GenBank, thus delivering higher confidence that the sequence is correct for biosecurity managers
    • enhanced and released new versions of data management tools for specimen data and taxonomic names
    • completed the initial implementation phase of the Annotation Tool that is used to manage the descriptive content in eBiota and Maori Plant Use Infobases
    • completed the design for a new responsive design for the eBiota website to facilitate mobile use
    • started a PhD on automated georeferencing of locality strings (Supervisor: Kristin Stock, Massey University), to increase accessibility of specimen data for spatial analysis and presentation
    • through a lens of international best practice, wrote an implementation plan for international review recommendations on managing the Collections, databases and information infrastructure, research direction, end-user engagement, commercialisation and revenue generation.

N/A Figure not comparable to previous year.