Nationally Significant Databases and Collections

national_significant

Celebration of the launch of the “Flora of the Cook Islands” by Research Associate W.R (Bill) Sykes on 10 June, 2016.

Landcare Research is committed to ensuring nationally significant databases and collections and associated services are readily available and can be used efficiently and effectively.

Plant Communities

Descriptions of vegetation communities in permanently or temporarily marked plots continue to be in demand and to contribute to international research.

National Vegetation Survey database

10 374 647 records (including tree diameters, sapling counts, species cover scores)
48 875 datasets supplied to 51 users
12 333 web page views (courtesy of Google Analytics)
34 new electronic datasets with 2084 plots added

Biological Collections

Systematics Collections Data

The value of and services provided by the biological collections and databases increased in the 2015/16 period (Characterising Land Biota).

New Zealand Flax Collection (Living Plants)

18 orders sent (with 100% service delivery)
47 visitors
18 enquiries

The collection was used intensively to support the wahakura programmes (baby bassinets for safe bed sharing) in the Canterbury district.

Ngā Tipu Whakaoranga Ethnobotany Database

62 087 page views (55 861 last year)
19 400 visitors (16 297 last year)
2408 total number of database records
19 requests for cultural plant information (not flax)

Visitor numbers to the database on Māori plant uses rose over 18% from the previous year.

Allan Herbarium (CHR)

620 000 (approx.) specimens (6494 new accessions)
2310 specimens sent outwards (1280 last year)
52 loan requests responded (100% service delivery)
789 identifications and enquiries (686 last year)
286 number of visitors (240 last year)

The biosecurity content of the electronic Flora of New Zealand and associated databases was extended by digitisation of primary data of the first New Zealand records of naturalised plants. This will enable end-users to easily access plant records of national biosecurity importance.

NZ Fungal and Plant Disease Collection (PDD)

98 810 specimens (1862 new accessions)
25 loan requests responded (100% service delivery)
620 identification and taxa enquiries
525 specimens sent outwards
192 visitors
247 PDD specimens cited in scientific publications (source: Google Scholar)

Data from the NZFungi specimen (PDD and ICMP) and nomenclatural databases were used in a collaborative project with Lincoln University to predict biosecurity threats to NZ with the introduction of new plant hosts.

International Collection of Microorganisms from Plants (ICMP)

20 438 cultures (403 accessions)
133 orders (100% service delivery)
961 cultures (643 last year) provided 254 ICMP cultures cited in scientific publications (Based on Google Scholar)

We released the genome sequences for 62 type and pathotype ICMP strains of Pseudomonas syringae (Psa). There are now reference sequences for every gene in every (known) pathovar for MLSA or sequence approaches to identification. This is a nationally important resource for end-users, particularly in biosecurity.

NZ Arthropod Collection (NZAC)

7 million (approx.) specimens
37 loan requests (100% service delivery)
824 identification and taxa enquiries
113 visitors

Biodiversity and Surveys of Poorly Known Regions: A graduate student from the Joint Graduate School (JGS) between Landcare Research and the University of Auckland has recently completed his MSc study of native parasitoid wasps from the Waitakere ranges. He found 136 species, of which only 20% could be assigned a species-level taxonomic name (i.e. 80% were undescribed). This shows the incredible diversity of unknown species that exist in New Zealand, even on the door-step of our largest city.

Land & Soils

Land and Soils Land Resource Information Systems (LRIS)

26 591 visitors
198 305 page views
5466 data downloads
4860 users

S-Map Online

102 460 page views
67 215 application loads
59524 point queries
49 959 visits
42 200 soil fact sheets generated
2536 maps printed