2017 innovation stories
Our Core Purpose is to drive innovation
Kōkako: Bird of the year making a comeback
Population of the forest-dwelling kōkako was down to about 330 pairs in 1999, but a recovery plan means that the status of the species status has changed from Nationally Critical to At Risk – recovering.
Restoring our wetlands
Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research is working with Waikato-Tainui to restore wetlands and clean up the country’s longest river.
Kiwi DNA: No blood spilled
As an alternative to taking blood samples from delicate kiwi, our team has been extracting DNA from feather and scat samples to develop markers and retrieve population-level genetic data.
Ahi Pepe | MothNet: making moth-lovers of the masses
This citizen science endeavour aims to raise public appreciation of moths and explore their potential to act as ecological indicators of the health of our natural world.
Tackling tutsan with a new biocontrol agent
Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research reached a key milestone in its war against weeds, releasing a biocontrol agent to tackle the weed tutsan, a weed that costs approximately $400 / ha to control by traditional means.
Chemical camouflage
Messing with the minds of predators like ferrets, feral cats and hedgehogs is showing promising results for New Zealand’s birdlife.
SedNetNZ model expanded to include landslide erosion rates
SedNetNZ provides land managers with tools to realistically simulate erosion processes and predict the impacts of future upstream land management scenarios on downstream water quality.
Riparian planner
Demand is strong for an award-winning tool for developing riparian management plans for farms.
Digging deep
Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research scientists have been looking at nitrogen cycling by microbes deep in the ground.
S-map: enhancing the national soil survey database
When completed, S-Map will provide seamless digital soil map coverage of New Zealand, at any scale from farm to nation, making it indispensable to farm management.
Scientific breakthrough: a new way of converting reactive nitrogen (N) to harmless nitrogen gas (N2)
Potential pathway to reduce post-Paris risk in the New Zealand agricultural sector.
Freshwater forever: Helping support decisions for better water quality in New Zealand
Our Freshwater Values, Monitoring and Outcomes Programme has been developing valuable tools for national and regional government to care for their communities’ freshwater resources.