Tags

Feeds / Ngā Uruora posts

This feed is published by Nga Uruora - Kapiti Project.

This feed is read by this Whakaoko subscription

Added on 12 Apr 2020. Last read 1 month ago.

To subscribe to this feed, enter the following location into your feed reader.

This feed currently contains the following newsitems (total count 12):

    • Lizard fertility and reproduction
      • By Paul Callister and Sahra Kress , August 2021 Newborn Wellington Green gecko at Ngā Manu, 2021. Photo Sahra Kress Over recent years Ngā Uruora has been trying to support lizard populations on the escarpment. Through our lizard protection trial, we have undertaken research on the best way of controlling pests, including mice. We have also endeavoured to support populations in the quarry site through creating lizard friendly habitat and establishing plants that we hope will provide food and shelter. Pest control and habitat are clearly important. But for lizards to thrive, populations need to increase. This requires successful breeding. However, as a group we know very little about lizard reproduction. Increased knowledge is important for conservation efforts. If breeding is not successful translocations will not achieve the desired goal. The decline of a species could be the result of many factors, but if fertility and breeding is compromised this is important to know. For a variety of reasons, including their very cryptic behaviour, relatively little is known about New Zealand lizards. Clearly more research is needed. A very dark coloured Northern grass skink. Photo: Paul Callister. Drawing on her expertise as a midwife, local volunteer Sahra Kress has been looking into this subject. Here are some of the interesting facts Sahra found out: Females: Mating usually occurs in late summer.Gestation length is reduced with increased basking opportunities during pregnancy.Duvaucelii pregnancies potentially last longer than a year, so have less-than-annual reproduction.Unlike geckos, no skinks are known to continue pregnancies over winter.Peri-ovulatory (fertile) females have much higher estrogen and progesterone levels than non-reproductive females.Some NZ geckos have the intriguing feature of being able to resume a substantial amount of vitellogenesis (yolk formation) before the end of pregnancy. This ability is rare, if not unique, among viviparous lizards (confirmed by dissection in captivity of Woodworthia females).Females may store sperm internally for about 6 months prior to ‘conception’. Males: Levels of promiscuity may be lower for New Zealand geckos relative to overseas squamates.Peak mating season is during summer and autumn.No major seasonal changes. Sexual Dimorphism: At birth, New Zealand lizards show no distinguishing differences between males and females.This lack of obvious dimorphism contrasts with many lizards overseas.Due to incomplete sexual differentiation at birth, sex is often incorrectly assigned.There is no major size difference between male and female adults.Sexual colour differences are generally modest or lacking. Age at Maturity and Lifespan: Longevity is associated with infrequent reproduction, higher latitudes, cooler temperatures.Most New Zealand geckos take between 2-8 years to reach maturity.Duvaucelii take 7 years to mature, live up to 50 years.New Zealand lizards have unusual features of reproduction and lifespan when compared with lizards generally. Pregnancies last longer, maintenance of offspring in utero occurs over winter, and geckos ability to overlap reproductive cycles are unique features. This is likely due to our cooler climate.There is also increasing evidence that certain species of NZ lizards show some form of parental care, or at least tolerance of their young. Some live in family groups in the wild. Quarry Lizard Garden. Photo: Paul Callister Some of the key references for this research are: Cree A., Hare K.M. (2016) Reproduction and Life History of New Zealand Lizards. In: Chapple D. (eds) New Zealand Lizards. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41674-8_7 Winkel, D. van, Baling, M. & Hitchmough, R. Reptiles and amphibians of New Zealand: a field guide. (2019). Department of Conservation: https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/reptiles-and-frogs/lizards/ The New Zealand Herpetological Society: https://www.reptiles.org.nz/

    • Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
      • Paul Callister September 2020 We are proud of the work Ngā Uruora has carried out on the Paekākāriki-Pukerua Bay escarpment and surrounding areas. In our time, we have had many inspired volunteers. But less known is the contribution to conservation made by Paekākāriki locals long before our organisation was set up. One is Arthur Clarke. He is honoured within Paekākāriki with a street named after him, as well as through a small fund for community grants for “educational and charitable purposes” administered by the local community board. But not so well recognised is his donation of the land that has subsequently become Kāpiti Coast District Council’s A.T. Clarke Reserve. This land is located on the Paekākāriki Hill road, accessible via the Kohekohe loop track which leads off the escarpment track. Papers Past provides some information about A.T.Clarke. On A.T. Clarke’s death in 1929 this short obituary was published in the Evening Post. Beside the Hill Road is a monument acknowledging the gift of land. A decade after Mr Clarke’s death, Hutt County Council, which then administered the reserve, appointed E.V. Sanderson as an honorary supervisor. This was reported in the Evening Post of May 1938. Captain Ernest Valentine ‘Val’ Sanderson was a Paekākāriki resident in the latter part of his life. Source: https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/41171/captain-sanderson Sanderson lived in Pingau Street. His obituary at the Auckland Museum’s on-line cenotaph states: His command and organisational abilities were to become invaluable after the war as he went on to found the New Zealand Native Bird Protection Society, later known as the Royal Forest & Bird Society. He almost single-handedly built the organisation into the New Zealand’s leading environmental protection group after finding his beloved Kāpiti Island bird sanctuary stripped and overrun with introduced species when he returned from war in 1921. As conservation issues become ever more critical, we should remember the leadership of servicemen like Captain Sanderson who emerged from war to work tirelessly for the benefit of future generations. The Paekākāriki Station Museum, led by resident Dave Johnson, has been researching the local contribution of Val Sanderson. Now Ngā Uruora is partnering with the Kāpiti-Mana branch of Forest & Bird to help honour the work of Sanderson.  Michael Pringle from Forest & Bird is leading the research. In 2023 Forest & Bird will be celebrating 100 years of the organisation. If anyone has information such as letters or photos that relate to Sanderson’s life in Paekākāriki, please e-mail Michael at m.pringle@forestandbird.org.nz Ngā Uruora is developing a plan to highlight the work of Sanderson by developing signage to be installed beside the track passing through our Waikākāriki Wetland restoration area. We are also proposing to rename this section of the track “Sanderson’s Way”. Expect to hear more about this project, and the history of AT Clarke reserve, over the next couple of months.

    • Our Remote Sensing Trial
      • By Paul CallisterOctober 2019 Our remote trap sensing project started with a typical New Zealand style chance meeting. My sister came across the great experimental work Matt Way and Scott Sambell from Econode were doing with remote sensors at the Glenfern fenced sanctuary on Great Barrier Island. This was soon followed by a discussion over coffee when Matt and Scott were passing through Paekākāriki.Luckily this meeting took place just as we were beginning to create a Kāpiti Mainland Island as part of the Ministry for the Environment’s Kāpiti Coast Biodiversity Project. We were able to draw on some of this funding to begin our experiments.Phase one of the trial began in August 2016. It was a collaboration between Ngā Uruora (on behalf of the Kāpiti Biodiversity Project), the Paekākāriki firm Groundtruth (who run Trap.NZ) and Econode. This initial seed money did not fully fund the research effort so we relied heavily on the goodwill of the partners. Supporting this was also a considerable amount of volunteer time provided by the trapping community.While there was potential to use this technology on a range of traps, it was initially decided to restrict the trial to DOC200 traps and box based rat traps (Snap-e type traps). Snap-E Remote Sensing Trap In late 2016 13 remote sensor traps were placed in a range of locations across Queen Elizabeth Park, Paekākāriki and the escarpment. Initially these traps were monitored through an internet connection that provided a table which indicated if the trap had sprung. An additional layer of the table showed when the trap was sending a signal and also when the trap was sprung or was set.The first part of the trial took place when there were relatively few mustelids or rats being caught. Our first catch was a mouse that set off a trap that was then located at Queen Elizabeth Park. Subsequently, a small number of mustelids were caught. By December 2016, the data from the Econode remote sensor traps was fully integrated with the Trap.NZ system. This was due primarily to the work of Daniel Bar-Even. This was achieved using an API (application programming interface) that works with the web service provided by Econode. From the user’s perspective adding a sensor powered trap to a Trap.NZ project was simply an extension to adding a normal trap. The only difference was the trappers enter the address of the sensor (a unique code that each radio has), the trap then automatically shows up within the project as a “smart trap” and indicates its status within Trap.NZ reports and maps. Within Trap.NZ additional information is provided for the smart traps such as: sprung state, battery state, signal strength, last communication time, etc. Setting up a new trap on Trap.NZ One very positive outcome of this development work was that the API can be adapted easily to be able to work with other networks and radio trap sensor systems as they become available. Since this early development work, the Trap.NZ system has been adapted to send out messages on events – there is now a simple interface that allows users to select (via their account preferences) to optionally have notification emails and/or text messages sent whenever a sensor trap is sprung. While there were some excellent outcomes for phase one of the experiment, the trial also threw up some challenges. The first was equipment failure. It was a very wet and windy spring in the first year and this provided a difficult environment. The early sensors were not fully waterproof. Based on feedback from our experiments, Econode developed new, better sealed sensors.An equally important challenge has been that the LoRa technology only works well with line of sight radio coverage. LoRa is a Long Range low power wireless communications technology. The radio waves can bend around corners to some small degree but overall it is not well suited to sending signals into tight gullies or around ridges. This is the type of topography both Whareroa Farm and the escarpment is made up of. In addition, the radio waves have some difficulties penetrating thick forest cover. These challenges can be overcome with repeater stations and these are currently under development. The trial suggested an offshore aerial covering the mainland would allow much bigger area of the Kāpiti Coast. With funding from a GWRC grant given to the Kāpiti Coast Biodiversity Project, an aerial was placed on Tokomapuna Island This has worked well. But the location is not much above sea level. We are now planning to move the aerial to the top of Kāpiti Island. Not only will this give greater coverage of the Kāpiti Coast, its location means traps in the outer Marlborough Sounds as well as Southern Taranaki could be monitored. Sensor traps were placed in our lizard protection trial. The ability to collect fresh mustelids allowed us to determine that indeed weasels were eating our lizards. Stomach contents from a weasel caught on the Escarpment showing gecko feet. We have been able to extend our research using a further DOC grant. This allowed us to buy new versions of Econode sensors for DOC200 traps. These now have the sensor inside the trap rather on top of it. This gives it better protection. But as part of the development of the ‘mainland island’ a small network of Goodnature A24s (targeting rats) and lizard related A24s (targeting mice) had been installed. The standard way of determining how these are performing is to install relatively expensive counters. We have trialled Econode sensors on some of these traps. They not only give a count of kills but also give additional information on when the traps triggered. Is this during the day or night, is it soon after new lures are installed or does it take place over an extended time? We have also trialled another brand of sensors. These are produced by Motiv and are motion sensors. A small trial of these is currently underway at Ngā Manu and some have been trialled at Whitireia Park. Again we have had significant waterproofing problems with early models. In addition, motion sensors seem to give some false alerts if the trap is bumped or even affected by heavy rain. We see that a number of other sensors are now entering the market. Cats are a problem on a number of our sites and elsewhere live catch traps have been deployed. Glenfern had already been using remote sensors to signal when such traps have been sprung on Great Barrier Island. As yet we have not used sensors in this role but are keen to learn how other groups use them. When we started these experiments we thought there are a number possible uses of the remote sensing trap technology. These included: • Having an automatic log of when traps go off (what day, what time of day). Potentially these data could analysed that data against a range of variables such as weather conditions. • If researchers are wanting ‘fresh kills’ for dissection work (for example determining what predators are eating) trappers can quickly get to these. • Early detection of intrusions into a protected area. This could be an intrusion into a predator fenced area, an offshore island or perhaps an area that needs special protection (for example penguin or kaka nesting). • If contractors are servicing trap lines it gives an independent record that all traps are checked. The sensors have been especially useful in obtaining fresh specimens for autopsy. Through this we have had confirmed that weasels are important predators of lizards. We have also found some traps are very active. One particular trap on the escarpment seems to catch considerably more rats that others in the area. Without sensors we would have not known this. When we started the experiments we had in mind their value in monitoring traps way out in the bush. We now realise some of their best use is in high value sites close to where we live. If we know a trap goes off we can quickly walk or bike to the site and clear the trap. That way the trap is constantly set. There are however problems still to be overcome. These are bespoke systems so sensors remain expensive. There are also ongoing monitoring costs. There also remain questions as to how long these even improved sensors will last in the challenging areas we work. Changing batteries in the field remains a challenge. For the moment conservation groups need to consider very carefully the costs and benefits of using sensor technology. Ngā Uruora is confident that the ‘internet of things’ has much to offer in terms of increasing the productivity of our conservation efforts. We are pleased that we have had the opportunity to play a small part in the ongoing development of remote sensors for traps.

    • Geoff Park, Tony Whitaker and Fred Allen: A personal note
      • Paul Callister, November 2018 If walking the Paekākāriki-Pukerua Bay escarpment track, when you stop and rest on the seat on the southern edge of the ‘Eco-site’ forest you will see a memorial plaque to the noted New Zealand ecologist Geoff Park (1946-2009). Ngā Uruora volunteers assisted Te Araroa Wellington Trust in installing this seat. We also helped with planting around the area, including providing some northern rata. Plaque on escarpment, source: Andy McKay I often sit on this seat after working on our lizard protection project which is situated directly below it. In late October 2018 I sat here with a long-time friend, Oliver Druce. Oliver is the son of well-known botanist Tony Druce (as well as the Wairarapa regional representative of Birds New Zealand). Tony Druce was a mentor to Geoff Park. Both lived in the Upper Hutt suburb of Pinehaven. Also from the same suburb was Tony Whitaker, the internationally acclaimed lizard expert whom the locally once common Whitaker’s skink is named after. Tony, who passed away in 2014, was born just two years before Geoff.  A couple of weeks before he passed away, I had a really helpful telephone conversation with him about lizards on the Kāpiti Coast and how we might best look after them. We were doing the final planning for the three year Kāpiti Coast Biodiversity Project. He suggested we employ Trent Bell of Ecogecko to advise us and carry out surveys, an excellent recommendation. Whitakers skink, source: Department of Conservation While Tony Druce influenced Geoff, in turn Geoff influenced my own thinking, including through his book Ngā Uruora: The Groves of Life – Ecology and History in a New Zealand Landscape. It is this book that our organisation is named after. Geoff, before he passed away in 2009, contributed to an expanding ecological history of New Zealand. This book has recently been re-released by Victoria University Press. Source: Victoria University Press But my connection with Geoff goes back much further. I grew up in the Lower Hutt suburb of Normandale. Across the valley, the hills were covered in gorse, with frequent fires slowing the hillside’s transformation to regenerating native bush. In one chapter of Ngā Uruora, Geoff paints a picture of the landscape that my great grandfather, Humphrey Callister, would have seen looking at the same hills as he sailed into Wellington harbour in 1857, just under 100 years before I was born. Geoff describes a dramatically different landscape to what we see today. In my teenage years, as part of the Hutt Valley Conservation Society (formed in 1966), I helped plant native trees on the margins of these hills. I owe a debt to Jan and Arnold Heine who were key drivers of this group and who shared their considerable knowledge of ecology and restoration. Jan and Arnold Heine (right) with scientist, mountaineer, and conservationist Les Molloy, Source: Stuff However, my lifelong interest in environmental issues was also encouraged by having Geoff Park as a mentor during his brief period as a teacher at Hutt Valley High School.[1] In the early 1970s Geoff involved his students in a scientific study which then turned into a protest. In Keith George Memorial park, Geoff taught us how to undertake vegetation transects. He helped identify the range of plants growing there and explained why the area was ecologically important. He also showed us how to challenge decision making authorities using science. Source: Stuff  As a teenager, winning this fight seemed a great victory for us. Unfortunately, it also gave me a false expectation of how simple it was to change the world! In those early days of my conservation career it was easy to work out what to protect: the beech forests of Westland, the podocarp forests of the central North Island, and Lake Manapouri. Less clear was the aim of restoration. The goal of restoration is an ongoing discussion within Ngā Uruora. One idea is recreating, as much as is feasible, an ecology of a period just prior to the arrival of Māori. This raises the question as to what the Paekākāriki escarpment would have looked like when Polynesian settlers arrived. In Paradise Saved: The Remarkable Story of New Zealand’s Wildlife Sanctuaries and How They Are Stemming the Tide of Extinction, Butler, Lindsay and Hunt (2014: 8) provide some idea:[2] “Imagine standing on a New Zealand beach in the 14th century. Around you are the dense forest presses onto the shore. Thousands of shags and terns nest on the cliffs, with albatrosses and mollymawks on the grass slopes above. Seals bask on the rocks, and in the evening penguins come ashore to nest or roost. Dolphins and orca chase schools of fish into the bay and several species of larger whale pass by, or linger at sites such as the Hikurangi Trench off Kaikoura where rich, cold currents bring up food from the deep. The mud of the river mouth hides abundant shellfish and the assemblage of water birds includes unfamiliar characters such as a New Zealand pelican, a large flightless goose and the flightless Finsch’s duck. Step back from the shore and into the forest margin, and look down. An extraordinary variety of life is all around you. Lizards scurry for cover away from your feet, while giant weta lurk in rock crevices. Peripatus, a beautiful velvet worm unchanged for more than 550 million years, rest under decaying logs; tuatara, whose relatives walked the land beside the dinosaurs, bask in the sunshine. Everywhere around you there is uniqueness. In ground beetles alone, New Zealand has 50 genera found nowhere else in the world. You won’t hear any croaking coming from the forest streams, as New Zealand’s tiny frogs are silent. Considered unchanged in 70 million years, they develop directly from eggs with no tadpole stage. It’s perhaps at night that the forest is most alive, with short-tailed bats joining the insects turning over the leaf-litter. A ‘rain’ of seabirds falls at dusk in the breeding season while the kakapo ‘boom’ to attract a mate.” When Ngā Uruora started its work in 1997, we wanted to provide a bird-safe corridor from Waikanae to Porirua. This initially meant protecting our remaining patches of forest. But then we began to expand the area of trees through growing plants in our nurseries and undertaking regular winter working bees. But what guided us in our planting? A key document has been a plant guide prepared by Matt Ward for the Kāpiti District Council which drew heavily, in turn, on plant lists prepared by Tony Druce, Geoff Park’s early mentor. As part of forest protection, we have slowly expanded our trapping operations. The resulting changes in bird life have been slow. But we are now starting to see more Kererū and Tūī on the escarpment and, in late 2018, we spotted our first korimako (bellbird). Only a few weeks before that we saw a Southern right whale and its calf swimming past the escarpment. Southern right whales, source: Chris Paulin‎ In the last couple of years we have also become conscious of lizards on the escarpment. We now have a lizard protection trial underway. This is taking place on an area of the escarpment directly below Geoff Park’s memorial seat. We are also have a lizard garden at our quarry site. In both site areas are some regionally rare plants grown by well-known nursery man, Fred Allen. We know these plants should be on the escarpment as Tony Druce included them in his plant list for the area. Cook Strait mahoe seedlings grown by Fred Allen While Fred Allen grew up in Porirua, he spent much of his adult life in Lower Hutt. Fred’s Kiwi Plants nursery at the top of Stokes Valley in Lower Hutt is a just a short Kererū flight from where Geoff Park and Tony Whitaker grew up. Fred was well known in Wellington restoration circles and his trees are planted throughout Wellington. Fred’s plants are not only helping the local lizard populations that Tony Whitaker so loved but are also helping recreate the forests that Geoff Park described in Ngā Uruora. Fred passed away in October 2018. Lizard protection site Eventually on the Paekākāriki-Pukerua Bay escarpment we want to see the return of: bats, Cook Strait weta, a wider range of forest dwelling birds, and more species of lizards, including tree dwelling lizards. But what we increasingly realise are missing are the thousands of seabirds that were once likely to be living permanently, or during their breeding season, on the escarpment. There would have been lots of burrows. Given our knowledge of the preferred habitat of Whitaker’s skink, it is likely many made use of these burrows, as would have tuatara. We have yet to figure out how to achieve this goal, but one day we hope to see the seabirds return. Recently, I visited a new lizard site at Manor Park opposite Keith George Memorial Park. This was on the way home from picking up plants from Fred Allen’s nursery. While checking out lizard homes it was great to look across the motorway and feel some satisfaction that I was part of a group that helped save an important area of local forest. Geoff Park, Tony Whitaker and Fred Allen are all connected to Ngā Uruora in various ways. But it was Geoff who inspired my early conservation efforts. I am sure he would have approved of Ngā Uruora’s efforts to ‘restore’ the escarpment. We are privileged to have his memorial seat on Te Araroa track. [1] http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/hutt-news/524130/Conservation-fight-a-lesson-well-learned [2] Butler, D., Lindsay, T. and Hunt, J. (2014) Paradise Saved: The Remarkable Story of New Zealand’s Wildlife Sanctuaries and How They Are Stemming the Tide of Extinction, Auckland: Random House.

    • Gene editing for pest control
      • Some thoughts from Jean Fleming What is gene editing? Gene editing uses bacterial enzymes (the CRISPR-Cas9 system) that are used in nature to chop up the DNA of invading viruses and thus protect the bacterium from infection. As such, the system has been described as a form of bacterial “immune system”. The CRISPR-Cas9 system uses enzymes that can change a single letter of the DNA code in any cell (bacterial or mammalian) very specifically, thus either effectively stopping the gene from working, or fixing a mutation. Gene editing changes the DNA sequence. It can therefore be considered to be genetic modification. However no new DNA is added to the gene conveying a new characteristic (eg herbicide resistance). These days you can buy an expensive kit, with all the enzymes and solutions required, to get the job done. All you need is a short piece of DNA that will take the enzymes involved directly to the sequence you want to change. See http://www.genecopoeia.com/product/genome-editing-tools/genome-editing/ Theoretically, for genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis, where a single letter of the code is wrong in sufferers, introducing cells capable of making the missing protein correctly will fix the disease in that individual, possibly for life. For more complex diseases, like endometriosis or most cancers, fixing a single gene mutation is unlikely to cure the disease. If the DNA in eggs or sperm is edited, the changed DNA will be passed on to the individual’s children, so it will be a permanent change, although it should be possible to reverse edit the gene in exactly the same way. Inserting a gene for infertility into a rat would normally result in only a 50% chance that the trait would be handed on to the next generation – as the DNA of both parents would be passed on. However, a new technology called the gene drive would enforce the replication of that desired gene (let’s not get into how).   The end of stoats and weasels? A gene drive is the phenomenon in which the inheritance of a particular gene or set of genes is favoured. Gene drives can arise through a variety of mechanisms and results in the “desired” trait (eg infertility) increasing in a population. Engineered gene drives have been proposed to provide an effective means of genetically modifying populations or even whole species. The result might be the complete eradication of the species, not only in New Zealand, but possibly all round the world. Moral and ethical problems arise when one species (humans) want to eradicate  another (mosquitoes, wasps, NZ stoats). “But how do we tackle the tricky ethical questions that the predator-free mission raises? How do we decide what an invasive species is, or whether they pose a threat, and will the new tools we need to do the job be accepted by Kiwis?” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11923806 And if you think New Zealand is isolated enough to prevent escape of the technology, consider why ship rats are called ship rats. A few escapees carrying the technology might eradicate that species of rat around the world. Remember also, New Zealand has three species of rat alone and our knowledge of the differences and similarities of their genomes is limited. The daisy gene drive has been invented to deal with the risk of global spread and eradication of a species. It is a more localized form of CRISPR-based gene drive composed of genetic elements arranged in a daisy-chain such that each element drives the next. Releasing daisy drive organisms constituting a small fraction of the local wild population could drive infertility (for example) into the national population without resulting in global spread. See https://www.responsivescience.org/pub/daisydrives Governance of gene drives may be complex. A paper by Austin Wright-Pettibone (“Driving the Future”) proposes four major principles: Principle I: Avoid the use of global drives. Principle II: Localize drives to specific consenting communities. Principle III: Consider gene drive a process for spreading genes, rather than any specific gene-edited product. Principle IV: Expand the Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology to include agencies with stakeholder interest in public health and the environment. Could gene drives really make trapping a thing of the past? Strategies to use gene editing on pests The bigger picture: The systems used to edit genes have evolved along with everything else. All over the world people are experimenting to develop medical applications, but also to “fix” malaria, by eradicating or controlling mosquitos. “So what happens is that it spreads and it spreads and it spreads. And this is the fantastic thing,” says Hammond. “Because it allows that gene to be selfish in a population. And in a very short amount of time you can actually transform an entire wild population into a modified population. It’s powerful.” https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/12/14/504732533/to-fight-malaria-scientists-try-genetic-engineering-to-wipe-out-mosquitoes However, scientists are learning quickly that the system is not quite as simple as they thought. Just recently, organisms have been shown to develop resistance to gene editing. “Just as superbugs develop resistance to antibiotics, it’s likely that wild populations will develop resistance to modifications aimed at destroying them. In 2015, researchers demonstrated this, reporting that as an infertility mutation in female mosquitoes was successfully passed on to all their offspring over many generations, resistance also emerged, allowing some mosquitoes to avoid inheriting the mutation.” See https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/04/new-zealand-could-use-gene-editing-to-kill-off-its-cutest-predator/ and https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/01/mosquitos-are-beating-gene-editing-with-rapid-evolution/ A recent paper found hundreds of mutations (in experimental mice) that weren’t supposed to be there, after specific gene-editing. The results contradicted earlier studies that showed CRISPR caused very few of these “off-target” mutations. One of the authors, Stephen Tsang, commented: “We feel it’s critical that the scientific community consider the potential hazards of all off-target mutations caused by CRISPR.” A simple gene drive is irreversible, but researchers are investigating ways of limiting them so that they spread through most of a population but then cause their own extinction. The invasiveness and comprehensiveness of the gene drive has been tempered by a new tool called the daisy drive. This “daisy chain” system reduces the risk that it will drive through a global population. The knowledge about gene editing is changing so fast, that opinions held a month ago are sometimes changed the next. The one constant is the need for “public engagement” ie the public needs to make the decision, not the scientists, because the scientists cop the blame when things go wrong. There is also a rise in the number of scientists such as Wayne Linklater and James Steer, who believe we should learn to live with our predators and keep the iconic birds in offshore islands and sanctuaries. There have been some really useful New Zealand discussions about gene editing to eradicate pests. Try http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ourchangingworld/audio/201840692/we-need-to-talk-about-gene-drives-and-gene-editing and http://www.radionz.co.nz/stories/2018618186/editing-our-genes-pest-control. I attended the latter panel discussion and felt the scientists were all very defensive already and looking to the ethicists and the community for the way forward. There are links in the first web link to other new ideas, such as the use of Trojan females, too. And if you are not completely sick of gene editing by now, try http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/201859669/kevin-esvelt-sculpting-evolution.

    • Increasing biodiversity on the escarpment
      • By Paul Callister, August 2017 One of the aims of Ngā Uruora is to increase biodiversity on the escarpment. Usually this means finding ways to support existing flora and fauna which are at risk. But at times the goal is to bring back populations that are currently missing. As yet, we have not translocated any birds, lizards or invertebrates. But we have been bringing back some plants that are currently missing or are found in very small numbers. So how do we know what we should be bringing onto the escarpment? This is where we turn to botanical experts. In recent years we have had two visits from the Botanical Society. In 2010, Maggy Wassilieff produced a report entitled Vegetation of Paekakariki – Pukerua escarpment ecoforest. This gave a list of plants found within the area we call the Ecosite but also gave us some ideas of what plants we should be trying to bring into the area. In 2015 the Botanical Society prepared a similar report based on a walk around our Kohekohe Loop track. Aerial view of the Ecosite Another very useful guide has been a report prepared by Matt Ward while working for the Kāpiti Coast District Council. This report divides the coast into Ecological Districts. We are part of the Cook Strait Ecological as is Kāpiti Island and portions of the northern South Island. We have also talked to a range of other experts. This includes Rob Cross, Programme Manager of Biodiversity at the Kāpiti Coast District Council and our own committee member Finn Michalak who is Curator at Otari-Wilton’s Bush. Specialist native plant nurseries also give helpful advice. As discussed in the blog about restoring our quarry we have been planting a range of trees that are rare or missing including totara, titoki, matai, large leaf milk tree and Northern rata. But this year we have also started to plant some other smaller rare or missing plants on other parts of the escarpment. Ngā Uruora has many mahoe growing on the escarpment. In fact this is one of the pioneer species we have been planting over the last twenty years. Mahoe is a member of the Melicytus genus. But two other members of this group of plants are very rare on our patch. One is Melicytus obovatus (classified by the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network as ‘At Risk – Naturally Uncommon’) Melicytus obovatus ready for planting The other is Melicytus crassifolius –sometimes known as the Cook Strait Mahoe (‘At Risk – Declining’). Berries on Melicytus crassifolius – Source Naturewatch by yejun, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) We have now started to plant these two rare mahoe and are planning to grow more for future plantings. Both are ‘lizard friendly’ plants. Melicytus crassifolius planted on the escarpment We have also started to re-introduce Aciphylla squarrosa var. squarrosa (commonly called speargrass or Spaniard grass) and Coprosma rhamnoides. Neither these are rare in our region but are currently missing from the escarpment. Aciphylla squarrosa ready for planting Coprosma rhamnoides planted near one of our lizard monitoring sites The speargrass is a striking looking plant and is common on the Titahi escarpment and Mana Island. But don’t sit on it as it has very sharp spikes! Again both speargrass and C. rhamnoides are ‘lizard friendly’ plants. One of the areas we have been planting is around the seat dedicated to the life of ecologist Geoff Park. Te Araroa track walkers will therefore get a chance to see examples of these plants. Hopefully lizards will also appreciate them. “Lizard friendly’ plants near Geoff Park’s memorial seat  

    • Restoring the Paekākāriki-Pukerua Bay escarpment quarry site
      • July 2017 By Paul Callister Introduction Around the world, there are many examples of quarry and mine restoration. Open cast mines have become lakes, wetlands or woodlands. Gravel quarries have become botanical gardens or parks. Often rare species, including birds, insects and plant life, have been brought back. The restoration process frequently has to overcome many challenges, including generally the area having no top soil. Sometimes the site is contaminated with toxic mining residues. Over the last decade Ngā Uruora has been doing its own small scale quarry restoration. It has been restoring an abandoned rock quarry on the Kāpiti Coast. This quarry had provided material for the railways and for the construction of the coast highway. Luckily it is not a toxic site. But it certainly did not retain much top soil. In addition, it is exposed to wind, salt spray and all day sun. Until Ngā Uruora gained a ‘right to occupy’ the KiwiRail escarpment in 1997, the abandoned quarry had slowly been reverting to a weed infested site. There was not only no weed control there was also no pest control. History Getting access to the site In the first decade of the ‘right to occupy’ the escarpment, most of the organisation’s attention went into protecting the forest in the middle of the escarpment, known as the Ecosite. But then slowly the track known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail was developed from the Paekākāriki end of the escarpment. At first this track did not go as far as the quarry, it was used to gain access to the north end of the escarpment to undertake weed control and planting in that area. But eventually this rudimentary track reached the quarry. The original Ho Chi Minh trail to the quarry Access to the site was dramatically improved with the building of the Escarpment Track section of the Te Araroa trail. Beginning to tackle the weeds Once Ngā Uruora had walking access to the quarry we found a site with a small area of regenerating bush and a large area of vigorous weed growth. The main weed was cape ivy. This was in places two metres deep. Other weeds included boneseed, boxthorn, pampas, tradescantia, blackberry, gorse, tree lucerne, periwinkle, german ivy, kikuyu grass, fennel, banana passionfruit, climbing dock, nasturtiums, fennel and wattle. The cape ivy was not only covering the main part of the quarry it was creeping up the steep sides of the quarry and working its way into surrounding bush. Clearing this was beyond the resources of our group. Luckily Greater Wellington Regional Council came to our aid. They brought in spray guns and a tanker and did the initial clearing of the cape ivy. Effect of GWRC weed spraying Effect of GWRC weed spraying This was followed up for a number of years by spraying from backpacks and hand weeding. Much of this was carried out by volunteers, notably Ken Fraser, or our own contractors. At the same time we began to tackle most of the other weeds. Some of this weed control involved climbing the steep faces of the quarry. With the exception of periwinkle, good progress has been made in controlling most weeds on the lower slopes of the quarry. The steep slopes of the upper areas limits the ability to control weeds and no attempt has been made to control gorse in these areas. On the upper slopes of the quarry there is a significant infestation of banana passionfruit which is proving difficult to control. Planting In tandem with weed control, planting began. Initially this was to fill gaps within existing forested areas and to slowly expand these areas. These first plantings were based on our standard set of pioneer species including ngāio, taupata, karamu, akeake, olearia solandri, cabbage trees, two sorts of hebe, tauhinu, five finger, wharangi, mānuka and kānuka.  Most of these plants have been grown by Ngā Uruora using eco-sourced seeds. However, over time we have been adding a range of secondary species including some plants that have been rare or missing from the escarpment. In recent years we have added small numbers of: totara, titoki, matai, large leaf milk tree, northern rata, nikau and kahikatea (in a small area where it is damp year round). In addition, kohekohe are beginning to spread naturally into the bush areas. Along the edge of the quarry runs a small stream. Along the lower section of this stream we have been planting toetoe and carex. Recent planting in the quarry  Setting up watering systems The quarry is very dry in summer. In order to establish new plantings, at times watering can make the difference between getting plants through their first years and losing many plants. A water tank has therefore been installed in the quarry. This is mainly filled from rainwater collected via sheets of iron. In really dry conditions this tank can also be filled from the stream. The tank is also used as a source of water for spraying. Pest control The better access provided by Te Araroa allowed pest control to be extended into the quarry. Initially, this consisted of DOC200 traps along the track. In recent years, other traps and bait stations have been added. In the north end of the quarry, which contains most of the bush, traps and bait stations are set out at approximately 100 x 100 metre spacing. This is to control both mustelids and rats with a primary aim of protecting bird populations. With a better understanding of how the quarry supports lizard populations (see next section) pest control has been increased in the south end of the quarry. This has involved placing additional traps and bait stations on the site as well as adding four Goodnature A24s traps. On the flatter part of this area, traps are approximately at 20 x 20 metre spacings. Part of this new network is designed to control mice. Ngā Uruora is also trialling remote sensed traps in the quarry. This means catches can be quickly retrieved and autopsied by Sue Blaikie, a local Kāpiti Coast veterinarian, to ascertain what they are eating. Traps and bait stations in and around the quarry, Trap.nz A bait station at the quarry There is a network of tracking tunnels on the northern end of the escarpment and a couple of these are in the quarry. However, the numbers are too small to accurately assess the efficacy of the pest control. As yet, no bird counts have been carried out in the quarry. Lizard surveys In 2016 Ngā Uruora began to become aware that the quarry was potentially a good site for lizards. Informal investigations using onduline and tracking tunnels, as well as some day searching, indicated a presence of lizards. These early investigations indicated Raukawa gecko Woodworthia maculata and Northern grass skink Oligosoma aff. Polychrome Clade 1a living in the quarry, particularly within the scree slopes. A formal survey was carried out by Ecogecko in summer 2017. This used a variety of methods, including pitfalls. This survey identified two further species, Copper skinks Oligosoma aeneum and Brown skinks Oligosoma zelandicum. Brown skinks are classified as ‘At Risk – Declining’ by the New Zealand Threat Classification System. Onduline for surveying lizards These lizard surveys have helped Ngā Uruora begin to develop plans for the next stage of the restoration of the quarry. Future restoration There remain parts of the quarry with potential for further planting of pioneer forest species and rarer forest trees. There also needs to be continuing weed control across the whole quarry. Banana passionfruit and periwinkle remain significant problems. However, it is hoped cape ivy will be eventually eradicated. The greater understanding of the importance of lizards will influence further restoration work. Protecting and supporting our lizards There is potential to restore the flat land at the south end of the quarry through which the Escarpment Track runs. This is currently covered in a mix of gorse, tree lucerne and grass. It may be possible to also undertake some restoration of the lower parts of the scree slopes. Removing the grass could help control mouse populations. Gorse and tree lucerne in the quarry Ideally, a number of plants that support lizard populations that are either rare or currently absent from the escarpment will then be planted. The plants should include Cook Strait mahoe (Melicytus crassifolius), Melicytus obovatus, Comprosma rhamnoides and speargrass (Aciphylla squarrosa). Other more common plants such as pohuehue (Muehlenbeckia complexa) and mingimingi (Coprosma propinqua) could also be planted. Proposed ‘lizard garden’ site

    • Lizards on the escarpment – May 2017
      • Lizards on the escarpment – May 2017 Written by Paul Callister ‘The more surveys I do, the more I realise we’re looking at the wreckage of populations’, Trent Bell, Ecogecko, 2017 Twenty years ago, when Ngā Uruora began, lizards were not high on our agenda. It was the Kohekohe forest remnants we wanted to protect from possums and sheep and we also put much effort into planting some areas of the Paekākāriki-Pukerua Bay escarpment. Bringing back the birdsong was – and still is – a key objective. So we started trapping possums and we began to fix the fences to keep sheep out. As time went on we became more aware of the need to control mustelids and rats so traps and bait stations targeting them began to be laid out. Slowly we constructed new and better tracks so the trapping networks were improved. Research made us realise hedgehogs were also a problem. Over many years of working on the escarpment a number of us have been puzzled as to why we saw so few lizards. There have always been plenty of skinks in home gardens despite there being many neighbourhood cats. Lots of common skinks in town but very few seen on the escarpment. Gecko sightings on the escarpment had never been reported. Yet geckos are commonly seen in urban areas of Pukerua Bay. In the last two years, Ngā Uruora’s inclusion in the Ministry for the Environment funded Kāpiti Biodiversity Project has not only allowed us to further increase our trapping network but it has provided an opportunity to undertake some research on lizards. Ecogecko, and in particular Trent Bell, has led this research effort. Gaining additional funding at this time coincided with the completion of Te Araroa’s escarpment track which has improved access to our trapping network. In 2012 the Wellington Regional Lizard Network had published a lizard strategy for the Wellington region. The report brought together the views of lizard experts along with a variety of other stakeholders, including the Department of Conservation and local authorities. This document informed us that lizards are New Zealand’s largest terrestrial vertebrate group with more than 100 species. They should occupy almost all available ecosystems from coastal shores to mountain peaks. It informed us that lizards play an important role in ecosystem processes and function as predators, pollinators, frugivores and seed dispersers. The report also argued that lizards are emerging as iconic flagship and indicator species in conservation and ecological restoration. And despite most of this fauna currently being threatened or at-risk, lizards can be exceptionally abundant when released from mammalian predation pressure. Just visit Mana Island, not far from the escarpment, to see the effect of getting rid of predators on lizard populations. The lizard strategy painted a picture of significant lizard diversity in the Wellington region. A variety of lizards should be abundant on the escarpment. Ecogecko suggests we should have populations of Ngahere gecko, Northern grass skinks, Barking geckos, Ornate skinks, Copper skinks, Brown skinks, Spotted skinks and Raukawa gecko. Many years ago we probably had Whitakers skinks. Some of these species live on the ground, some in trees. Photo courtesy of Ecogecko Unfortunately through predation and habitat change all lizards have been under extreme pressure. Historically much of the escarpment would have been burnt and grazed with sheep and cattle. Predators include rats, mice, hedgehogs and mustelids. Habitat change can also include areas of former scree grassing over. Yet despite our habitat being degraded for a long period, there still remains good potential habitat, including rocky outcrops and large patches of the native plants Propinqua and Muehlenbeckia which are favourite food sources and habitat for lizards. In 2015, at the start of the MfE project, two predator control reports were prepared to guide the increased predator control on the escarpment. There was a report setting out how there would be the creation of a wider ‘Kāpiti Mainland Island’. This was followed by a more detailed operational report for Ngā Uruora. A lizard strategy report was also prepared to help guide the lizard research (all reports are available on the Naturespace website). At this point there was a lack of information on the best ways to support local lizard populations aside from the standard ideas of increasing overall predator control. In summer 2016, Ecogecko and volunteers undertook surveys at both Queen Elizabeth Park and Whareroa Farm Reserve. Ecogecko also led two small surveys on the escarpment. A report summarising the findings was then prepared. Not only did this report set out a list of lizards that might be expected to be found in the area, but what was actually found and some recommendations for further study. It also gave some ideas for enhancing predator control, especially in relation to mice on the escarpment. While some lizards were found on the escarpment, it was clear from the survey work that mice were common and likely to be impacting lizard populations. It has also become clear from autopsy work carried out by veterinarian Sue Blaikie on locally trapped rats and mustelids that lizards formed part of the diet of rats and mustelids. In mid-2016 a predator control workshop was held bringing together the local predator control community. A key theme was how to support lizard populations with a particular emphasis on controlling mice. At this workshop, Ecogecko set out their ideas for mice control. In addition, Angus Hulme-Moir explained what the Friends of Whitireia Park were doing with their lizard protection trial. Following the workshop, Ngā Uruora began exploring setting up a lizard protection trial on the escarpment. This included gaining a lizard handling permit. Angus Hulme-Moir, in his role at the Department of Conservation (DOC), has been especially helpful in setting up this trial. We have also received much helpful technical advice from DOC and from lizard experts at Victoria University, including Sarah Herbert. Ngā Uruora and the Department have a Memorandum of Understanding to help ensure ongoing support. Quite a few of Ngā Uruora volunteers have undertaken lizard training so we can legally handle this protected species. Our work is being carried out under a permit issued through the ‘Wildlife Act Authority for wildlife on non-public conservation land’.  The approval defines the activity: live catch of lizards, the methods allowed (onduline, pitfall traps, foam covers), how they can be marked, the land area covered, and the personnel authorised to handle lizards. Over summer Ngā Uruora volunteers set up this trial in the middle of the escarpment. Very appropriately, the trial site is directly below the memorial seat for ecologist Geoff Park. Geoff’s book Nga Uruora provided an inspiration and a name for our group. A number of working bees were held and following people assisted: Jim Hammond, Chris Keating, Jean Fleming, Tony Older, Sue Boyde, Glenda Robb, Liz Johns, Andy McKay, Paul Callister, Peter McLaughlin, David McKay, Michael Bennett and Vicky Griffin. People walking the track will have seen lots of bamboo stakes popping up on the slope with pink or orange triangles on them. They might have also seen volunteers in high viz gear clinging to the side of the hill. We are grateful to the following people who took part in this initial monitor: Trent Bell, Glenda Robb, Jina Sagar, Marian Cox, Andy Mckay, Bob Zuur, Peter McLaughlin, Sue Boyde, Paul Callister and Michael Stace. The weather was challenging for this first monitor as the weekends were either side of the remnants of cyclone Debbie. While the number of lizards found was disappointing, it was not unexpected. It reinforced why we are doing this trial, to create an environment where they can thrive. We have just completed our first lizard monitor. Eight days checking over two weeks. We found 5 Northern grass skinks and two Raukawa geckos. We have now begun the intensive predator control. We are using the Goodnature A24 traps as well as backup bait stations. In the area we will also have some remote sensed traps with the sensors designed by the startup company Econode. These send signals out to an aerial installed on Tokomapuna Island (Aeroplane Island) through a joint venture with local firm Groundtruth and Karl Webber. These signals then show us through the internet when the traps have gone off. This site is within a larger area of pest control and we are grateful to our volunteer trappers, the Greater Wellington Regional Council who have supported our pest control for many years and the Kapiti Biodiversity Project which has funded an expansion of our trapping effort including supporting this lizard trial. We are also grateful to Friends of Whitireia Park who are loaning us some A24s. Soon we will install a sign above the trial area explaining what we are doing. Again this is funded by the Kapiti Biodiversity Project. This sign will be similar to other signs along the escarpment installed by Te Araroa Wellington Trust. We were so impressed with the quality of these signs we asked the designer of those signs, Isobel Gabites, to also design our sign. We aim to run this trial for at least five years and hopefully ten. At Ngā Uruora’s 30th anniversary (in 2027) we hope we can report that lizards on this part of the escarpment are once more abundant. We want to turn the ‘wreckage of populations’ into vibrant healthy communities. If you want to learn more about this trial you can download our draft lizard protection trial document from Naturespace. Since we started focussing on lizards some of our trappers are also now reporting more sightings. It’s partly that we now have a better idea of what to look for. In particular the common Northern grass skink can often be spotted basking on warm rocks at what we call the ‘quarry’ opposite Fisherman’s Table. We have seen common geckos here too resting under onduline. We have also put tracking tunnels at the quarry and have recorded lizard footprints. Predator control has been going on for quite a number of years in this area, plus the rocky screes seem ideal for some lizards. We have also upped predator control in this area to help sustain and increase these lizard populations. Again using A24s is part of this. We will also place onduline sheets (small squares of roofing that lizards can live under) in other places along the escarpment to undertake informal monitoring. We are grateful to Waikanae’s Menzshed for cutting up this onduline for us. To help make the escarpment a great place for lizards we need help in various ways. We are permanently on the lookout for new volunteers. Donations to help cover our running costs are always appreciated. Go to https://givealittle.co.nz/org/ngauruorakapiti/ If walkers on the escarpment spot any interesting looking lizards, take a photo and send us a copy with an indication of where it was found (send to kapitibush@gmail.com with ‘lizard’ in the subject line). We will continue to report how we are doing via our Facebook page and newsletters.

    • Drones on the escarpment
      • Recently we had an experimental drone flyover of part of the escarpment. Professional drone flyer and photographer John Mills was the pilot.http://www.johnmills.photos/ It was a perfect day for the flyover, no clouds in the sky and little wind. The drone sounded like an angry beehive when flying over us, but its capabilities were impressive. We have the first still photos available and are looking forward to producing a short video in early 2016. So how might Nga Uruora use drones in the future? There are many possibilities. While Google Earth is great for mapping, if we could regularly fly a particular route we would get a good record of how our vegetation is changing. The quality of photos are so great we can see individual trees. Over recent years we have been using ground based photo points to see changes in our environment. But drones could make this much easier and with better records. We could potentially use a drone for weed control in the future. Spraying those very hard to get to boneseed or pampas on steep and dangerous sites. A drone could check our tracks for damage following a storm. Maybe somehow they could help us with our animal pest control in the future? We don’t want to spoil the ‘wilderness’ experience of those enjoying those escarpment by having lots of drones buzzing over. But Nga Uruora will be exploring how drones can help our work in looking after our unique part of the Kapiti Coast.

Updated Feeds

Recently updated feeds from local organisations.