REFERENCE

Of Recent Interest...

Not just a weta home but a weta motel...here are plans to build one for your garden. (17 Nov 08)

The University of Nottingham has provided a periodic table of elements, each with a link to a video about them. (30 Oct 08)

Several multi-access keys are now available for stoneflies (Plecoptera). The site includes keys to adult and larval stages, fact sheets, a checklist and a bibliography. (24 Aug 08)

BUGZ is an online bibliography of New Zealand terrestrial invertebrates. It covers the period 1775-1993. (9 Aug 08)

DoC have produced a number of fact sheets on the small-leaved Olearia spp. There are eight rare Olearia species included in the Small-leaved Tree Daisy National Recovery Plan. (31 May 08)

Google Sky has some great images of the sky, at a range of wavelengths. It also includes links to related podcasts. (19 Apr 08)

26 reasons what you think is right is wrong...(about cognitive biases). (12 Mar 08)

MapToaster software now provides topographical maps for use with Garmin GPS units. (10 Jan 08)

Podcasts of the talks from the all-day "Feathers to Fur" symposium are now available. (15 Dec 07)

There are some truly fantastic photographs of animals in the depths of the sea. (20 Oct 07)

The Nikon Small World Site showcases " the beauty and complexity of life as seen through the light microscope". The winning photographs for 2007 are now available to view. (8 Oct 07)

NIWA is making its nationally significant databases available free over the web, including archived data on climate, hydrology (lake level, river flow), sea level, water quality, and freshwater fish. (28 Jul 07)

Biodiversity in New Zealand marine ecoregion is described on a WWF site - Treasures of the sea. (25 Jun 07)

Some environment-related GIS data layers are now available at the GIS portal provided by Landcare Research. (24 May 07)

Landcare Research have put a fungal guide online, that includes a key and photographs. (2 May 07)

There are free back issues available online of some excellent journals, including
Notornis (Ornithology of the Southern Pacific),
New Zealand Journal of Forestry,
Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, and
New Zealand Entomologist. (7 Apr 07)

Not even slightly local, but fascinating all the same, there is a panorama of McMurdo on Mars available. Slightly closer to home, are some striking aerial photographs of Africa. (24 Mar 07)

New Zealand Threat Classification System Lists have been updated by DoC. 2788 species are listed, which is an increase of 416. (1 Feb 07)

The London Biodiversity Partnership draws attention to the ecology of a city, in quite an inspiring way. (2 Dec 06)

The Australian Museum has an interesting site about keeping insects as pets, with related information. (9 Nov 06)

An economic analysis of wetlands, carried out by WWF, puts the annual value of wetlands worldwide at "a very conservative US$3.4 billion". (8 Oct 06)

Detailed information on New Zealand birds, including pictures, is available at Nga Manu o Aotearoa. (2 Sep 06)

You can purchase an interesting range of digital nature photographs from International Environmental Weed Foundation for $2(AUS) each. (3 Aug 06)

The Christchurch City Plan and the Banks Peninsula District Plan are both available online. (30 May 06)

The Royal Society of New Zealand has a digitisation project underway. Back issues of journals are freely available in PDF format from 2003 and earlier. Remaining issues are being scanned and converted, as funding allows. (7 Apr 06)

Have your say on the draft plan for the Avon River/Otakaro in Christchurch. (22 Mar 06)

Choose 'gallery' to see some great photos of fungi. (30 Jan 06)

The University of Canterbury library has an excellent Biological Sciences Portal. (27 Jan 06)

Sadly, Dr David Given has died. (29 Nov 05)

A booklet designed to help people on the Canterbury Plains protect and restore native plant communities is now available - "Native Plant Communities of the Canterbury Plains". (28 Nov 05)

Biosecurity NZ have provided information about the algae "didymo" (Didymosphenia geminata). (20 Nov 05)

With Google Scholar you can search many sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles etc. (8 Nov 05)

Some impressive photographs, taken through a microscope, can be seen at Nikon Small World. (31 Oct 05)

You can turn one piece of paper into a handy (small, light, thin, customised) organiser using PocketMod. For the folding step, I recommend you follow the diagram rather than the text. (27 Oct 05)

At the What's That Bug? site they endeavour to identify bugs from photos that people send them. (4 Sep05)

The June 2005 edition of Te Taiao, Landcare biodiversity newsletter from is now available. Included are details on a new fungi book, and one on mosses that is underway. (1 Jul 05)

A guide to Australian ant fauna is available at Australian Ants Online. (17 May 05)

The Millenium Ecosystem Assessment program focuses on ecosystem services and their effect upon human wellbeing. It explores response options to improve ecosystem management to improve human well-being and alleviate poverty. (2 May 05)

BioBlitz is a scientific race against time. 8-9 April 2005 in Hagley Park. (15 Mar 05)

Landcare have put their flora (vol. I-V) and fauna (vol. 11, 21, 40, 43) online. This includes keys, illustations, photographs, check lists, even the glossaries. The lists are searchable by flora taxon or fauna taxon. (30 Sep 04)

Back issues of the NZ Journal of Ecology (back to 1952), are now available online as PDF files. And for a limited time, everything is available free... (20 Sep 04)

Christchurch's biodiversity strategy is available to view and for comments, until 8 September. (23 Jul 04)

Time-lapse photography of plants-in-motion - growing, flowering, responding to the seasons. (10 Jul 04)

Clear communication of data is an ongoing challenge; Edward Tufte is an inspiring read. Here is a sample, or see some of his books. (28 Jun 04)

Botanical illustrations from the Endeavour expedition (1768-1771) are on the London Natural History Museum site, including plants from New Zealand. (16 Jan 04)

Wim van Egmond has taken some great photographs of the colonial algae Volvox. (8 Jan 04)

Wim also provides some great 3D pics of insects - some red and blue 3D glasses are required for these. (8 Jan 04)

If you use maps for fieldwork and would find a combination of topographic maps and aerial photographs, along with the facility to download and upload GPS data useful, then check out MapToaster software. (6 Oct 03)

Land Environments of New Zealand (LENZ) is a quantitatively-based environmental classification of New Zealand. It is anticipated that it will be particularly useful in biodiversity conservation and natural resources management. (6 Oct 03)

A 'Public Access to Legislation' (PAL) Project is underway to enable the Crown to make legislation available to the public online.
The site includes text and amendments for New Zealand Statutory Regulations and Statutes, e.g. the Resource Management Act. (12 Sep 03)

The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network was recently established with the aim that 'no indigenous species of plant will become extinct nor be placed at risk of extinction as a result of human action or indifference, and that the rich, diverse and unique plant life of New Zealand will be recognised, cherished and restored'. (17 Aug 03)

DoC Science Publications are now available free on the internet. Excellent! (2 Jul 03)

The Australian Natural Resources Atlas makes interesting reading, e.g. the sections on Terrestrial Biodiversity. (15 May 03)

There is now a reguarly updated "weed of the month" available on the Canterbury Weed Guide. Each month information on a new weed is added as a colour pdf, good enough to print. (1 May03)

Kind of weird, but also interesting, check out some bug sounds... (8 May 03)

A useful list of existing and potential ecological weeds in NZ has been published by DoC. The web site also references a paper version. (30 Apr 03)

Digital cameras are an increasingly widespread tool. See the Megapixel.net web site for a monthly gallery of macro photos, as well as technical information and reviews. (25 Apr 03)

There are some great botany-related pictures provided on-line by the Botanical Society of America. (21 Nov 02)

Some summary statistics on the the composition of the New Zealand seed plant flora are available at Landcares' web site. Numbers of endemic, indigenous and naturalised species are analysed across families and genera. (22 Sep 02)

The Regional Council have written an overview of wetlands. (8 Sep 02)

The Canterbury Weed Guide identifies some (currently ~50) of the weeds in Canterbury. Pest status and control methods are also covered. (31 Jul 02)

A paper on ecosystem services details some of the benefits supplied to human societies by natural ecosystems. (24 Jun 02)

A report on links between climate change and biodiversity in New Zealand includes a recommendation that planning give more attention to medium (~500 years) and long-term timescales (~120,000 years).
Various likely changes in the distribution of NZ biota are identified. Existing pressures on native species from weeds and pests are likely to be exacerbated.
Recommendations for research topics and some policy implications are discussed. (24 Jun 02)

A study of small pine trees growing on cliffs in North America found that the trees are 400 years old. Studies elsewhere have also found cliffs providing a distinct habitat.
"Now when we look at cliffs... we see the last remnants of a landscape untouched by humans, refuges for displaced organisms in a disrupted natural landscape, habitats of overwhelming importance to the maintenance of biodiversity that are worth our every effort to protect" (20 May 02)

NIWA have put freshwater plant, invertebrate and fish identification guides onto the web. (12 Apr 02)

DoC have released a report on "The conservation requirements of New Zealand's nationally threatened invertebrates" - 280 species including worms, snails, beetles, moths, spiders, grasshoppers, weta, flies. (26 Mar 02)

Biodiversity pests in Canterbury have been targeted in a regional council strategy.

Ways to sustain indigenous biodiversity on private land in New Zealand are discussed in a report called Bio-what?, by the Ministry for the Environment.

The worlds 25 biodiversity hotspots have been identified, based primarily on numbers of endemic species and rates of habitat loss. New Zealand is in the top 25.

Email: enquiry@urbeco.com

Phone: 021 350 931

Typical projects include:

• Ecological site assessments
• Ecological management plans for sites
• Botanical monitoring (grassland, shrubland, wetland)
• Weed plans
• Weed monitoring
• Significance assessments of wetlands
• Botanical assessments for resource consents
• Technical advice for plan preparation (e.g. Christchurch City Plan, Natural Regional Resources Plan)
• Environment Court evidence
• Plant identification (including booklets with photographs and non-technical plant descriptions)