scholarly journals The distribution and relative abundance of the invasive  Northern blue mussel, M. galloprovincialis, in New Zealand:  management implications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ian Blixt
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Blue Mussel ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Maritime Traffic ◽  
Aquaculture Facilities

<p>Biological invasions are a growing problem on a global scale, are capable of causing moderate to severe damage, and are most often associated with human activity. This is particularly true in the marine environment, where there are many well documented cases of non-indigenous species (NIS) spreading via maritime traffic or undergoing a range expansion associated with ocean temperatures continuing to increase. The blue mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, recognized a one of the most successful NIS globally, is one such species that is spreading in such ways. However, in the Southern hemisphere research over the past decade has shown that there are two lineages of M. galloprovincialis present, likely different species, one native to the Northern hemisphere and one native to the Southern hemisphere. In New Zealand, the Northern lineage of M. galloprovincialis (MgN) has successfully invaded and poses a unique threat to native biodiversity as there are higher rates of introgression with the native Southern lineage of M. galloprovincialis (MgS) than elsewhere in the Southern hemisphere. However, whether MgN is causing other ecological damage in New Zealand is still unknown. Therefore, the main objective of Chapter 2 is to provide a preliminary description of the distribution and relative abundance of MgN in New Zealand, and how abiotic factors may be influencing this invasion. Also, it was recently reported that M. galloprovincialis causes severe economic losses to the native greenshell mussel Perna canaliculus aquaculture industry. However, these reports did not differentiate between the native and invasive blue mussel lineages. The main objective of Chapter 3 then is to provide a description of the distribution and relative abundance of MgN in the Marlborough Sounds, the primary P. canaliculus aquaculture region in New Zealand. The results of Chapter 2 indicate that several abiotic factors significantly influence the relative abundance of MgN across New Zealand; and that intranational maritime traffic is a more important vector of spread than international maritime traffic. The results of Chapter 3 show that the relative abundance of MgN was approximately equal across aquaculture facility sites and adjacent shore sites, but that increased habitat space on the grow-lines of aquaculture facilities has resulted in significantly increased overall abundances of both MgN and MgS. This means that there is a much larger MgN population in this region than would be otherwise present due to the aquaculture facilities. Overall, these results indicate that human activity in New Zealand is significantly affecting the MgN invasion therein. These findings are important for both management purposes and for guiding future research.</p>

scholarly journals The distribution and relative abundance of the invasive  Northern blue mussel, M. galloprovincialis, in New Zealand:  management implications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ian Blixt
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Blue Mussel ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Maritime Traffic ◽  
Aquaculture Facilities

<p>Biological invasions are a growing problem on a global scale, are capable of causing moderate to severe damage, and are most often associated with human activity. This is particularly true in the marine environment, where there are many well documented cases of non-indigenous species (NIS) spreading via maritime traffic or undergoing a range expansion associated with ocean temperatures continuing to increase. The blue mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, recognized a one of the most successful NIS globally, is one such species that is spreading in such ways. However, in the Southern hemisphere research over the past decade has shown that there are two lineages of M. galloprovincialis present, likely different species, one native to the Northern hemisphere and one native to the Southern hemisphere. In New Zealand, the Northern lineage of M. galloprovincialis (MgN) has successfully invaded and poses a unique threat to native biodiversity as there are higher rates of introgression with the native Southern lineage of M. galloprovincialis (MgS) than elsewhere in the Southern hemisphere. However, whether MgN is causing other ecological damage in New Zealand is still unknown. Therefore, the main objective of Chapter 2 is to provide a preliminary description of the distribution and relative abundance of MgN in New Zealand, and how abiotic factors may be influencing this invasion. Also, it was recently reported that M. galloprovincialis causes severe economic losses to the native greenshell mussel Perna canaliculus aquaculture industry. However, these reports did not differentiate between the native and invasive blue mussel lineages. The main objective of Chapter 3 then is to provide a description of the distribution and relative abundance of MgN in the Marlborough Sounds, the primary P. canaliculus aquaculture region in New Zealand. The results of Chapter 2 indicate that several abiotic factors significantly influence the relative abundance of MgN across New Zealand; and that intranational maritime traffic is a more important vector of spread than international maritime traffic. The results of Chapter 3 show that the relative abundance of MgN was approximately equal across aquaculture facility sites and adjacent shore sites, but that increased habitat space on the grow-lines of aquaculture facilities has resulted in significantly increased overall abundances of both MgN and MgS. This means that there is a much larger MgN population in this region than would be otherwise present due to the aquaculture facilities. Overall, these results indicate that human activity in New Zealand is significantly affecting the MgN invasion therein. These findings are important for both management purposes and for guiding future research.</p>

scholarly journals Morphology, genetics, and historical records support the synonymy of two ascidian species and suggest their spread throughout areas of the Southern Hemisphere

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabela Taverna ◽  
María Carla de Aranzamendi ◽  
Tamara Maggioni ◽  
Gastón Alurralde ◽  
Xavier Turon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Genetic Data ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Correct Identification ◽  
Marine Biota ◽  
The South ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
Maritime Traffic

Taxonomic uncertainties and the lack of ecological knowledge can hinder the correct identification and the assignment of biogeographic status of marine species. The ascidian Asterocarpa humilis (Heller, 1878), originally described from New Zealand, has a broad distribution in shallow temperate areas of the Southern Hemisphere, having recently colonised areas of the Northern Hemisphere. A closely related species, Cnemidocarpa robinsoni Hartmeyer, 1916, has been reported in the South-Eastern Pacific and the South-Western Atlantic, and several authors considered it a junior synonym of A. humilis. We gathered for the first time morphological and genetic data from specimens from distant areas. We studied the morphology of specimens collected at seven locations of South America. We also re-examined specimens from museum collections and revised the available literature on these species. Genetic data were obtained from specimens from Argentina and compared with available sequences of A. humilis from Chile, New Zealand, England and France. Morphological and genetic analyses showed that all compared specimens were conspecific. Furthermore, specimens from different continents shared haplotypes and exhibited low genetic distance among them. These results, the biological characteristics of this ascidian, and its longstanding presence in different habitats from disjoint areas, allow us to question its native range. We support the idea that A. humilis is a cryptogenic and neocosmopolitan species that has been transported by maritime traffic through the Southern Hemisphere, revealing frequent processes of exchange through this wide area for more than a century, with presumably associated alterations in the marine biota.

scholarly journals A palaeoenvironmental record of the Southern Hemisphere last glacial maximum from the Mount Cass loess section, North Canterbury, Aotearoa/New Zealand

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Peter C. Almond ◽  
Sándor Gulyás ◽  
Pál Sümegi ◽  
Balázs P. Sümegi ◽  
Stephen Covey-Crump ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
Pollen Record ◽  
Good Correspondence ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Event Stratigraphy ◽  
Westerly Winds

Abstract Calcareous loess in North Canterbury, eastern South Island, New Zealand (NZ), preserves subfossil bird bone, terrestrial gastropods, and eggshell, whose abundances and radiocarbon ages allowed us to reconstruct aspects of palaeoenvironment at high resolution through 25 to 21 cal ka BP. This interval includes millennial-scale climatic variability during the extended last glacial maximum (30–18 ka) of Australasia. Our loess palaeoclimatic record shows good correspondence with stadial and interstadial climate events of the NZ Climate Event Stratigraphy, which were defined from a pollen record on the western side of South Island. An interstade from 25.4 to 24 cal ka BP was warm but also relatively humid on eastern South Island, and loess grain size may indicate reduced vigour of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds. The subsequent stade (24–22.6 cal ka BP) was drier, colder, and probably windier. The next interstade remained relatively dry on eastern South Island, and westerly winds remained vigorous. The 25.4–24 ka interstade is synchronous with Heinrich stade 2, which may have driven a southward migration of the subtropical front, leading to warming and wetting of northern and central South Island and retreat of Southern Alps glaciers at ca. 26.5 ka.

Holocene temperature, humidity and seasonality in northern New Zealand linked to Southern Hemisphere summer insolation

2018 ◽  
Vol 201 ◽  
pp. 77-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie van den Bos ◽  
Andrew Rees ◽  
Rewi Newnham ◽  
Marcus Vandergoes ◽  
Janet Wilmshurst ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Summer Insolation

scholarly journals Is there any Evidence for Regional Atmospheric 14C Offsets in the Southern Hemisphere?

Radiocarbon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 2029-2034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Hogg ◽  
Chris Turney ◽  
Jonathan Palmer ◽  
Ed Cook ◽  
Brendan Buckley
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Common Time ◽  
Lagarostrobos Franklinii

Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (CAMS) Tasmanian Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii) decadal measurements for the interval AD 745–855 suggest a mean interhemispheric radiocarbon offset (20 ± 5 yr), which is considerably lower than the previously reported mean interhemispheric offset for the last 2 millennia (44 ± 17 yr). However, comparable University of Waikato (Wk) New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) measurements show significantly higher values (56 ± 6 yr), suggesting the possibility of a temporary geographic (intrahemispheric) offset between Tasmania, Australia, and Northland, New Zealand, during at least 1 common time interval. Here, we report 9 new Wk Tasmanian Huon pine measurements from the decades showing the largest Huon/kauri difference. We show statistically indistinguishable Wk Huon and Wk kauri 14C ages, thus dispelling the suggestion of a 14C geographic offset between Tasmania and Northland.

scholarly journals To React or Not to React: The Dilemma of Fish Immune Systems Facing Myxozoan Infections

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid S. Holzer ◽  
M. Carla Piazzon ◽  
Damien Barrett ◽  
Jerri L. Bartholomew ◽  
Ariadna Sitjà-Bobadilla
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Immune Evasion ◽  
B Lymphocyte ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Passive Immunization ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Host Immune System

Myxozoans are microscopic, metazoan, obligate parasites, belonging to the phylum Cnidaria. In contrast to the free-living lifestyle of most members of this taxon, myxozoans have complex life cycles alternating between vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. Vertebrate hosts are primarily fish, although they are also reported from amphibians, reptiles, trematodes, mollusks, birds and mammals. Invertebrate hosts include annelids and bryozoans. Most myxozoans are not overtly pathogenic to fish hosts, but some are responsible for severe economic losses in fisheries and aquaculture. In both scenarios, the interaction between the parasite and the host immune system is key to explain such different outcomes of this relationship. Innate immune responses contribute to the resistance of certain fish strains and species, and the absence or low levels of some innate and regulatory factors explain the high pathogenicity of some infections. In many cases, immune evasion explains the absence of a host response and allows the parasite to proliferate covertly during the first stages of the infection. In some infections, the lack of an appropriate regulatory response results in an excessive inflammatory response, causing immunopathological consequences that are worse than inflicted by the parasite itself. This review will update the available information about the immune responses against Myxozoa, with special focus on T and B lymphocyte and immunoglobulin responses, how these immune effectors are modulated by different biotic and abiotic factors, and on the mechanisms of immune evasion targeting specific immune effectors. The current and future design of control strategies for myxozoan diseases is based on understanding this myxozoan-fish interaction, and immune-based strategies such as improvement of innate and specific factors through diets and additives, host genetic selection, passive immunization and vaccination, are starting to be considered.

scholarly journals Sixty years of radiocarbon dioxide measurements at Wellington, New Zealand 1954–2014

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jocelyn C. Turnbull ◽  
Sara E. Mikaloff Fletcher ◽  
India Ansell ◽  
Gordon Brailsford ◽  
Rowena Moss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Seasonal Cycle ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Deep Waters ◽  
Cape Grim

Abstract. We present 60 years of Δ14CO2 measurements from Wellington, New Zealand (41° S, 175° E). The record has been extended and fully revised. New measurements have been used to evaluate the existing record and to replace original measurements where warranted. This is the earliest atmospheric Δ14CO2 record and records the rise of the 14C "bomb spike", the subsequent decline in Δ14CO2 as bomb 14C moved throughout the carbon cycle and increasing fossil fuel CO2 emissions further decreased atmospheric Δ14CO2. The initially large seasonal cycle in the 1960s reduces in amplitude and eventually reverses in phase, resulting in a small seasonal cycle of about 2 ‰ in the 2000s. The seasonal cycle at Wellington is dominated by the seasonality of cross-tropopause transport, and differs slightly from that at Cape Grim, Australia, which is influenced by anthropogenic sources in winter. Δ14CO2 at Cape Grim and Wellington show very similar trends, with significant differences only during periods of known measurement uncertainty. In contrast, Northern Hemisphere clean air sites show a higher and earlier bomb 14C peak, consistent with a 1.4-year interhemispheric exchange time. From the 1970s until the early 2000s, the Northern and Southern Hemisphere Δ14CO2 were quite similar, apparently due to the balance of 14C-free fossil fuel CO2 emissions in the north and 14C-depleted ocean upwelling in the south. The Southern Hemisphere sites show a consistent and marked elevation above the Northern Hemisphere sites since the early 2000s, which is most likely due to reduced upwelling of 14C-depleted and carbon-rich deep waters in the Southern Ocean. This developing Δ14CO2 interhemispheric gradient is consistent with recent studies that indicate a reinvigorated Southern Ocean carbon sink since the mid-2000s, and suggests that upwelling of deep waters plays an important role in this change.

scholarly journals The key roles of seed banks in plant biodiversity management in New Zealand

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 5-11
Author(s):  
W.M. Williams
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Introduced Species ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Plant Biodiversity ◽  
Biodiversity Management ◽  
Recent Initiative ◽  
New Zealand Flora ◽  
Pasture Plants

The New Zealand flora is a mixture of indigenous and introduced species. The indigenous species have a high intrinsic value while the introduced species include all of the crop and pasture plants upon which the export-led economy depends. New Zealand must maintain both of these important sources of biodiversity in balance. Seed banks are useful tools for biodiversity management. In New Zealand, a seed bank for indigenous species has been a very recent initiative. By contrast, seed banks for introduced species have been established for over 70 years. The reasons for this discrepancy are discussed. For the economic species, conserved genetic diversity is used to enhance productivity and the environment. Large advances can be gained from species that are not used as economic plants. The gene-pool of white clover has been expanded by the use of minor species conserved as seeds in the Margot Forde Germplasm Centre. Keywords: Seed banks, biodiversity conservation, New Zealand flora

scholarly journals The Critical Relationship between Climate Change Awareness and Action: An Origin-Based Perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Tiller ◽  
Christian Schott
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
General Public ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Mail Survey ◽  
Overwhelming Majority

<p>While it is now widely accepted by scientists and governments that human activity contributes to climate change, there is a lack of understanding whether this realisation is now gaining greater attraction with the general public than it had 5 or 10 years ago. Additional gaps in knowledge relate to the link between awareness and action, which could be hypothesised to have become stronger in light of evidence being produced of some projected climate changes occurring already. This article examines climate change awareness and the link with travel-related decision-making by adopting an under-utilised origin perspective in Wellington, New Zealand. The findings, generated by a household mail survey, indicate that the majority of the respondents are aware of tourism’s contribution to climate change and think that it is likely that their lives in New Zealand will be negatively affected by climate change. However, when examining the respondents’ recent holiday decision-making, it is evident that for the overwhelming majority, climate change awareness does not appear to influence travel-related decisions. This article concludes by discussing demand-focused measures aimed at reducing the GHG emissions generated by tourism.</p>

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