Spawning habitat maps for Ōtautahi waterways

These maps show results from two years of spawning site surveys plus two years of straw bale experiments in the waterways of Ōtautahi Christchurch. Compare them with the Whaka Inaka maps where we took all of the known sites at the end of 2015 and tested if there might be others both in the gaps and further upstream/downstream. And yes there were.

These maps are available as free downloads. There's some other maps available too ..
check them out here www.resilientshorelines.nz/p/resources.html

Resilience research on whitebait featured in UC Chronicle

The September 2016 issue of the Chronicle He Kupu Whakamahara ran a story on our research into the resilience of whitebait spawning sites in Ōtautahi Christchurch following the earthquakes.

Follow the link here to the article online

Some recent publications relating to this work:

• Earthquake effects on spawning sites - download the original report here
• Identifying īnanga spawning sites in plans - short report available here
• Census survey approach to quantifying īnanga spawning habitat New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 52(2), 284-294.
• Earthquake-induced habitat migration Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 2018; 1-11.

Workshop on coastal & marine citizen science

                   Link to the full report here

I teamed up with Helen Kettles (DOC) to run a workshop on Coastal & Marine Citizen Science in New Zealand as a side event for the NZ Marine Sciences Society (NZMSS) and Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) 2016 conference in Wellington. This was a first meeting specific to coastal and marine citizen science in New Zealand. A group of 29 participants attended and there was a strong Australian contingent which added a welcome dimension to the conversation.

Using citizen science for coastal data collection

Citizen science has come of age in New Zealand and there are a wide range of opportunities for coastal scientists and practitioners to make use of, or contribute to it.

This recent article in Coastal News provides an overview of some recent highlights and progress in this fast moving field.

Read more >>

Case study on community-led restoration projects and climate change

A case study of three coastal restoration projects looking at community-led approaches and climate change is in the new publication "Adapting to the consequences of climate change: Engaging with communities".

Link to the article here "Community-led approaches and climate change: Perspectives from coastal restoration projects"

The aim of this new NZCS publication is to support work with communities as they adapt to the consequences of climate change. It has been written to assist coastal professionals, decision-makers and communities in preparing for sea-level rise and the associated effects of climate change.

Ngāi Tahu Research Centre seminar: earthquake recovery in Ōtautahi Christchurch watwerways

Results from our research into the effects of the Canterbury earthquakes on īnanga spawning sites in the Avon Heathcote Estuary / Ihutai catchment in Ōtautahi Christchurch. It's a story of the resilience and recovery of an iconic New Zealand species following a major disturbance. Thanks to the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre and UC Audio Visual unit the recent seminar was videoed. View the clip on U-tube here.

New report on earthquake effects

The Waterways Centre for Freshwater Research and the Marine Ecology Research Group are pleased to provide a new report on the distribution of īnanga spawning sites in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Thanks to the Engineering New Zealand / Water NZ Rivers Group for supporting this work.

Highlights include comprehensive information on changes in relation to the Canterbury earthquakes, and a summary of the key implications for waterways management.

Read more here

Comparative study of coastal hydrosystems

Over the 2016 summer we are surveying eight coastal hydrosystems for a comparative study. Four study sites are in Canterbury and four on the West Coast. The study sites have been chosen to represent a range of different rivermouth and estuarine environments and a wide range of data are being collected to characterise each site in ecosystem terms. Look out for more news from these surveys in the coming months.