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.

2015 hottest year on record?

This recent information from NOAA is worth a look. It that shows very warm global conditions have prevailed since January.
 
via GIPHY

Read more about the trend versus historical averages on the Think Progress site here.

And some recent comment on the 10 things you need to know about climate change with implications for New Zealand.

There's a lot going on in the lead-up to the COP21 climate change summit in Paris ... watch this space!

Te Karere Interview: Ngāi Tahu team up with scientists for whitebait restoration project

Following the announcement of funding from the DOC Community Fund Te Karere TVNZ reporters interviewed the Whaka Inaka project team (including Shelley McMurtrie (project lead), Te Marino Lenihan (project partner) and Shane Orchard (project partner) to find out more about the collaboration between Ngai Tahu and Christchurch scientists.

Watch the news video here

Whaka Inaka project gaining media attention

Whaka Inaka: Causing Whitebait is a joint collaboration between EOS Ecology, Ngāi Tahu, and the University of Canterbury (UC). We recently receiving funding from the Department of Conservation Community Fund, and together with support from Brian Mason Trust, and businesses such as Ravensdown the project is getting underway!

Coastal Restoration Trust award

A big thank you to the Dunes Trust  for adding their support to our to our dune management case study.

Visit www.dunestrust.org.nz for more information on conservation and restoration New Zealand’s dune ecosystems.

Collaboration with NIWA to develop salinity models

The Resilient Shorelines team would like to thank the Brian Mason Scientific & Technical Trust and also NIWA for bringing their support to this exciting research.

An interesting though unexpected finding of this work was the discovery of a leak in the Woolston Tidal Barrage. The model calibration was excellent in the lower estuary and in the Avon / Ōtākaro. However there was a strong  anomaly between the modelled versus observed salinity datasets for the Heathcote / Ōpāwaho that have been influenced by the tidal barrage leakage. Read more about it here in the Brian Mason Trust report on 'Development of a fine-scale salinity model for the Avon Heathcote Estuary Ihutai'.

Read more here

Earthquakes cause a shift in the location of īnanga spawning sites

One of the main objectives for our whitebait conservation study was to determine if the earthquakes had altered the location of spawning sites for īnanga (Galaxias maculatus) for spawning. They are typically found in specific locations near the freshwater-saltwater interface at rivermouths. As such, īnanga spawning sites are potentially a very good indicator of change. Conversely, they may be especially vulnerable to changes that affect the availability or condition of suitable habitat.

And the answer is - yes, there has been a major shift in the location of spawning compared to all previous records!

Read more here

TVNZ coverage