This was unexpected since the seabird colonies were so much more dense than what I had studied in Kauai. I am collaborating with some other researchers who are looking into this topic. I will post more on this as I have time to work on it and as more research comes to light.
I recieved the results back from the lab some time ago. There were no differences were seen between seabird and non-seabird or between treatments except for Rhabdothamnus solandri, which expressed higher δ15N values in areas of increasingly dense burrow colonies. In this study Rhabdothamnus solandri, as the only member of its genus is hard to generalize, but its family is a bit more widespread. It is a long living, flowing shrub, that requires birds for pollination. This plant expressed higher δN15 values in areas with more seabirds, meaning that of the nitrogen in its leaves, more of it was from a marine source than plants in areas with fewer burrows.
This was unexpected since the seabird colonies were so much more dense than what I had studied in Kauai. I am collaborating with some other researchers who are looking into this topic. I will post more on this as I have time to work on it and as more research comes to light.
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Nothing to do for this project now except wait to the results from Waikato Stable Isotope Unit in the School of science at the University of Waikato. Should be the end of October. Until then it is back to my dissertation and considerations of the future after the dissertation is complete. I will archive this blog until the results are in. I am anxious to see what the d15N looks like on Great Barrier Island and how it compares with what I found in Kauai. Stay tuned!
I have dried and ground all of my samples and received confirmation that they are safely at Waikato University for processing. This project will be on hold until I get result back from the isotopic analysis. In the meantime I am preparing for the World Seabird Conference in October and working on wrapping up my dissertation. In NZ I was fortunate to work with several seabird biologists who will be attending this conference, I am looking forward to seeing them again. Strangely, i have been asked to participate in the symposium on ecosystem services provided by Arctic seabirds. My talk at the conference will be on ecosystem services of seabirds in Hawaii with a focus on the costs and benefits of seabird restoration actions.
This is a 220 ha island and is one of New Zealand’s premier island sanctuaries. It is managed as a scientific reserve and allows visitors all year round. There is one bunkhouse on the island that people can reserve a bunk in to stay overnight and a ferry that makes trips to the island several days per week. Originally this island was covered in pohutukawa forest with kohekohe and taraire in the sheltered valleys. However, the Maori settled on this island for centuries followed by European farming, and by the 1970’s the island was a rolling grassland with only a few pockets of native forest remaining. Conservation began on Tiritiri in the 1970’s when farming leases were not renewed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). A huge native plant and tree program began in 1984. A nursery was set up on the island and by 1994 more than 280,000 trees had been planted. Thousands of volunteers have helped over the years with participants including school children, conservation groups, sports clubs and many others. It is now 60% forested and 40% open grassland. The reason for my trip to Tiritiri Matangi was purely recreational. I went to see birds. The weather was perfect, it was sunny and fairly warm. On the ferry ride over we disturbed hundreds of fluttering shearwater and saw Variable Oystercatchers, Australasian Gannets and Black-backed Gulls as we pulled in. The birds on the island were amazing. There were so many of them, such close amazing views. I saw almost everything that I had hoped to see in the first day of cruising around the island. A good pasta dinner was complemented by good company. There were 2 researchers, two volunteers and a family of 7 also staying in the bunkhouse overnight. Around 8pm, with red cellophane on my head torch, I wandered out into the night to look for kiwi. The moon was full and the night still and lovely. First I saw dark blobs run away from me in a field, I wanted them to be kiwi, but they looked too dark and they ran an awful lot like Pukeko. Then I went down to the beach, since I had seen kiwi foot prints on the beach earlier in the day. I saw two birds near the water but again they didn’t quite look right for kiwi. I got closer and finally determined them to be a pair of Brown Teal, the nocturnal endemic duck. I walked through the forest and followed the tracks up and down for about an hour and a half, scanning my light through the forest and to the boardwalk, when suddenly maybe 1.5 m away was a kiwi, standing in my light and looking at me. We stared at each other for a bit and then it turned and started to walk away. I was pretty excited, so I watched it for a few seconds longer and then left it to forage for dinner. I saw another one a few meters further only mostly just its eye shine and then its furry looking rump moving away. I was pretty happy as I walked out of the forest and back along the beach. As I walked on the beach the foam of the small crashing waves was so bright, I wondered if it was due to the very bright moon or phosphorescence. Then as I caught up to the two researchers who had been out collecting blood from Grey-faced petrels I saw them stomping and swirling a stick around in the water and knew for sure it was phosphorescence. Every step as I neared the water caused shockwaves of phosphorescence out in the sand. A beautiful night and I was happy in my sleeping bag till dawn. It is probably no surprise that the birds on Tiri are almost overwhelming in the morning. There were so many parakeets, tui, Kokako, whitehead and everything else that it was an amazing cacophony. I birded away the morning and hiked the more scenic hikes in the afternoon. A big shout out to all of the work that the volunteers and rangers do out there. The island was so inspiring and such a great example of what is possible. Full bird list for Tiritiri Matangi:
Sunday – July 19th Louise and I wrapped up the sampling yesterday and it wouldn’t really be field work without at least one day of inclement weather. The pouring rain and high winds chilled us, but we were still in good spirits at the end of the day. Hot coco may have helped with that. I have almost dried out all of my gear and if the weather will cooperate with me, I will head back to Auckland tomorrow to dry and grind the plant and soil samples. The ferry has been delayed one day so far, fingers are crossed for tomorrow. Mount Hobson was an amazing site for field collection. I felt very lucky to be out there all week. We were treated to panoramic views of the broken islands, Whangapoua estuary, amazing granite pinnacles in Windy Canyon, and views of the devastation from a storm that ravaged the Kaiaraara Stream basin last year. The storm resulted in huge landslides, wiping out a dam, bridges, much of the trail, and scouring the stream. The Hut at the top of Mount Hobson is not to be missed, it is clean and well provided with stunning views of the ocean and Kaikoura Island and others. There was even a swinging bridge on South Fork Track that carried us over the tops of trees as we crossed a particularly steep valley. This has been an amazing place to work and I hope to be able to increase our understanding of the ecosystems at work here in NZ, as well as at home in Hawaii. DOC generally and Louise in particular have been great to work with. Permits are all in hand and the collecting has begun. I collected soil and leaf samples from the Hunua Ranges on Thursday with Jarrod from the lab in AUT. The folks at the Auckland Council were great and gave us permission to access a road that allowed us to drive right up to where we needed to start sampling. It was COLD but clear. All samples are waiting for me in the freezer in the lab in Auckland. Now – the seabird site sampling begins. Great Barrier Island or Aotea lies on the outer edge of Haurakai Gulf and is part of the Haurakai Gulf National Marine Park which encompasses 12 million hectares of coast, islands and ocean. The people of New Zealand value this area for its environmental and cultural significance. Though it is only 90 km from Auckland to GBI, three of us took a 4.5 hours by ferry to get there. Derek and Grace (two other American researchers) were able to come with me for the first weekend. Heading out of the harbor we saw White-faced Heron, Variable Oystercatchers, Caspian Tern, White-fronted Tern, Black-backed gull, and Pied Shag. There were many seabirds flying around the ferry. Many were Fluttering Shearwater, there were some Cape Pigeon (not actually pigeons), and Australasian Gannets and many that I was not sure of. When we arrived at Tryphena Harbor, Greenie was waiting for us with my rental car. It was the tiniest car that I have ever driven. It is a Mazda and it get great gas mileage, but it does make me a little nervous on gravel and hills. The first day we just found the house, met our neighbor and walked around Schooner Bay and settled in. We had the coldest weekend in recent memory. It was down to -4°C in places and there was definitely frost on the grass in the morning. We are staying in an old farm house in Schooner Bay. It has a woodstove to warm it, gas stove for cooking, and a different woodstove to heat water. Saturday – I dropped Derek and Grace off at Windy Canyon to hike up Mnt Hobson. Since I will be spending all week up there working, I opted to check out wetlands, streams and beaches in search of Great Barrier Birds. I asked a clerk in a store about paths to get into wetland or swampy areas, she asked a guy in the store, who told me to ask his dad in the truck outside who told me to go ask his Mum in the café around the corner. The grandma was sitting in the sun with her sister and the sisters’ two adult daughters. They were friendly and wanted to hear all about my work and what I was doing on Great Barrier Island and they were quite happy to tell me where to go to see each bird that I mentioned. I followed their directions and had a wonderful afternoon birding and seeing all the birds that I asked them about (including Pateke – Brown teal). Amazing. Finally as the afternoon wore on I needed to go and find Derek and Grace. We met up at a hot spring that was about 30 minute walk in from a parking area and was lovely. It was warm – hot surrounded by forest and there was even a Banded Rail running around. A great way to top off the day. Sunday was pretty relaxed, we hiked up Mt. Whangaparapara (more gorgeous views), stopped for lunch at a roadside shack and spent the rest of the time that D and G had hitting a couple of beautiful mostly deserted beaches. Many birds and plants flourish on GBI due to its relative lack of development and grazers and predators. The island lacks Norway rats, possum, stoats, other mustelids, hedgehogs and rainbow skink (I am not sure yet what those do). Folks took goats off the island recently but pigs, and feral cats remain. Many citizens seem to work towards keeping numbers low by trapping feral cats and hunting pigs. Everyone that I have spoken with here on GBI has shown a genuine interest in my work and has a good working knowledge of their environment. Tuesday – July 14th I met up with the DOC folks at 8:15 am at the parking area for Windy Canyon. I had Louse, of DOC and Nick, an Iwi representative with me. We made pretty good time, it was raining a little when we were starting out but spirits were high, and the sun came out soon after we began. We headed up Mount Hobson to begin our plots. Through the day it was in turns cold and windy to sunny. Once we were well into the densest Black petrel burrows, the habitat looked very similar to what I am used to on Kauai. The plants are different but the structure was the same. I am interested to see what the numbers will tell us about this area. This past week got me out of Auckland a bit and it was delightful to see the countryside. I had a meeting up in Matakana on Thursday that was over by noon, so instead of driving straight back I stopped to do a little birding in Wenderholm Regional Park in Waiwerea. It was a lovely park with trails that wind through the woods and along the coast. There are numerous large trees (Caucasian fir, bunya bunya pine, Moreton Bay fig, Holm oak, cork oak, magnolia, coral trees) that were planted as gifts to the original European owner in the 1860’s. There are also many large Metrosideros trees along the coastal portions of the park. But, most exciting were the birds that I saw there: Caspian Tern, NZ Kingfisher, NZ Dotterel, Tui, South Island Pied Oystercatcher, Fantail, and White faced Heron. The weekend involved a trip down to the beautiful Lake Taupo with Alex (fellow EAPSI grantee) to meet up with several other grantees from Wellington. The lake sits in the caldera of a volcano that produced the largest eruption in the world! (In the last 70,000 years). It is speculated that the caldera initially filled up with water, causing a huge outwash flood and MAY have helped to initiate the last Glacial Maximum. That aside, the view of the snow covered mountains across the lake was stunning. From there we journeyed up to Waikato to explore caves. We spent the first half of the day underground learning about the faults and the water dripping in through the cracks creating stalactites. We saw many forms of cave structures, sheet, popcorn, broccoli, etc. but for me the most intriguing was the glow worms. Arachnocampa luminosa - fungus gnat. They produce a delicate blue light with their rear ends. The blue light is used to attract insects to the silky strings that they have hanging from them, they catch the insects in these spider style. Eventually they pull the thread back up and consume the food. *the glowworm picture is lifted off the internet since tourists are not allowed to take pictures in the glowworm areas. It was a lot of driving but it was broken up by stops at cafes and one last stop at Maungatautari Ecological Island. This is a 3400 hectare reserve surrounded by 47km of predator proof fencing. This is the largest ecological island on mainland NZ. There are supposedly kokako, hihi and kiwi among the 20 (or so) species reported in the reserve, but we only had time for a short amble around before the sun was setting. We did hear tui calling. This park may deserve second visit. All that driving time did afford us a sighting of the New Zealand Falcon, which is not nearly as common as its raptor brethren the Swamp Harrier.
Dr. David Towns and Steph Borrelle of the Institute for Applied Ecology have given me a warm welcome and a spot to work. The lab is active with many types of projects going on (deepwater squid, plants, insects, and of course seabirds). I have been thrilled to find the culture of tea here. A bell rings at 10:15 in the morning for everyone to take a break and have tea. The first day that I was there was silly hat day at tea time for some reason and my advisor, Dr. Towns looked dapper in his silly hat. A lab mate loaned me a hat since I was inexplicably unprepared. Right now I am trying to get the proper permissions to go out my field sites and collect data. I am also trying to learn the plants and the birds that I will be interacting with. While some species may be similar to those we have in Hawaii they are also quite different.
This was not related to my work at all, but I wanted to get out of the office and learn a little more about New Zealand and the work that the people here are doing for conservation and restoration. On Wednesday, I went out with Jane Ferguson of Forest and Bird and Roy Clements from the Pourewa Restoration Group to help with restoration of the Pourewa Reserve and Kepa Bush (Auckland). This 33 ha parcel of land has recently been returned to the ownership of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei who aim to restore the mauri (life force) of the land. A recent BioBlitz in the reserve turned up 893 species of plant, bird, or insect. Today we weeded and planted trees (Puriri, Vitex lucens). It was a gorgeous sunny day and it was fantastic to help and meet such lovely people. The first picture is a Puriri that I planted, the second is a type of fern (?!) and the third is evidence the ginger is a scourge here as well. The Royal Society of New Zealand met us (15 students from across the US) in Wellington to welcome us and introduce us to the country. We started off with a visit to the Wellington community Pipitea Marae for a Pōwhiri. Maraes are Māori meeting houses that are, in most cases, intricately and beautifully hand carved buildings. These traditional buildings serve as a location for Māori rituals and ceremonies. A Pōwhiri is a welcome onto the marae. The welcome includes calls and songs and a formal welcome by one of the Māori elders. There were many interesting similarities between these customs and the customs of traditional customs that I have experienced in Hawaii to welcome people to a meeting or a conference. In conjunction with the Pōwhiri we participated in a Hongi, the act of pressing noses together and sharing breath. Following our welcome we shared some tea together in the marae. A tour of the Parliament building, known as The Beehive, gave us a look at the unique history and architecture of the building as well as an introduction to the governance of NZ. We were also treated to a field trip with Karyne Rogers, senior scientist at the GNS, for a tour of the Wellington fault, which runs through the heart of the city and out to the coast. |
AuthorI am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Natural Resource and Environmental Management (NREM) interested in an interdisciplinary approach to conservation and natural resource problem solving. Archives
January 2017
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