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Jetties and small settlement regeneration in Te Pataka o Rakaihautū/Banks Peninsula
Get PDFThis report contains a summary of the key findings from a research project exploring the community-led restoration initiatives of jetties in small settlements around Te Pataka o Rakaihautū/Banks Peninsula. This project is based on a Lincoln University Summer research scholarship project titled Jetties and small settlement regeneration in Banks Peninsula
AMF community diversity promotes grapevine growth parameters under high black foot disease pressure
Get PDFBlack foot disease is one of the main grapevine root diseases observed worldwide and is especially problematic in New Zealand. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been shown to reduce infection and mitigate the effect of black foot disease on grapevine rootstocks. In contrast to prior studies, which have limited their focus to the effect of one, two or a combination of only a small number of AMF species, this study used whole AMF communities identified from 101-14, 5C and Schwarzmann rootstocks sampled from New Zealand vineyards. The effect of AMF on black foot disease was investigated in a ‘home’ and ‘away’ experiment using three commercial grapevine rootstocks. The study produced some evidence that AMF treatments lowered disease incidence at 5 cm and disease severity in vines by 40% to 50% compared to the vines inoculated with the pathogen only. This work also showed that the presence of high disease incidence may have limited the potential disease protective effect of AMF community. However, despite the high disease incidence and severity, AMF inoculation increased vine growth parameters by 60% to 80% compared to the vines inoculated with the pathogen only. This study is the first to provide an understanding on how young grapevine rootstocks inoculated with their ‘home’ and ‘away’ AMF communities would respond to challenge with a black foot pathogen species mixture. Further research is required to understand the mechanistic effect of AMF colonization on the increase of grapevine growth parameters under high black foot disease pressure
Natural hazard risk awareness, perception and preparedness: A case study of Chinese visitors to the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island: A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Science at Lincoln University
No full textIn New Zealand, a destination prone to natural hazards, it is inevitable that dangerous natural hazard events will occur; previous studies have shown that risk communication can increase tourists’ natural hazard preparedness, which can reduce their vulnerabilities. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese tourists were New Zealand’s second-largest visitor market. This thesis investigates their risk perceptions and awareness of natural hazards and their preparedness behaviour before and during travel to the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand.
The study combines online surveys (n = 60) of Chinese visitors who visited New Zealand between 1 January 2018 and 28 February 2019, and in-depth interviews with local tourist service providers and other key stakeholders (local key informants, n = 13) in order to provide an in-depth understanding of these issues at the level of this specific destination: the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand. Secondary sources, including tourism supply-side risk communication strategies relevant to Chinese international tourists, are analysed alongside the interviews. The results show that while Chinese tourists perceived themselves as having sufficient hazard awareness, risk perception and preparedness; open-ended survey questions and key informant interviews indicate that Chinese tourists only have a limited knowledge about natural hazards and the required natural hazard preparations. During their trip, Chinese tourists self-evaluated levels of hazard awareness and risk perception increased significantly, but their hazard preparedness was not influenced by this, emphasising the importance of pre-trip communication to allow for an increase both in hazard awareness and risk perception and an opportunity to increase their preparedness levels. Furthermore, a number of possible communication gaps between different parts of the tourism sector and between the tourism sector and the emergency sector were also identified. Collectively, these potential risk communication gaps could influence Chinese tourists’ hazard awareness, risk perception and future preparations, which could be improved to potentially increase Chinese tourists’ safety.
The social cognitive model of disaster preparedness was used as a theoretical foundation for this research. Although the survey sample size was not large enough to obtain statistically significant results but has shown a potential to model tourists’ natural hazard preparations. The findings of this study provide a foundation from which to inform discussion about the implications for future destination preparedness and planning for natural hazard events, including the need for risk communication and preparedness for an important market segment: the Chinese tourist
Combining laser rangefinder and viewshed technologies to improve ground surveys of invasive tree distributions
Get PDF1. Quantifying the spatial extent, location and habitat associations of invasive tree species is critical to predict their future spread and prioritise areas for management. Species–environment relationship analyses are useful tools for understanding and predicting the potential geographical distribution of these species; however, such tools require rigorous and extensive data about species presence and, crucially, the area surveyed.
2. Here, we describe a method for performing ground-based visual surveys of invasive trees from a set of viewpoints that utilises laser rangefinder and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) technology to detect tree locations. We then highlight the novel use of geographical information system (GIS) viewsheds as a tool to define the area surveyed.
3. Using the invasive conifer, Pinus radiata, as our target, we undertook a ground-truthing exercise for 50 trees established in the wild to assess the accuracy of the method and determine the suitable spatial resolution for GIS data that would be used in subsequent species–environment relationship analyses. For these trees, location error was positively related to distance from the tree to the viewpoint. The calculated locations for all trees within 600 m of the observer were within 25 m of the location as determined by the GNSS unit, with a median location error of 4 m. These results indicate that data of a resolution suitable for mapping invasive trees can be efficiently collected over large areas. We also outline suggestions and instructions for computing the viewsheds to determine the surveyed area.
4. This approach allows for efficient collection of accurate data on the occurrence of non-native trees and the land area surveyed. These data can underpin species–environment relationship analyses that then form the basis of risk maps for areas prone to future invasion. Given the speed and accuracy with which data can be obtained using this method, and the use of standard and easily accessible field equipment and GIS software, we recommend this approach to other spatial and invasion ecologists
Utilisation of dried shiitake, black ear and silver ear mushrooms into sorghum biscuits manipulates the predictive glycaemic response in relation to variations in biscuit physical characteristics
Get PDFThe nutritional quality of gluten-free products is important to the health of individuals with coeliac disease. Mushrooms are good sources of vitamins, dietary fibres and proteins, and are a low-calorie option that can be used in gluten-free diets to improve their nutritional value. The effects of incorporating dried mushrooms on the hydration and pasting properties of sorghum flour, as well as the physicochemical characteristics and in vitro glycaemic response of sorghum biscuits were studied. Sorghum flour enriched with mushroom powders exhibited higher water absorption capacity and swelling power compared with the control (P < 0.05). The addition of shiitake (Lentinula edodes) mushroom significantly decreased the pasting viscosities, while the addition of black ear (Auricularia auricula) and silver ear (Tremella fuciformis) mushroom increased viscosity values (P < 0.05). Biscuit diameter, thickness and weight loss were reduced with increasing mushroom powder addition, and the colour parameters of biscuits were affected significantly. Enrichment with shiitake and black ear mushroom increased the hardness of biscuits (P < 0.05). Inclusion of mushroom powders significantly reduced the predicted glycaemic response of sorghum biscuits (P < 0.05). Correlation analysis was conducted to illustrate that hydration dynamics (such as water absorption capacity and swelling power) were negatively correlated with glycaemic response (P < 0.001)
Digital technologies to assess yoghurt quality traits and consumers acceptability
Get PDFBackground: Sensory biometrics provide advantages for consumer tasting by quantifying physiological changes and the emotional response from participants, removing variability associated with self-reported responses. The present study aimed to measure consumers' emotional and physiological responses towards different commercial yoghurts, including dairy and plant-based yoghurts. The physiochemical properties of these products were also measured and linked with consumer responses.
Results: Six samples (Control, Coconut, Soy, Berry, Cookies and Drinkable) were evaluated for overall liking by n = 62 consumers using a nine-point hedonic scale. Videos from participants were recorded using the Bio-Sensory application during tasting to assess emotions and heart rate. Physicochemical parameters Brix, pH, density, color (L, a and b), firmness and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy were also measured. Principal component analysis and a correlation matrix were used to assess relationships between the measured parameters. Heart rate was positively related to firmness, yaw head movement and overall liking, which were further associated with the Cookies sample. Two machine learning regression models were developed using (i) NIR absorbance values as inputs to predict the physicochemical parameters (Model 1) and (ii) the outputs from Model 1 as inputs to predict consumers overall liking (Model 2). Both models presented very high accuracy (Model 1: R = 0.98; Model 2: R = 0.99).
Conclusion: The presented methods were shown to be highly accurate and reliable with respect to their potential use by the industry to assess yoghurt quality traits and acceptability
Artificial Intelligence and firm performance: Does machine intelligence shield firms from risks?
Get PDFWe estimate and compare the impact of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on the performance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and conventional listed firms using stock market indices. The single-group and multiple-group Interrupted Time-Series Analyses (ITSA) with panel data were used with four interventions: when the news of COVID-19 spread and the pandemic entered the first, second, third, and fourth months (24 February 2020, 23 March 2020, 20 April 2020, and 18 May 2020, respectively). The results show that the negative impact of COVID-19 on the AI stock market was less severe than on the conventional stock market in the first month of the pandemic. The performance of the AI stock market recovered quicker than the conventional stock market when the pandemic went into its third month. The results suggest that the AI stocks were more resilient than conventional stocks when the financial market was exposed to uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The deployment of AI in firms serves as a resilient, crucial driver for sustainable performance in challenging environments. Observing the performance of AI-adopted firms is an interesting direction for technical and fundamental analysts. Investors and portfolio managers should consider an AI market index to minimize risk or invest in stocks of AI-adopted listed firms to maximize excess returns
Grape berry size is a key factor in determining New Zealand Pinot noir wine composition
Get PDFMaking high quality but affordable Pinot noir (PN) wine is challenging in most terroirs and New Zealand (NZ)’s situation is no exception. To increase the probability of making highly typical PN wines, producers choose to grow grapes in cool climates on lower fertility soils while adopting labour intensive practices. Stringent yield targets and higher input costs necessarily mean that PN wine cost is high, and profitability lower, in affordable varietal wine ranges.
To understand if higher-yielding vines produce wines of lower quality we have undertaken an extensive study of PN in NZ. Since 2018, we established a network of twelve trial sites in three NZ regions to find individual vines that produced acceptable commercial yields (above 2.0 kg per metre of row) and wines of composition comparable to “Icon” labels. Approximately 20 % of 660 grape lots (N = 135) were selected within a narrow juice Total Soluble Solids (TSS) range of 22.0 ± 1.0 °Brix and made into single-vine wines under controlled conditions.
Multiple Factor Analysis of the vine, berry, juice and wine parameters from three vintages found grape Berry Weight to be the most effective clustering variable. As the Berry Weight category decreased, there was a systematic increase in the probability of higher berry red colour and total phenolics with a parallel increase in wine phenolics and decreased juice amino acids. The influence of berry weight on wine composition would appear stronger than the individual effects of Vintage, Region, Vineyard or vine Yield. Our observations support the hypothesis that it is possible to produce PN wines that fall within an “Icon” benchmark composition range at yields above 2.5 kg per vine, provided that the Leaf Area:Fruit Weight ratio is above 11 cm² per g, mean berry weight is below 1.2 g and juice TSS is above 22 °Brix
Is Muslim tourist satisfaction in Muslim destination and non-Muslim destination different?
Get PDFThis study is intended to assess Muslim tourist satisfaction across Muslim and non-Muslim destinations, seeing from the attractions, halal, and people's experiences. It also observes religiosity’s role in the link between tourist experience and satisfaction in both tourism destinations. Data was obtained from surveying 479 Muslim tourists in Indonesia and 270 in Taiwan and analyzed using partial least squares techniques. The results indicate that the tourist experience is an essential driver of Muslim tourist satisfaction in Indonesia and Taiwan. While experience with halal products and services is an essential driver for tourists visiting Muslim destinations, the case does not occur for tourists visiting non-Muslim destinations. Next, although religiosity significantly impacts the halal experience, it does not moderate the relationship between halal experience, tourist satisfaction, and tourism attraction experience. The findings suggest tourism marketers and attraction managers in both Muslim and non-Muslim destinations increase their focus on enhancing the attraction experience. Further, to strengthen tourist attractions’ attractiveness, special attention should be given to the availability of halal products, which impacts the acceptance of this important cultural element by locals and tourists
Public health risk of foodborne pathogens in edible African land snails, Cameroon
Get PDFIn tropical countries, land snails are an important food source; however, foodborne disease risks are poorly quantified. We detected Campylobacter spp., Yersinia spp., Listeria spp., Salmonella spp., or Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli in 57%–86% of snails in Cameroon. Snail meat is a likely vector for enteric diseases in sub-Saharan Africa countries