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Investigation of fungal communities associated with myrtle rust infection and the use of mycoparasites as potential biocontrol agents against the disease
No full textThis study investigated the fungal communities associated with myrtle rust and identified potential mycoparasites for biocontrol. Leaf samples were collected from two native plant hosts, ramarama (Lophomyrtus bullata) and pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), in forests (Taranaki and Rotorua) and urban areas (Auckland and Christchurch). Metabarcoding revealed that Ascomycota (58.7%) and Basidiomycota (39.7%) dominated the fungal communities. At the genus level, an ASV assigned to rust pathogen Austropuccinia was relatively more abundant in M. excelsa than L. bullata, and higher relative abundance in urban than forest environments. From fungal isolation, 208 fungal isolates representing 64 genera were obtained. Among these, 23 putative mycoparasites from 11 genera were selected for antagonistic screening against A. psidii. Three in vitro assays including detached branchlet, spore germination, and pathogenicity tests were conducted. Two promising isolates (Cladosporium and Trichoderma) colonized 33–35% of rust pustules and inhibited 63–70% of urediniospore germination. Neither isolate caused disease symptoms on inoculated leaves. Greenhouse trials were carried out to evaluate their effectiveness under preventive (two days before rust inoculation) and curative (seven days after inoculation) applications. Preventive treatments significantly reduced the disease severity index to 19%, compared to 30% in the curative treatment and 33% in the untreated control. Trichoderma also promoted plant regeneration by increasing new shoot growth compared to Cladosporium and the control. These findings contribute to understanding the role of microbial communities in myrtle rust infection and inform the development of biocontrol strategies
Social media and the evolution of vaccine preferences during the COVID-19 pandemic: Discrete choice experiment
Get PDFBackground: Vaccine information and misinformation are spread through social media in ways that may vary by platform. Understanding the role social media plays in shaping vaccine preferences is crucial for policymakers and researchers.
Objective: This study aims to test whether social media use is associated with changes in vaccine preferences during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, and whether trust in sources of information has a moderating role.
Methods: Our data consist of a balanced panel of 257 web-based respondents in New Zealand in August 2020, October-November 2020, and March-April 2021. We use a novel approach with stated choice panel data to study transitions between different vaccine preference groups. We analyze the associations between these transitions and social media use. We classify respondents as resistant (never chose a vaccine), hesitant (chose a vaccine between 1 and 5 times), and provaccine (chose a vaccine 6 out of 6 times) in each wave of data.
Results: We found a positive or neutral association between social media use and vaccine uptake. Facebook, Twitter (pre-2022), and TikTok users who are provaccine are less likely to become hesitant or resistant. Facebook and Instagram users who are hesitant are more likely to become pro. Some social media platforms may have a more positive association with vaccine uptake preferences for those who do not trust the government.
Conclusions: The paper contributes to the wider literature, which shows social media can be associated with reinforcing both pro and antivaccination sentiment, and these results depend on where individuals get their information from and their trust in such sources
Anthropogenic nutrient inputs cause excessive algal growth for nearly half the world’s population
No full textReference conditions pertain to conditions without anthropogenic influence and serve to gauge the degree of river pollution and identify the best attainable water quality. Here we show estimates of the global human footprint of nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and potential for related nuisance or harmful algal growth in rivers. We use statistical models based on 1.2 million stream nutrient measurements (from 2005 to 2013) and find global human enrichment of river total nitrogen and total phosphorus is 35% and 14% respectively. The greatest enrichment is in Europe (86 and 30% respectively) and the least in Oceania (9 and 2% respectively). The levels of enrichment translated into an almost doubling of the catchment areas with rivers predicted to have anthropogenically elevated levels of potentially harmful or nuisance algae, affecting ~40% of the world’s population. Focusing management on the difference between current and reference conditions can help protect good water quality while avoiding unrealistic goals where nitrogen and phosphorus are naturally high
Reference conditions and threshold values for nitrate-nitrogen in New Zealand groundwaters
No full textManagement of groundwater quality is assisted by an understanding of reference conditions, which describe the concentration ranges expected for key substances in the absence of human impact. This study evaluates reference conditions for NO3–N in New Zealand groundwater based on three complementary methods: hierarchical cluster analysis, relationships to groundwater age, and regression against a measure of land-use impact. The three methods result in very similar national-scale estimates of reference conditions for NO3–N concentration in oxic, minimally impacted groundwater, with the 80th, 90th and 95th percentiles found to be 1.65 ± 0.12, 1.97 ± 0.14 and 2.32 ± 0.14 mg/l, respectively (weighted average ± 95% confidence level), in good general agreement with previous studies from New Zealand and overseas. Anoxic groundwaters were treated separately for definition of reference conditions, with the 80th and 90th percentiles of NO3–N found to be 0.04 ± 0.01 and 0.16 ± 0.01, respectively (the 95th percentile could not be estimated reliably). For both oxic and anoxic groundwater, where a site-specific investigation has not been conducted to estimate reference conditions at a local scale, we suggest that the 80th percentile is an appropriate national-scale default threshold, to match the thresholds used for surface waters under the Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality
One bad rainstorm away from disaster: why proposed changes to forestry rules won’t solve the ‘slash’ problem
No full textThe biggest environmental problems for commercial plantation forestry in New Zealand’s steep hill country are discharges of slash (woody debris left behind after logging) and sediment from clear-fell harvests.
During the past 15 years, there have been 15 convictions of forestry companies for slash and sediment discharges into rivers, on land and along the coastline.
Such discharges are meant to be controlled by the National Environmental Standards for Commercial Forestry, which set environmental rules for forestry activities such as logging roads and clear-fell harvesting. The standards are part of the Resource Management Act (RMA), which the government is reforming.
The government revised the standards’ slash-management rules in 2023 after Cyclone Gabrielle. But it it is now consulting on a proposal to further amend the standards because of cost, uncertainty and compliance issues.
We believe the proposed changes fail to address the core reasons for slash and sediment discharges.
We recently analysed five convictions of forestry companies under the RMA for illegal discharges. Based on this analysis, which has been accepted for publication in the New Zealand Journal of Forestry, we argue that the standards should set limits to the size and location of clear-felling areas on erosion-susceptible land
Spatio-temporal dynamics of water quality and land use in the Lake Dianchi (China) system: a multi-source data-driven approach
No full textStudy region: Lake Dianchi, China.
Study focus: Urbanization and land development increasingly challenge water quality, yet their interactions remain unclear. This study examines these
interactions in Lake Dianchi by developing an empirical water quality inversion model. Multi-year water quality data from monitoring stations were integrated with Landsat 8 L2 data to analyze seven key Water Quality Parameters (WQPs): TP, Hg, Cd, As, Zn, S, and NH₃-N. Land use was assessed using a multi-dimensional framework incorporating weighted overlays of multi-source data. The relationships between land use and water quality were analyzed using Spearman correlation, redundancy analysis (RDA), and the Optimal Parameter Geodetector (OPGD).
New hydrological insights for the region: From 2014–2022, pollutant concentrations declined, yet TP
pollution remains severe, keeping the lake classified as Class V. Pollution was more concentrated in Caohai than Waihai, highlighting point-source pollution. Land use changes were dominated by “urban expansion” and the “returning farmland to forest” program. RDA results indicated that construction (positive) and farmland (negative) were the primary drivers of WPI. OPGD analysis showed that FACI∩CACI was the strongest explanatory factor for WPI. Over time, land use influence on WPI weakened due to urban saturation, environmental policies, and delayed water
quality responses. These findings quantify land use-water quality interactions and provide insights for managing urban plateau lakes amid rapid development
Featured papers in climate finance
No full textCountries are working hard to reduce global warming to meet the Paris Agreement’s temperature limit to 1.5°C-aligned targets. However, the State of Climate Action 2023 (World Resources Institute, 2023) urgently alarmed that global efforts are falling behind the required pace to minimize climate risks. Governments have passed environmental legislations/regulations to protect the environment; however, this is not quick enough to achieve the 1.5°C-aligned targets. The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) proposed a framework for disclosing climate-related financial information in June 2017 (TCFD, 2017). Recently, a few countries such as New Zealand, Switzerland, and Japan have passed climate-related disclosure (CRD) regulations that mandate firms to disclose climate-related information in line with the TCFD recommendations. Following this lead, other countries are issuing consultation papers to make CRD mandatory (for example, Australia, Singapore, and the US). It is important to understand how the CRD regulations affect the socio-economic-environmental dynamics, investor and business sentiment, and other market factors.
Based on this sphere, this Special Issue highlights the “Climate-related Risks and Opportunities towards Zero-emission Economies”, focusing on how the socio-economic dynamics, including business and finance, are impacted by climate-related risks in the transition process towards a greener economy. This Special Issue targets all studies using theoretical, empirical, and case study approaches. The possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
* Circular economy;
* Climate-related disclosure/reporting;
* Climate-related macroeconomic risks;
* Climate-related transition risks;
* Climate-related financial risks;
* Climate and green investments;
* Decarbonizing energy and industry;
* Eco-tourism;
* Energy, economy, and climate relations;
* Environmental social governance;
* Environmental risks;
* Global greenhouse gas emissions;
* Green finance;
* Green transition;
* Low-carbon energy
Microbiome-engineered grapevines – A novel solution for healthy future vineyards
No full textGrapevine trunk disease (GTD) is one of the most destructive threats to vineyards, with its ongoing spread posing a major challenge to the long-term sustainability of viticulture worldwide. Mitigation is difficult due to the disease's complex etiology. It is caused by multiple fungal pathogens, has a long and variable latency period, and there are no curative treatments. While there is some variation in susceptibility among grapevine cultivars, no variety is fully resistant. Notably, Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand’s flagship variety, is the most susceptible and accounts for 78% of the national yield. Preliminary data show that certain grapevines thriving in GTD hotspots possess distinct microbiomes. This finding suggests that the
microbiome may serve as a genetic reservoir for disease resistance. We analysed metabarcoding data
from over 300 vines, phenotyped for GTD symptoms across 10 vineyards, to identify microbial taxa
uniquely associated with disease-free vines. The taxa identified from metabarcoding analyses and those
recovered as live cultures will be screened using in vitro functional testing (e.g., secretion of antagonistic
or volatile compounds, siderophore production) to understand their modes of action. Compatible microbial taxa, including spontaneous rifampicin-resistant mutants, will be grouped using pairwise analysis to form three synthetic microbial communities (SynComs), which will be infiltrated into 1-year-old canes, to study their movement and dynamics in planta. These SynCom-augmented vines will be challenged with GTD pathogens and transcriptome analysis combined with symptom analysis will be used to examine their effect on disease expression over time. This research aims to enhance grapevine resistance to GTD by introducing beneficial microbiomes during the nursery propagation stage
Individualism and collectivism in relation to pro-environmental behaviour in Selwyn District, New Zealand : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Science at Lincoln University
No full textThis study analysed the relationship between individualism/collectivism, environmental concern, and pro-environmental behaviour in relation to civic waste collection in the Selwyn District of New Zealand. The study utilised the Value-Belief-Norm Theory to identify the predictors of pro- environmental behaviour in the sample and considered individualism and collectivism specifically. The study found no significant correlation between cultural values and environmental concern or pro-environmental behaviour. However, the results revealed differences in environmental concern scores between males and females, and values aligning with individualism and collectivism. The study concludes that while cultural values may not be the primary driver of pro-environmental behaviour, they are still important to consider in understanding and promoting sustainable waste practices
Towards urban resilience: Urban gardening in post-earthquake Christchurch, New Zealand
No full textThe chapter looks at urban gardening in Christchurch since the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes through the lens of resilience, specifically focusing on disaster resilience, community resilience, food resilience and the overarching notion of urban resilience. Following a discussion of urban gardening projects in post-earthquake Christchurch, it shows that notions of food resilience are contextually interwoven with the disaster history of a region that went through a major earthquake. However, recent initiatives exemplify that discussions around food resilience have broadened and become inclusive of a range of environmental, socio-economic and cultural challenges. Urban gardens in Christchurch have become part of a wider resilience narrative responding to more diverse crisis scenarios and related concepts of urban resilience. The chapter argues that such a broadening of discussion and focus provides new opportunities to increase the impact and benefits of urban gardening beyond food resilience narratives, including new funding opportunities, research and strategic investment into urban gardening