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Snack attack: Understanding predictors of New Zealand consumers’ favour and disfavour for cyanobacteria (blue-green Algae)-based crackers
No full textCyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae)-based dietary supplements are commonplace, but cyanobacteria-enhanced foods, such as spirulina crackers, are just appearing on New Zealand supermarket shelves. While much research has been devoted to consumer attitudes towards macro-algae-based products, little research has been devoted to micro-algae-based or cyanobacteria-enhanced consumer products. The current study, following the Capability–Opportunity–Motivation to Behaviour theory, examines likely consumer drivers of favouring or disfavouring spirulina crackers. These drivers include food neophilia, food neophobia, perception of sustainability and health-related product attributes, involvement with algae and an exploratory driver, snacking behaviour. Fully supported drivers (related to increased favour and decreased disfavour) included food neophilia and perception of sustainability and health-related product attributes. Algae involvement was only related to increased favour, and food neophobia was not supported. Surprisingly, snacking behaviour was related to increased disfavour of spirulina crackers. Both theoretical and managerial implications are offered
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
Artificial refugia for lizard conservation and behaviour: investigating traditional designs and a novel camera box on Canterbury farms : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science at Lincoln University
No full textFor New Zealand lizard species, there are still many knowledge gaps that are yet to be filled. Over 85% of our species are Threatened or are At Risk (Hitchmough et al., 2021) and in order to reduce their risk of extinction, there needs to be a collaborative approach across landholders, conservationists and farmers. This study investigated three different artificial retreat (AR) designs constructed with different materials that are commonly found on farms: bricks and plywood. Onduline was the third material because it is a common material used for monitoring lizards. I investigated occupancy in the three AR types across three Canterbury farms: Flea Bay, Goughs Bay, and Cleardale Station. Six field visit rounds were made between January 2024 and May 2024.
Along with a mechatronic engineer, I developed a novel AR, LizOx, that has a camera built into the lid to take photos or videos inside the AR. We initially tested the design at Orana Wildlife Park on their captive Woodworthia spp. and then conducted two field trials on the three farms. At Orana WIldlife Park, we researched and developed LizOx to ensure that it can run remotely for at least a month. While developing and testing the technological capabilities, we conducted a series of behavioural experiments for both females and males separately. The first two tests investigated whether the design of LizOx would alter their behaviour. We tested whether LED lights affect lizard behaviour and whether there is a room design preference in the interior of LizOx. We found no effect on behaviour with the use of LED light and found a preference for enclosed room design over the open design. In addition, we investigated general behaviour questions of how lizard occupancy in LizOx was influenced by hour of the day and temperature and documented the lizards’ daily activity patterns. We also tested under which conditions (temperature and hour of the day) the geckos most frequently clumped together.
The first field trial was conducted at Cleardale Station, Goughs Bay and Flea Bay in February 2024 for three months with no lizards observed in LizOx. The second field trial conducted in October 2024 at Flea Bay was successful. One LizOx had three W. brunnea residents and the other frequently had daily visitations by skinks, juvenile W. brunnea, and a Banks Peninsula tree wētā. LizOx was in the field for six weeks without running out of power and only needing the SD card swapped every two weeks. SD card size and sunlight hours affect the frequency of services.
Currently, LizOx is still a prototype and needs further research and development to extend its capabilities and reliability. The research in this thesis gives an insight into the novel research that can be conducted using LizOx that will add valuable information to species ecology and their conservation
Historical frequency of plants in nursery catalogues predicts likelihood of naturalization in ornamental species
No full textOrnamental horticulture is the major pathway of non-native plant species introductions worldwide. Historic nursery catalogues capture a long-term view of introduction effort arising from garden plantings and are a powerful resource for understanding why some introduced ornamental species subsequently jump the garden fence. Analyses of historic nursery catalogues can help us understand the reasons for failed invasions as well as why some species successfully naturalize or invade. We used New Zealand nursery catalogues from the 1860s to the 1990s to understand the patterns of failed invasions, as well as successful naturalization and invasion. Together with data on several horticulturally relevant plant traits, we used a boosted classification model to predict the likelihood of naturalization and invasion. A species' maximum height, its frequency in nursery catalogues, and the family-level global naturalization rate were the most influential variables. Naturalized species were generally taller, more frequently offered for sale, and belonged to families with higher global naturalization rates than those that had not naturalized. Other traits such as cold hardiness or shade tolerance were not significantly different between naturalized and non-naturalized species but contributed somewhat to the overall model fit. By contrast, our predictions of the likelihood a species would become invasive were poor, without any robust relationships with any of the covariates. This indicates that factors that drive the transition from naturalized to invasive species may be determined by the characteristics of the habitats that they invade. Species incorrectly predicted to be naturalized may not have had sufficient opportunity to do so and may pose a greater risk of naturalizing in the future. This provides an avenue for identifying future naturalized species and enabling proactive management or monitoring of these species of concern
Urban seascaping: dos and don’ts of integrating a marine nature-based approach to waterfront development
No full textThis paper presents design explorations for coastal cities to re-envision the current dualistic boundary between city and sea, human and nonhuman, in light of the sea-level rise and storm surges. As the water enters our cities, there is an increased need to go beyond the traditional defence-driven handling of water and to engage more meaningfully with the marine world. Therefore, this paper explores coastal ecosystems, focusing especially on their capacity to support life, mitigate climate change, strengthen coastal resilience and impact the local culture due to their ecosystem services. The paper analyses a case study from the city of Vejle, Denmark, where a design competition explored alternative waterfront development and coastal adaptation strategies in the form of marine nature-based solutions. However, findings from Vejle indicated that there was a tendency for many design proposals to resort to business-as-usual spatial typology using concrete bulkhead edges seen in many coastal cities with a bias for land-based plantings over marine nature. The findings demonstrate how urban designers and landscape architects exhibit a lack of understanding of the aquatic realm, proposing designs that are not conducive to marine life by inhibiting the flow of the water and hindering sunlight for marine vegetation to grow. In response to this tendency, the paper highlights a small built project in Wellington New Zealand that exhibited a novel approach to re-envisioning waterfront development that after 20 years, it has reported a surprising increase in biodiversity and transformed this area into a more hybrid, interconnected, and dynamic zon
Yield, tillering dynamics and harvest index of single plants of four cultivars of autumn wheat sown on three dates in Canterbury, New Zealand : A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Agricultural Science at Lincoln University
No full textThis study investigated the tillering dynamics and tillers contribution to yield across three sowing dates (27th March, 19th April and 18th May in 2023) among four wheat cultivars (‘Graham’, ‘Kerrin’, ‘Voltron’ and ‘Sorrial’) using a split-plot design with four replicates at Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand. Seeds were sown at a target population of 200 plants/m2 with 15 cm row spacing. Tillering was tracked using colour-coded wire on three tagged plants per plot, and apex development was monitored using a stereomicroscope (OLYMPUS SZX16/DP71). Biological grain yield and yield components were evaluated from a 1.5 m2 quadrat harvest at physiological maturity. Marked plants (repeatedly measured) and random plants, included for comparison, were harvested individually and partitioned to determine the contribution of individual tillers to the final yield and harvest index.
Grain yield exceeded 15 t/ha (15% moisture) across all sowing dates, but differed among cultivars, with ‘Kerrin’ and ‘Graham’ producing about 1 t/ha higher than ‘Sorrial’ and ‘Voltron’. Early sowing resulted in about 60 fewer heads/m2, leading to decreased grain number/m2. However, cultivars differed in their yield-building strategies, either by increasing the number of heads/m2 or grains/head. The number of grain/m2 and head/m2 are the main determinants of yield components.
The number of vegetative tillers produced was highest from SD1 and for ‘Kerrin’ and ‘Graham’. The maximum number of vegetative tillers was recorded at double ridge (DR), and tiller mortality accelerated at terminal spikelet (TS). Coleoptile, first and second tiller cohorts were the main vegetative tiller contributors, while the main stem, coleoptile and first leaf cohorts were major yield builders. However, the number of fertile tillers was not different among the sowing dates and cultivars.
There was a strong positive linear relationship between individual plant and grain weight, which indicated a minimum plant weight (MPW) for different sowing dates to set grain. As a consequence, there was an exponential relationship between plant weight and plant harvest index (PHI) with a plant weight of ≥26 g needed to reach the ceiling PHI of 0.55 and a range of 15-21 g to achieve 95-99% of max PHI.
Overall, this study demonstrates that the survival of fertile tillers and biomass partitioning influence yield efficiency in autumn-sown wheat. Cultivar selection and sowing strategies that support early tiller establishment and achieve plant biomass (15-22 g/plant) are key to maximise harvest index and grain yield. These findings show the value of integrating physiological traits into crop management decisions to enhance productivity in high-yielding environment
Assessing supply chain resilience in pandemics: Building a three-dimensional Haddon matrix
No full textThis study offers a modified three-dimensional Haddon Matrix to assess intervention and coping strategies adopted by various organizations for the preparation, response and recovery phases of the COVID-19-related supply chain disruptions. Evidence is gathered from available qualitative information sources concerning the current COVID-19 pandemic. In total, 35 academic and non-academic sources were used for data analysis. These sources were analyzed to assess the interventions that are reported as being useful in the pandemic context for different supply chain networks. The analysis reports a current list of interventions and strategies corresponding to the three dimensions of the modified Haddon Matrix; (i) disaster phase (pre-event, response, and post-event), (ii) factors/actors involved in the disaster (supply chains, risk events, physical environment, and socio-cultural environment), and (iii) resilience components of agility, adaptability, and alignment. Overall, the findings showed that effective communication along the supply chain, pre-event risk management, strong relationships and higher coordination within the wider network community all play key roles in enhancing the overall resilience of supply chains against pandemics. This study proposes a third dimension (resilience components) to the extant Haddon Matrix and is hence, somewhat unique. This modified matrix offers managers and researchers a new tool to aid in a more thorough analysis and a deeper understanding of supply chain resilience. Piloting the modified matrix, this study also assesses reported intervention strategies thus helping supply chain managers to prepare, respond, and recover from disruptions caused by pandemic
Exploration of the antioxidant and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory potentials of oat bran peptides derived from in vitro digestion system
No full textThe current study investigated the antioxidant and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity of wheat bran, oat bran, and wholegrain barley protein digesta and identified novel peptides. The small intestinal digesta of three cereal proteins contained significant levels of antioxidant and ACE inhibitory activity with the highest potentials in oat bran digesta. Therefore, oat bran intestinal digesta <3 kDa were analysed by tandem mass spectrometry. All the peptides that were identified originated from oat globulins. The current study recommends a novel peptide: LIVPQ related to other oat peptides expressing antioxidant and ACE inhibitory potential. Overall, the current study has shown that the storage proteins from three cereal proteins produce highly bioactive peptides at the end of the digestive system. The peptides identified in oat bran intestinal digesta with strong antioxidant and ACE inhibitory agents would also offer further applications towards improving human healt
Leadership 101
No full textHoani is a lecturer in sport management and sport and exercise science at Lincoln University, with a PhD focused on load monitoring and blood flow restriction (BFR) training in basketball athletes. He has coached and managed sport scholarship athletes at Lincoln University for over a decade and has travelled the world managing elite basketball teams. His research explores practical applications of athlete tracking and innovative training methods to optimise performance and recovery. Hoani is passionate about developing rangatahi and supporting their progression to national and international competition.In this session, I’ll share practical insights on what it means to be an effective sports leader, focusing on communication, teamwork, and decision-making under pressure,while drawing on real-world experiences from coaching,managing teams, and supporting athlete development