The food fight - overcoming the challenges of food fraud

This article discusses food fraud in New Zealand’s food and fibre sector. It outlines common types of food fraud, means of detection, challenges, suggestions to deal with it, matters of legality and regulatory oversight, and information on how to report it

Insights into the use of GRESB as an ESG benchmarking tool

Purpose - Sustainability practices and reporting have consistently evolved over the years with trends towards more holistic approaches with respect to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). In the real estate sector over the last decade, GRESB (formerly known as Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) has become the leading global ESG benchmarking tool for real asset investments. However, it has attracted limited research, and this underpins this works’ motivation for the exploration of the perspectives of real estate stakeholders relating to the uptake and use of GRESB. Design/methodology/approach - The approach used in this study is qualitative in nature, adopting a phenomenological research design to capture the essence of the lived experiences of purposely sampled participants. This is done through an interpretative phenomenological analysis of semi-structured interviews. Findings - Legislation, regulation and risk management are the main motivations for engaging with ESG-related issues. The main benefit of GRESB is benchmarking, while the main weaknesses lie in the data collection and the undeveloped social component. Within data, the major challenges are observed for the transparency of performance data and overreliance on policies instead of performance. GRESB would benefit from the inclusion of (1) more detailed sustainability benchmarks relating to social and governance components, and (2) social value metrics in their overall assessment. Practical implications - Policymakers need to develop or support globally recognised reporting standards to increase the quality, accuracy and comparability of ESG information. Originality/value - This is the first study on ESG reporting using a phenomenological research design

A preliminary study of kea (Nestor notabilis) habitat use and diet in plantation forests of Nelson, New Zealand

Kea (Nestor notabilis) are nationally endangered, large endemic parrots in the South Island of New Zealand. In recent years, anecdotal evidence and sightings from forestry workers have confirmed that kea use exotic plantation forests in the Nelson/Tasman region. We documented kea habitat use and movements in Nelson plantation and neighbouring native forests. GPS-VHF units were used to track kea movements through the plantation-native forest matrix. All birds tracked in this study spent a notable proportion of their time in plantation forests, which included feeding, roosting and nesting. Feeding observations and faecal analysis were used to determine kea diet in plantation forests. In the summer, Pinus radiata seeds were commonly observed being eaten by kea, as was cambium tissue stripped off newly harvested Pseudotsuga menziesii logs. Of the items identified through faecal analysis, the most common group was invertebrates. This research was a preliminary study of kea activity in plantation forests and suggests the value of extending research to cover at least a full calendar year to record seasonal patterns in kea diet, habitat use and movements in and out of this habitat type

Claiming the right to the city: The politics of urban reform coalitions in Lagos

This paper examines how grassroots coalitions mobilize for the right to the city, the politics they encounter and the extent to which their actions result in urban reforms benefiting marginalized communities. The paper invokes a discourse on the right to the city as the mobilizing frame for grassroots social movement encounters against exclusionary development and displacement. Drawing on interviews and documents, we situate this discourse within two case studies of forced eviction in Lagos, Nigeria. To ground the investigation and highlight the tactics and politics of coalitions, the paper applies the conceptual framework of the invited–invented space of encounter. Our findings reveal that state-led neoliberal urban restructuring and spatial displacement in Lagos have triggered grassroots movements and the formation of coalitions, which, depending on the politics encountered, have both enhanced and constrained the struggle for transformative urban reforms that enable the right to the city for marginalized communities

Factors influencing smartphone usage of rural farmers: Empirical analysis of five selected provinces in China

The increasing usage of smartphones by practitioners in various fields of expertise is attracting global attention. However, scanty evidence exists on smartphone usage among rural farmers in developing countries. Using data collected from 1286 rural farming households in five provinces in China, this study investigates the factors influencing rural farmers’ decisions to use smartphones. The findings from a Probit model reveal that education, health condition, asset ownership, income levels, peers’ smartphone usage, internet access, cooperative membership, access to credit, and off-farm work participation are the main factors driving smartphone usage of rural farmers. The age of the farmer rather affects smartphone usage negatively and significantly. Further heterogeneous analysis shows that the influences of factors on smartphone usage vary across the survey provinces

The floral interface: A playground for interactions between insect pollinators, microbes, and plants

Insect pollinators acquire microorganisms when they visit flowers for nutrients. The interactions that occur at the floral interface are complex with three participants – pollinators, plants and microorganisms. The majority of the insect pollinator’s microbiome is shaped by their behaviour, diet and environment. At present the bee (Apidae family) microbiome is the best documented and contributes to our understanding of the bi-directional exchange of microbes between pollinators and flowers. The transferred microorganisms may be mutualistic, commensal or pathogenic. We identify a lack of information due to limited studies concerning the diversity of pollinators and a focus on pathogenic microorganisms and their gut microbiome influence on their health. Each candidate, the insect, plant and microbe, makes their own contribution which aids the interaction, but some participants may benefit more than others. The benefits for pollinators include enhanced acquisition of nutritional resources; for microorganisms dispersal and a ‘new’ habitat to colonise and for plants pollination is the outcome. Finally, we explore a novel concept of whether the fruit acts as a potential vector for insect microorganisms to hibernate and extend their lifecycle in the absence of a pollinator host

Systematics and evolutionary history of raft and nursery‐web spiders (Araneae: Dolomedidae and Pisauridae)

Pisauridae are a global and heterogeneous assemblage of spider genera with diverse morphologies and lifestyles. So far, the monophyly of Pisauridae and the inclusion of fishing spiders (Dolomedes) in this family have not been thoroughly tested. Here, we amend the systematics and classification of these lineages within a UCE phylogenomic framework and through a detailed morphological reappraisal. For estimations of their evolutionary age, we perform and compare outcomes from two divergence estimation approaches, an a posteriori likelihood, and an a priori Bayesian. Phylogenies reject the monophyly of both Pisauridae and Dolomedes: (1) Focal Clade I groups true Pisauridae genera including Pisaura; (2) Focal Clade II contains Blandinia and is sister to Trechaleidae and Lycosidae; (3) Focal Clade III groups Dolomedes, Megadolomedes, and Ornodolomedes, and is sister to Blandinia, Trechaleidae, and Lycosidae. We therefore propose to delimit Pisauridae by removing Dolomedidae rank resurrected (including Dolomedes, Bradystichus, Megadolomedes, Caledomedes, Mangromedes, Ornodolomedes, and Tasmomedes) and Blandinia incertae sedis. Likelihood and Bayesian time calibration approaches yield comparable divergence estimations: Pisauridae origin is estimated at 29–40 Ma; Blandinia 21–34 Ma; Dolomedidae 10–17 Ma; Dolomedes 9–16 Ma. Reconstructions suggest that the evolution of terrestrial and web-building lifestyles from semi-aquatic ancestors in Pisauridae coincided with cooling and drying climates during the mid-Miocene, but this was not the case in the few recent cases of terrestrialization in Dolomedes species. This historic reconstruction illustrates how climatic changes, or rapid radiation, can drive lifestyle diversification

Microbiomes in action: multifaceted benefits and challenges across academic disciplines

Microbiomes combine the species and activities of all microorganisms living together in a specific habitat. They comprise unique ecological niches with influences that scale from local to global ecosystems. Understanding the connectivity of microbiomes across academic disciplines is important to help mitigate global climate change, reduce food insecurity, control harmful diseases, and ensure environmental sustainability. However, most publications refer to individual microbiomes, and those integrating two or more related disciplines are rare. This review examines the multifaceted benefits of microbiomes across agriculture, food manufacturing and preservation, the natural environment, human health, and biocatalyst processes. Plant microbiomes, by improving plant nutrient cycling and increasing plant abiotic and biotic stress resilience, have increased crop yields by over 20%. Food microbiomes generate approximately USD 30 billion to the global economy through the fermented food industry alone. Environmental microbiomes help detoxify pollutants, absorb more than 90% of heavy metals, and facilitate carbon sequestration. For human microbiomes, an adult person can carry up to 38 trillion microbes which regulate well being, immune functionality, reproductive function, and disease prevention. Microbiomes are used to optimize biocatalyst processes which produce bioenergy and biochemicals; bioethanol production alone is valued at over USD 83 billion p.a. However, challenges, including knowledge gaps, engaging indigenous communities, technical limitations, regulatory considerations, the need for interdisciplinary collaboration, and ethical issues, must be overcome before the potential for microbiomes can be more effectively realized

Impact of implementing female genomic selection and the use of sex-selected semen technology on genetic gain in a dairy herd in New Zealand

Genomic selection (GS) has changed cattle breeding, but its use so far has been in selecting superior bulls for breeding. However, its farm-level impact, particularly on female selection, remains less explored. This study aimed to investigate the impact of implementing GS to identify superior cows and using artificial mating of those cows with sex-selected semen in a New Zealand Holstein-Friesian (HF) dairy herd (n = 1800 cows). Heifers (n = 2061) born over four consecutive years between 2021 and 2024 were genotyped and their genomic breeding values (GBVs) were estimated. These heifers were ranked based on the Balanced Performance Index (BPI; DataGene, Dairy Australia) Lower-performing cows producing less than 15 L/day (or 20 L/day for older cows) and those with severe mastitis were culled. Cows were mated with HF genetics based on production and udder breeding values, while lower-performing cows were mated to beef genetics. Milking adult cows were mated to bulls with similar BPI value. Annual genetic change was measured using Australian breeding values (ABVg) for milk fat production (FAT), protein production (PROT), fertility (FER), Mastitis Resistance (MAS), and BPI. The genetic merits of the heifers improved annually, with BPI increasing from 136 to 184 between 2021 and 2023, corresponding to a financial gain of NZD 17.53 per animal per year. The predicted BPI gain from 2023 to 2026 is expected to rise from 184 to 384, resulting in a financial gain of NZD 72.96 per animal per year. Using sex-selected semen on the top 50% of BPI-rated heifers in 2024 further accelerated genetic gain. Predicted BPI values for progeny born in 2025 and 2026 are 320 and 384, respectively. These findings revealed that the female GS, combined with sex-selected semen from genomically selected bulls, significantly accelerates genetic gain by improving the intensity and accuracy of selection. The approach achieves genetic progress equivalent to what traditionally would have required eight years of breeding without female GS, and has potential to improve dairy herd performance and profitability

Polar tourism

Polar tourism refers to visits, excluding those for scientific research or support, to the Arctic (typically comprised of the states, water bodies, and islands north of the tree-line) or the Antarctic (often described as the continent itself, ice shelves, water, and islands south of the Antarctic Convergence). The geographic remoteness associated with unique biota, landscapes, and climate forms the appeal of the polar regions