The effect of land use on benthic communities in Hawkes Bay streams of differing geology : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Ecology at Massey University

Benthic macroinvertebrate and periphyton communities of streams draining four different land use types within four distinct geological types were sampled between December 1996 and January 1997. Catchment land use comprised either standing mature or logged exotic forest, native forest, or hill country pasture. The geological types of these catchments were either Mesozoic sandstone-greywacke, Pleistocene-greywacke, Tertiary mudstone, or limestone in origin. Pastoral stream invertebrate community structure was significantly different from that found in forested streams, with no clear distinction separating communities from standing exotic, logged exotic, and native forest sites. Pastoral communities were dominated by dipterans and trichopterans. while in contrast, macroinvertebrate communities in streams draining sandstone-greywacke catchments were dominated by ephemeropterans and plecopterans, showing a clear influence of catchment geology on benthic macroinvertebrate communities. This sandstone-greywacke effect appeared to be independent of land use. Periphyton biomass was greatest in pastoral and exotic sites, particularly those draining limestone catchments. High nutrient and conductivity levels, both of which are characteristic of limestone streams, appeared to override the effect of light restrictions on periphyton growth in exotic forest sites. Overall, both geology and land use played major roles in determining the structure of stream benthic communities, with factors such as altitude and stream temperature also important influences on these communities. In November and December 1997, nutrient, shade, and disturbance effects were examined in periphyton communities colonising artificial substrates. These substrates were left in the 8 forested Hawkes Bay streams for 28 days with disturbance treatment substrates being physically abraded every 7 days. Nutrients (N + P) were added to nutrient treatment substrates and polythene cloth was used to create an artificially shaded environment for shade treatment substrates. Light availability and percentage canopy cover had the greatest effect upon periphyton, with light limitation being exhibited in closed canopy systems. Nutrient supply was also a factor determining periphyton biomass at both open and closed sites, although only up to a limit. Physical disturbance successfully removed organic matter from substrates as well as reducing chlorophyll a levels at open sites, however light and nutrient levels were more important determinants of chlorophyll a concentrations. In summary, both land use and geology play a considerable role in influencing both macroinvertebrate community structure and periphyton biomass. The geological influence was mediated through direct effects on nutrient inputs into the stream (as measured by conductivity), as well as by the indirect influence upon stream water temperatures. The influence of land use on benthic communities is predominantly as a result of shade levels created by vegetation types and enrichment levels derived from agriculturally influenced land. These results are of particular importance when comparing or analysing results from studies involving different land use types, particularly when these land uses cover a range of altitudes or are found in more than one geological type

The Rise of Digital Multimedia Systems

With this essay, I want to understand why interactive and relational media forms have become so ubiquitous so quickly. Comparing the nexus of cinema and nationalism with the contemporary dyad of digital media and transnationalism (or globalisation), we can ask whether digital multimedia systems have arisen to reflect and impel our contemporary psychic and social conditions. Because multimedia rarely gets ‘locked-off’, its component elements can always be pulled apart, sent back to their databases and then instantaneously rearranged into newly iterated federations. In this respect it is like our unstable contemporary lives, so buffeted with ever-altering values, opportunities, anxieties and obligations all upwelling because of globalisation, migration and multiculturalism

Narrative Hunger: GIS Mapping, Google Street View and the Colonial Prospectus

There are millions of maps like the one Wislawa Szymborska describes.  But in this essay I’ll be looking at another kind: geographical information systems, which do get stirred when people engage with them.  Arrayed on screens, the surfaces of these interactive maps are designed to get unsettled.  There’s electricity and constant data-accrual agitating them, letting them change with context and consultation.  They are still accounts of space, these new kinds of maps, but they do not stay still.  They alter from moment to moment, tracking time, showing  --  albeit mainly at the somewhat occluded level of metadata  --  a record of everyone who visits them, who gets folded into them

Palpable History

The article focuses on the essence of non-verbal and palpable historiography. It discusses some screen effects in an artwork called Street X-Rays and cites that viewers at the exhibition could think about the historical feeling rather than its meaning and that although the kinetic event is gone, one could imagine its continuity. Moreover, it is noted that the conditions of living and working in an aftermath-culture like Australia provides that the vital evidence is either missing or non-textual

A protocol for a systematic review of clinical guidelines and published systematic reviews on the early detection of oral cancer

Background: The predicted increase in incidence of oral cavity cancer (OCC) coupled with high mortality and poor prognosis – particularly when diagnosed at a late/advanced stage – highlights the need for prevention and early detection/screening to reverse these trends. Dental healthcare professionals in primary care settings have a pivotal role in this effort. Aim: The aim of this protocol is to detail the process for assessing the evidence for the best practice and methods of early detection/screening for OCC in primary care dental settings by undertaking a systematic review of global clinical guidelines and published systematic reviews. Method: Searches for clinical guidelines and systematic reviews will be conducted in the following databases: Cochrane library, Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (Ovid), Excerpta Medical dataBASE, PubMed, Turning Research into Practice, SCOPUS and Web of Science Core Collection. Our search will extend to include Google Scholar and international professional organizations/associations websites. In addition, we will handsearch the bibliographies and undertake citation searches of the selected papers. Quality appraisal will be undertaken using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation version II instrument for the clinical guidelines and both A MeaSurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews and Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews tools for the systematic reviews. A narrative synthesis approach will be used to assess the evidence of extracted data, primarily taking account of quality appraisal and recency of publication. Discussion: The synthesis of evidence will determine best practice for OCC early detection/screening by primary care dental healthcare professionals and will evaluate the relationship between clinical guidelines and the evidence base available from systematic reviews in this area