An ecological study of Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense Lour.) in the Waikato Region

Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) has naturalised across the Waikato region invading lowland native forest and wetland habitat. This shrub has the ability to form a dense canopy or subcanopy and appears to exclude other native species from establishing in the understorey. Chinese privet seedlings were found in abundance underneath privet canopy, where they grow slower than when invading a new site yet are able to succeed adult plants and continually occupy a site. Chinese privet seedlings establish readily under intact native canopy but are more prolific in disturbed high light environments. Fruit is produced in abundance and is dispersed by birds particularly beneath perch sites, which limits seed dispersal over open ground. Chinese privet seedlings appear to be palatable to stock, but rapidly out-compete and dominate regenerating native species when grazing pressure is removed. A short-lived seedbank, six months to one year viability, suggests that the removal of adult plants will quickly reduce the number of seedlings establishing. This invasive shrub is a serious weed in south-eastern USA where it is well established and would appear to have similar potential in New Zealand to form vast, dense thickets with very low floristic diversity

Waiwhakareke Restoration Plantings: Establishment of Monitoring Plots 2005-06

Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park is being developed to reconstruct native lowland and wetland ecosystems as were once widespread in the Waikato Region. The 60ha Natural Heritage Park is located on the north-west outskirts of Hamilton City and includes a peat lake (Horseshoe Lake) which is surrounded by introduced willow trees. There is some native marginal vegetation around the lake, including rushes and sedges, and an extensive area of gently sloping pasture completes the catchment. The restoration and recreation of the native plant and animal communities is being lead by the Hamilton City Council in partnership with The University of Waikato, Wintec, Nga Mana Toopu o Kirikiriroa Limited Resource Management and Cultural Consultants and Tui 2000 (McQueen 2005; McQueen & Clarkson 2003)

A real-time digital program for estimating aircraft stability and control parameters from flight test data by using the maximum likelihood method

A computer program (Langley program C1123) has been developed for estimating aircraft stability and control parameters from flight test data. These parameters are estimated by the maximum likelihood estimation procedure implemented on a real-time digital simulation system, which uses the Control Data 6600 computer. This system allows the investigator to interact with the program in order to obtain satisfactory results. Part of this system, the control and display capabilities, is described for this program. This report also describes the computer program by presenting the program variables, subroutines, flow charts, listings, and operational features. Program usage is demonstrated with a test case using pseudo or simulated flight data

The Persuasive Image

The unfortunate suburban migration continues. These newly arrived suburbanites exchange their multidimensional urban city views for those of a carefully constructed and intensely controlled pastoral view. This view from their windows is one that symbolizes their ownership of the land and their freedom from dense urban living conditions. The open space and grass function as powerful reminders of why they live in suburbia. But what would occur if the suburbanites were to exchange their view of plastic Eden with images from the city? What if the view of their altered yards and obsessively manicured gardens were intentionally replaced with views of urban landscapes? What if an urban view were to be elevated and aestheticized until it was presented as a beautiful object to be coveted and desired? Several psychological theories, and in particular the Cognitive Dissonance Effect, suggest suburbanites could change their attitude about their living conditions in the suburbs with respect to the city. The goal of this thesis is to provide an experience through which a change in the attitudes of suburbanites regarding living in an urban environment might occur. The thesis is more than just images, but is actually an attempt to explore, measure, and quantify the attitudinal change of two experimental populations when they are exposed to the same simulated city view (Figure 1). One group lived in the city of Rochester proper within a mile of the center of the city, while the other lived outside of the city, several miles away. My Thesis Exhibition was part of the documentation of a performance that occurred in private residences in Rochester. Coinciding with the opening of the exhibition, each of the selected residences first completed a survey. Then they placed in front of one of their windows the identical image and frame that all of the other residences received. They lived with the image for an extended period of time, 8 weeks, at which point the objects were removed and the survey was re-administered to document any attitudinal change that may have occurred

The flow of gases and vapours through porous media

Experiments heve been carried out on the flow of different gases and vapours through an unconsolidated porous medium consisting of analcite of uniform particle size (50mu diameter). Since analcite crystals are almost spherical, necessary simplifying assumptions could be made. Rates of flow were measured near room temperature both for the inert gases and hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen which are little adsorbed by analcite at this temperature, and for sulphur dioxide, ammonia, and carbon tetrachloride vapours which are considerably adsorbed. measurements were made both in the Khudsen (low pressure) and Poiseuille (medium pressure) regions of flow, and data were obtained which support Adzumia's theoretical treatment for the region where they overlap. A new treatment of the transient state of flow is presented. Emphasis is laid upon the importance of the "time-lag" obtained when the flow in the steady state is extrapolated back to the time axis. Experimental results indicate the validity of the relationship, derived theoretically by Barrer, between the time-lag and the diffusion coefficient. Using this relationship, the average radius of the pores in the medium was estimated from the time-lag. Although this was somewhat smaller than the pore-radius calculated from the steady state of flow, good agreement was found between the values obtained using different gases. For the vapours, it was found that the relationships broke down, both for the steady and transient states of flow.The theoretical equations require modification if the molecules of the vapour adsorbed on the surface of the analcite remain there for an appreciable time, or if they are mobile on the surface. It has been shown that the data obtained enable the average lifetime of the molecules on the surface to be calculated, and from measurements at different temperatures, the heat of adsorption has been deduced.<p

The asymmetrical anthropocene: resilience and the limits of posthumanism

In this article we critique resilience’s oft-celebrated overcoming of modern liberal frameworks. We bring work on resilience in geography and cognate fields into conversation with explorations of the ‘asymmetrical Anthropocene’, an emerging body of thought which emphasizes human-nonhuman relational asymmetry. Despite their resonances, there has been little engagement between these two responses to the human/world binary. This is important for changing the terms of the policy debate: engaging resilience through the asymmetrical Anthropocene framing shines a different light upon policy discourses of adaptative management, locating resilience as a continuation of modernity’s anthropocentric will-to-govern. From this vantage point, resilience is problematic, neglecting the powers of nonhuman worlds that are not accessible or appropriable for governmental use. However, this is not necessarily grounds for pessimism. To conclude, we argue that human political agency is even more vital in an indeterminate world

Orientation and symmetries of Alexandrov spaces with applications in positive curvature

We develop two new tools for use in Alexandrov geometry: a theory of ramified orientable double covers and a particularly useful version of the Slice Theorem for actions of compact Lie groups. These tools are applied to the classification of compact, positively curved Alexandrov spaces with maximal symmetry rank.Comment: 34 pages. Simplified proofs throughout and a new proof of the Slice Theorem, correcting omissions in the previous versio

Determination of the hydraulicity of local lime-stone

I took as the subject of my thesis the hydraulic properties of the Lime Stone of this vicinity and confined my researches to two of the larger Lime Stone Quarries about one mile South West of Rolla --page 1