Genome size variation in deep-sea amphipods

Funding: This work was supported by the HADEEP projects, funded by the Nippon Foundation, Japan (2009765188); the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), UK (NE/E007171/1); Total Foundation, France; National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), New Zealand (CO1_0906); Schmidt Ocean Institute, USA (FK141109) (A.J.J. and S.B.P); Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS) (HR09011 and DSSG15) (H.R., A.J.J., S.B.P); and the Leverhulme Trust (S.B.P.). Acknowledgements: We thank the chief scientists, crew and company of the New Zealand RV Kaharoa (KAH1301 and KAH1310) and the United States RV Falkor (Cruise FK141109). From NIWA, we thank Malcolm Clark, Ashley Rowden, Kareen Schnabel, and Sadie Mills for logistical support at the NIWA Invertebrate Collection. We thank NOAA Marine National Monuments, Richard Hall and Eric Breuer for their support and collaboration. We also thank Attila Bebes and the Iain Fraser Cytometry Centre (IFCC) for technical assistance. Electronic supplementary material is available online at https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3868216.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Airborne observations of the tropospheric CO2 distribution and its controlling factors over the South Pacific Basin

Highly precise measurements of CO2 mixing ratios were recorded aboard both the NASA DC-8 and P3-B aircraft during the Pacific Exploratory Mission-Tropics conducted in August-October 1996. Data were obtained at altitudes ranging from 0.1 to 12 km over a large portion of the South Pacific Basin representing the most geographically extensive CO2 data set recorded in this region. These data along with CO2 surface measurements from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (NOAA/CMDL) and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) were examined to establish vertical and meridional gradients. The CO2 spatial distribution in the southern hemisphere appeared to be largely determined by interhemispheric transport as air masses with depleted CO2 levels characteristic of northern hemispheric air were frequently observed south of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. However, regional processes also played a role in modulating background concentrations. Comparisons of CO2 with other trace gases indicated that CO2 values were influenced by continental sources. Large scale plumes from biomass burning activities produced enhanced CO2 mixing ratios within the lower to midtroposphere over portions of the remote Pacific. An apparent CO2 source was observed in the NOAA/ CMDL surface data between 15° N and 15° S and in the lower altitude flight data between 8° N and 8.5° S with a zone of intensity from 6.5° N to 1° S. Inferred from these data is the presence of a Southern Ocean sink from south of 15° S having two distinct zones seasonally out of phase with one another. Copyright 1999 by the American Geophysical Union

Squalus acanthias, spiny dogfish

While there are reported subpopulations of Squalus acanthias (Linnaeus, 1758) elsewhere in the world, the North Pacific subpopulation is now considered a separate species, Squalus suckleyi (Girard, 1854) (see Ebert et al. 2010). Further taxonomic studies on this genus are required, including in relation to Mediterranean and Black Sea subpopulations. In Europe, three subpopulations are inferred to occur.Fil: Finucci, B.. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research; Nueva ZelandaFil: Cheok, J.. University Fraser Simon; CanadáFil: Chiaramonte, Gustavo Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia". Estación Hidrobiológica de Puerto Quequén (sede Quequén); ArgentinaFil: Cotton, C. F.. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Dulvy, N. K.. University Fraser Simon; CanadáFil: Kulka, D. W.. No especifíca; ArgentinaFil: Neat, F. C.. No especifíca; ArgentinaFil: Pacoureau, N.. University Fraser Simon; CanadáFil: Rigby, C. L.. James Cook University; AustraliaFil: Tanaka, S.. No especifíca; ArgentinaFil: Walker, T. I.. University of Melbourne; Australi

Designing a Wireless Sensors Network for Monitoring and Predicting Droughts

Global warming and lack of rain were the main problems that caused increased drought around the world. In New Zealand, according to National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) the drought in 2012 and 2013 was the worst drought in the last 70 years. Therefore, there is a need for technological intervention to monitor basic information about the weather and soil condition in order to identify and predict drought conditions. Initial experiments have shown that the proposed wireless sensor drought monitoring system is capable of remote real-time monitoring for extended periods. This monitoring can also help identify drought in the early stages and thereby indicate promptly when to take corrective measures. Intelligent sensors in a wireless network monitor the soil condition. These sensors collect various environmental parameters and then send the pre-processed data wirelessly to a base station. From the base station this data uploads every two seconds to the cloud (internet) for further analysis. If a drought condition is identified by the monitoring system then an alert message is sent to the user via text message or email

On the evaluation of global sea-salt aerosol models at coastal/orographic sites

Sea-salt aerosol global models are typically evaluated against concentration observations at coastal stations that are unaffected by local surf conditions and thus considered representative of open ocean conditions. Despite recent improvements in sea-salt source functions, studies still show significant model errors in specific regions. Using a multiscale model, we investigated the effect of high model resolution (0.1 degrees x 0.1 degrees vs. 1 degrees x 1.4 degrees) upon sea-salt patterns in four stations from the University of Miami Network: Baring Head, Chatam Island, and Invercargill in New Zealand, and Marion Island in the sub-antarctic Indian Ocean. Normalized biases improved from +63.7% to +3.3% and correlation increased from 0.52 to 0.84. The representation of sea/land interfaces, mesoscale circulations, and precipitation with the higher resolution model played a major role in the simulation of annual concentration trends. Our results recommend caution when comparing or constraining global models using surface concentration observations from coastal stations. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.Postprint (published version

Designing a Wireless Sensors Network for Monitoring and Predicting Droughts

Global warming and lack of rain were the main problems that caused increased drought around the world. In New Zealand, according to National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) the drought in 2012 and 2013 was the worst drought in the last 70 years. Therefore, there is a need for technological intervention to monitor basic information about the weather and soil condition in order to identify and predict drought conditions. Initial experiments have shown that the proposed wireless sensor drought monitoring system is capable of remote real-time monitoring for extended periods. This monitoring can also help identify drought in the early stages and thereby indicate promptly when to take corrective measures. Intelligent sensors in a wireless network monitor the soil condition. These sensors collect various environmental parameters and then send the pre-processed data wirelessly to a base station. From the base station this data uploads every two seconds to the cloud (internet) for further analysis. If a drought condition is identified by the monitoring system then an alert message is sent to the user via text message or email

Judicial Review of Scientific Findings

The High Court decision in New Zealand Climate Science Education Trust v National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research is a rare example of judicial examination of scientific research undertaken by publicly-owned bodies, but also represents a potentially worrying precedent. In this paper, the author discusses the importance of judicial review remedies to those wronged by the adverse effects of public decision making

Art-Science Collaboration: Blending the Boundaries of Practice

The Art + Oceans Project was the sixth in the ongoing ‘Art + Science’  Project series, where artists collaborate with scientists individually, or in pairs, to develop artworks for public exhibition relating to science interpreted in a broad context.In Art + Oceans, collaborators tackled the complexities of our changing marine environment; working together over several months (from October 2017 to July 2018), they produced many generative interactions between art and science. The large group exhibition (held in the Otago Museum’s HD Skinner Annex, 23 July–5 August 2018) represented 26 collaborations between artists (including graduates, staff and senior students of the Dunedin School of Art and the School of Design at Otago Polytechnic) and scientists (from University of Otago science departments including Surveying, Physics, Anatomy, Chemistry, Botany, Marine Science, Physical Education and Science Communication; as well as the University of British Columbia; the Cawthron Institute; LandcareResearch; the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA); and research collectives including Coastal Acidification: Rate, Impacts & Management (CARIM) and the Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge)

Can't see the science for the solicitors: judicial review of scientific research in light of NIWA's case

The existence of climate change remains an unjustifiably vexed issue worldwide. In New Zealand Climate Science Education Trust v National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd, sceptics’ attempts to challenge NIWA’s temperature records allowed the Court to extend its reach into the heart of the scientific research process. Whilst this paper supports Venning J’s determination that NIWA’s decisions were within the Court’s jurisdiction for review, his finding that individuals might suffer harm as a result of them is shown to be unjustified. Furthermore, the Court’s inherent unsuitability to addressing matters with high scientific contents, due to its adversarial nature and judges’ lack of scientific training, supports a finding of non- or partial justiciability. Non-justiciability is here rejected for allowing scientists behaving fraudulently to escape rebuke. The standard of deference Venning J attempts to introduce is similarly flawed as it allows unwary judges to unintentionally judge matters of science. Concerns are also raised that research might stagnate if scientists must worry about judicial scrutiny of their work. Thus, a standard of flagrant impropriety, or “fraud, corruption or bad faith”, is argued to be the ideal threshold for permitting judicial review of scientific research

A new record of Percursaria percursa (Ulvaceae, Ulvales) on the North Island, New Zealand

The filamentous green alga Percursaria percursa (Ulvaceae, Ulvales) was recorded for the first time on the North Island of New Zealand at mokoroa Estuary, Tauranga Harbour. This species is previously known within New Zealand from only two records, both from the South Island. In Tauranga Harbour, this species was restricted to anoxic estuarine sediments where mangrove forests had been mulched, and mulchate left in situ. Percursaria percursa was found intertwined with Ulva spp. and Rhizoclonium spp. Surveys of other North and South Island estuaries suggest that this alga, although occurring as part of nuisance green algal blooms in Tauranga Harbour, has only colonized human-impacted locations, and has not yet been observed in natural' estuarine ecosystems in New Zealand. As this species was found intertwined with other mat-forming filamentous green algae, it can easily be misidentified in the field, leading to both over- and under-reporting of species occurrence