Ecosystem Services on New Zealand Arable Farms

Researchers have estimated the total economic value of global ecosystem goods and services showing that a significant portion of humanity's economic well being is unaccounted for in conventional GNP accounting (Constanza et al., 1997). To demonstrate this point, authors have conventionally used highly aggregated landscape units for analysis (e.g., biomes), and average, not marginal values, of each ecosystem good or service are estimated for each unit using value transfer methodologies (Wilson et al., 2004). For example, Patterson and Cole (1999a, b) replicated the Constanza et al., (1997) approach by estimating economic values for Waikato and New Zealand ecosystem goods and services associated with standard land cover classes including horticulture, agriculture and cropping. As a result, Patterson and Cole (1999b) argue that only five ecosystem services associated with cropping have non-zero value. One of the reasons for this low number of non-zero values assorted with arable lands is that the original economic studies used by Patterson and Cole, are heavily weighted towards natural and undisturbed ecosystems rather than disturbed systems like agricultural or urban landscapes. To address this issue, more recently researchers have noted that many landscapes are actively modified by humans who seek to realise economic gain and this topic is thus an important one because in the 21st century, many of our homes, workplaces and recreational spaces are embedded within, or adjacent to, landscape mosaics that are to a greater or lesser degree affected by the conscious efforts of people to harness goods and services provided by ecological systems (Palmer et al., 2004). An engineered or designed ecosystem is one that has been extensively modified by humans to explicitly provide a set of ecosystem goods and services including more fresh water, trees, and food products and fewer floods and pollutants. These modified landscapes provide a range of ecosystem goods and services, particularly food production as farmers seek to maximize commercial gain from land use. The current paper examines issues in valuation of ecosystem goods and services derived from land used for arable farming in New Zealand and proposes ways to provide more detailed estimates of the flow and value of the flow of ecosystem services provided.Ecosystem management, Arable farming, Engineered ecosystem, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

Values of Ecosystem Services Associated with Intense Dairy Farming in New Zealand

The increase in greenhouse gas emissions and degradation of water quality and quantity in waterways due to dairy farming in New Zealand have become of growing concern. Compared to traditional sheep and beef cattle farming, dairy farming is more input intensive and more likely to cause such environmental damage. Our study uses choice modeling to explore New Zealanders' willingness to pay for sustainable dairy and sheep/beef cattle farming. We investigate respondents' level of awareness of the environmental degradation caused by dairy farming and their willingness to make trade-offs between economic growth and improvements in the level of ecosystem services associated with pastoral farming.ecosystem services, greenhouse gas emissions, dairy farming, choice modeling, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,

Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc), a potential threat to China's potato industry

The potato psyllid Bactericera cockerelli (Hemiptera: Triozidae) has recently emerged as a serious pest of potatoes and other solanaceous crops. It causes direct feeding damage and also vectors Candidatus Liberibacter solanaceaerum (Lso), a pathogen that causes zebra chip disease in potatoes and which potentially costs growers millions of dollars each year. Such producers rely on frequent sprays of pesticides for psyllid control but the results are unsatisfactory and there are negative side effects. The psyllid has spread beyond its native range in southwest US and northern Mexico to Canada, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua via medium to long range dispersal flights perhaps aided by wind currents, and through anthropogenic means. It was accidentally introduced into New Zealand in 2006 and most recently Australia, most likely through the importation of infested plant material. This review summarizes information from studies on the biology, impact and management of B. cockerelli, and highlights the imminent risk of this insect and its associated pathogen invading China, the world's largest producer of fresh potatoes. Development of risk maps leading to increased surveillance, could prevent or delay an incursion and facilitate early detection or eradication should this occur. Long-term management with Lso-tolerant potato cultivars and psyllid control using the parasitic wasp Tamarixia triozae and other natural enemies should be pursued, rather than depending on synthetic pesticides.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Assessing pollinators' use of floral resource subsidies in agri-environment schemes: An illustration using Phacelia tanacetifolia and honeybees

ABSTRACT Background: Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) are frequently used in agriculture for pollination services because of their abundance, generalist floral preferences, ease of management and hive transport. However, their populations are declining in many countries. Agri-Environment Schemes (AES) are being implemented in agricultural systems to combat the decline in populations of pollinators and other insects. Despite AES being increasingly embedded in policy and budgets, scientific assessments of many of these schemes still are lacking, and only a few studies have examined the extent to which insect pollinators use the floral enhancements that are part of AES and on which floral components they feed (i.e., pollen and/or nectar). Methods: In the present work, we used a combination of observations on honeybee foraging for nectar/pollen from the Californian annual plant Phacelia tanacetifolia in the field, collection of pollen pellets from hives, and pollen identification, to assess the value of adding phacelia to an agro-ecosystem to benefit honeybees. Results: It was found that phacelia pollen was almost never taken by honeybees. The work here demonstrates that honeybees may not use the floral enhancements added to a landscape as expected and points to the need for more careful assessments of what resources are used by honeybees in AES and understanding the role, if any, which AES play in enhancing pollinator fitness. Discussion: We recommend using the methodology in this paper to explore the efficacy of AES before particular flowering species are adopted more widely to give a more complete illustration of the actual efficacy of AES

A Perspective on the Consequences for Insect Herbivores and Their Natural Enemies When They Share Plant Resources

Thousands of insect species consume both animal and plant-derived food resources. However, little recognition is given to the fact that omnivory is a general feeding strategy common to all higher trophic levels. Species in multitrophic interactions can all directly rely on the same plant resources. Nonetheless, little is known about the effect of a change in the relative abundance of a shared plant resource on trophic dynamics. Here we describe how a relative change of resource availability can affect multitrophic interactions and we emphasise its importance. Changes in multitrophic interactions can be induced by unequal alterations of individual fitness across trophic levels, possibly leading to changes in population structure of interacting species. At least ten ecological mechanisms can be involved and these are explored here. It is concluded that shared plant resources that are differentially used over several trophic levels have the potential to modify community structure and energy flow within food webs and ecosystems in more complex ways than previously recognised. The synthesis presented here provides an understanding of this complexity and can lead to improved deployment of biodiversity when manipulating food webs to protect ecological communities or to enhance ecosystem services such as biological control of agricultural pests

DOC SCIENCE INTERNAL SERIES 67

Effects of ivermectin in dairy discharges on terrestrial an

Octochaetus kenleei Blakemore, sp. nov.

Octochaetus kenleei Blakemore sp. nov. Material examined. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa W.002910 (Holotype). From the tussock grassland of “Happy Valley” (Upper Waimangaroa Valley, Buller Region, West Coast, New Zealand). Collected by S. Boyer, 2010. Mature, complete, fixed in ethanol 98 % and placed in propylene glycol. Etymology. In patronymic tribute to the foremost earthworm eco-taxonomist of New Zealand, Dr Kenneth Earnest Lee (1927–2007). External characters. Body circular but posterior slightly square. Pigment lacking and generally fair. Length 220 mm with 270 segments. Prostomium prolobous. Setae lumbricine, 8 per segment, evenly spaced. Clitellum not well marked, perhaps in some or all of 14–20. Dorsal pores from 14 / 15, small. Nephropores not clear, some possibly in c and d lines or rather irregular. Spermathecal pores segmental, lateral to b lines on 8 and 9 on small mounds. Female pores just anterior to setae a on 14. Prostatic pores at b on 17 and 19. Male pores within concave seminal grooves lateral to b. Genital markings as small lens-shaped hollows paired in 8 / 9 and 9 / 10 near b lines and in 15 / 16 in a lines with a unilateral marking in 18 / 19 lhs; area bb in 19 / 20–22 / 23 tumid. Genital and penial setae not found. Internal morphology. Pharyngeal mass anterior to 4 / 5. Septa 8 / 9–10 / 11 with some thickening. Gizzards muscular in 5 and 6. Dorsal blood vessel appears single on gizzards but is doubled from 7 posteriorly. Heart paired in 10–13. Nephridia meroic as a few (ca. 4 per side) small tufted clusters in each segment. Spermathecae in 8 and 9 saccular each with small discrete and interlocular diverticula (inseminated) ringing exit. Testes free, posterio-ventrally in 10 and 11. Seminal vesicles large finely racemose anterio-dorsally in 11 and 12. Ovaries composed of several strings of largish eggs in 13; ovisacs absent. Prostates tubular in 17 and 19 exiting through narrow ducts. Vasa deferentia exits in 18. Oesophagus dilated as annular calciferous gland in 17 with several internal lamellae but not especially vascularized. Intestinal origin in 20 (valval in 19). Typhlosole large inverted T-shape developing from 21. Gut contains colloidal soil with a few quartz grits and woody fragments. Ecology. Specimen was found under 10 to 20 cm of soil. Large size, pale colouration and gut contents suggest subsoil geophagy. This species is likely to be endogeic. Remarks. The current species is compared to Octochaetus thomasi Beddard, 1892, widespread in the Canterbury Plains, that is the only other congener known to have gizzards in 5–6. As with all other members, it has spermathecal pores in 7 / 8 / 9 and on this character alone the current species is differentiated. Neodrilus campestris (Hutton, 1877) from Dunedin has segmental spermathecal pores (on 8) but differs, not least, by qualifying for inclusion in Acanthodrilidae due to its holoic nephridia.Published as part of Boyer, Stephane, Blakemore, Robert J. & Wratten, Steve D., 2011, An integrative taxonomic approach to the identification of three new New Zealand endemic earthworm species (Acanthodrilidae, Octochaetidae: Oligochaeta), pp. 21-32 in Zootaxa 2994 on page 27, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20517

Accumulation of hydroxamic acids during wheat germination

Hydroxamic acids, quantified by HPLC, varied in concentration between three cultivars of wheat. Seeds, roots, leaves and the entire plants were analysed separately. No hydroxamic acids were present in seeds throughout the 7 days of germination studied. Leaves accumulated relatively high concentrations of 2,4-dihydroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one (DIMBOA) and lower concentrations of its demethoxylated analogue (DIBOA). Higher concentrations of DIBOA were recorded in roots than in leaves of two of the cultivars. Maximal concentrations of DIBOA in the entire plant occurred prior to those of DIMBOA. Although the concentrations of the two hydroxamic acids decreased in all parts of the plant at the latter stages of germination, the absolute quantity of these compounds remained stable, indicating a growth dilution effect. The results show that formation of hydroxamic acids is initiated in the early stages of germination and support the idea that DIBOA is a precursor of DIMBOA. In view of

Deinodrilus gorgon Blakemore, sp. nov.

Deinodrilus gorgon Blakemore sp. nov. Material examined. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa W.002909 (Holotype). From the tussock grassland of “Happy Valley” (Upper Waimangaroa Valley, Buller Region, West Coast, New Zealand). Collected by S. Boyer, 2010. Mature, posterior amputee, fixed in ethanol 98 % and placed in propylene glycol. Etymology. Noun alluding to Greek mythical monsters with sharp fangs, staring eyes and, similar perhaps to the ring of diverticula on each spermatheca – a belt of serpents. External characters. Body circular in anterior. Pigment dark, especially dorsum with paler setal auriolae; clitellum and male field white. Length 55 + mm with 73 + segments (amputee). Prostomium tanylobous. Setae perichaetine, 12 per segment, evenly spaced. Clitellum pale, tumid ½ 13–16. Dorsal pores from 10 / 11. Nephropores not found. Spermathecal pores in b lines in 7 / 8 and 8 / 9, small but gaping. Female pores anterio-ventral to a setae on 14 in common field. Prostatic pores at b on 17 and 19. Male pores within concave seminal grooves lateral to b. Genital markings as large eye-shaped papillae paired on 10; with smaller markings on 13 rhs, 16 rhs and two additional pairs on 18 as figured. Genital and penial setae not found. Internal morphology. Pharyngeal mass anterior to 4 / 5. Septa 8 / 9–10 / 11 with some thickening. Gizzard muscular in 6 (weak septum 6 / 7 can be carefully teased off to base). Dorsal blood vessel doubled. Heart paired in 10– 13. Nephridia meroic; equatorial forests especially obvious around clitellar segments. Spermathecae in 8 and 9 each with a thin duct to multiple, finger-like diverticula, five per spermatheca (inseminated) surrounding duct from where it thickens before reaching yellowish, knob-like ampulla. Testes free, posterio-ventrally in 10 and 11. Seminal vesicles small saccular in 9 (vestigial?) and larger racemose anterio-dorsally in 11 and 12. Ovaries fan-shaped in 13 with several strings of largish eggs; ovisacs vestigial in 14. Prostates compacted tubular in 17 and 19 exiting through muscular ducts. Vasa deferentia seen to exit unceremoniously in 18. Oesophagus dilated in 15–17 but lacking internal lamellae and thus not construed as calciferous glands. Intestinal origin in 18. Typhlosole thin, lamellar becoming deeper from 19. Gut contains colloidal soil and organic matter. Ecology. Specimen was found under 10 to 20 cm of soil. Dark colouration suggests at least partial surface exposure on topsoil, gut content suggests topsoil geophagy. This species is likely to be anecic. Remarks. Of the eight currently known Deinodrilus species, only two have tanylobous prostomia: D. gracilis Ude, 1905 from Stephen Island and D. parvus Lee, 1959 from Mangamuku Range. Both also have 5 or 6 spermathecal diverticula however, D. gracilis has copulatory setae, oesophageal glands and intestine from 19; while D. parvus has a saddle-shaped clitellum in 12–16, and all its reproductive pores are in a or ab. Further, their gizzards are in 6–7 and 5, respectively, rather than single in 6 as in the current species. D. montanus Lee, 1959 from Rimutaka Range is similar to D. parvus and differs for similar reasons. The current species appears unique in the distribution of its eye-like genital markings that are especially noticeable on segment 10.Published as part of Boyer, Stephane, Blakemore, Robert J. & Wratten, Steve D., 2011, An integrative taxonomic approach to the identification of three new New Zealand endemic earthworm species (Acanthodrilidae, Octochaetidae: Oligochaeta), pp. 21-32 in Zootaxa 2994 on page 24, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20517

Maoridrilus felix Blakemore, sp. nov.

Maoridrilus felix Blakemore sp. nov. Material examined. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa W.002908 (Holotype). From the tussock grassland of ‘Happy Valley’ (Upper Waimangaroa Valley, Buller Region, West Coast, New Zealand). Collected by S. Boyer, 2010. Mature, complete, fixed in ethanol 98 % and placed in propylene glycol. Etymology. Adjectival Latin for “Happy”, after the location name. External characters. Body circular in anterior, squaring off in mid-body and dorsally canaliculate in the posterior 50 or so segments. Pigment dark, especially dorsum chocolate brown with darker mid-dorsal stripe. Length 170 mm with 199 segments. Prostomium tanylobous. Setae lumbricine. Clitellum faintly marked 15-19,½ 20. Dorsal pores wanting. Nephropores, after the first few segments, alternate regularly between c and b lines with anterior segmental distributions: 3–7 c, 8 c or b, 9–10 c, 11 b, 12 c, 13 b, etc. Spermathecal pores in mid-ab lines in 7 / 8 and 8 / 9. Female pores faint, just anterior to b setae on 14. Prostatic pores approximately in a lines on 17 and 19 with protuberant penial setae. Male pores not located within concave seminal grooves, although likely central between retained ab setae. Genital markings absent, but setae ab on 16 with slight pale tumescence as on 20 lhs. Genital setae absent; penial setae longish, curving with spoon-shaped tips [one of their functions, if not primary function, is to scrape out or disrupt any prior semen from spermathecal diverticula that often correspond in depth to the setal length (see Blakemore 2000)]. Internal morphology. Pharyngeal mass anterior to 4 / 5. Septa mostly thin and translucent. Proventriculus wide and S-shaped in 5. Gizzard muscular in 6. Dorsal blood vessel single thoughout. Heart paired in 10–13. Nephridia holoic with long, sausage-shaped vesicles. Spermathecae in 8 and 9 each with a multiloculate diverticulum (inseminated) transcending anterior septum. Testes free, posterio-ventrally in 10 and 11. Seminal vesicles saccular, anterio-dorsally in 11 and 12. Ovaries compact sheets in 13 with large oviducts; ovisacs not found. Prostates tubular in 17 and 19 exiting through muscular ducts with ectal penial setal sheathes and tendons. Vasa deferentia seen to 18. Oesophagus dilated in 11–15 with blood vessels attaching dorsally but not saccular and not construed as calciferous glands. Intestinal origin in 18. Typhlosole not detected to about 26. Gut contains colloidal organic matter. Ecology: Lack of dorsal pores is more usually associated with a semi-aquatic habitat. Unidentified nematodes were found near the prostates (cf. Yeates et al., 1985). Specimen was found under 10 to 20 cm of soil. Dark colouration on the dorsum suggests at least partial surface exposure on topsoil, gut content suggests topsoil geophagy. This species is likely to be anecic. Remarks. Quintessentially Maoridrilus due to its alternating nephridiopores, this species appears unique in its lack of dorsal pores (although more information is needed on several other congeners), gizzard in 6, lack of oesophageal glands, and genital marking absence. Multiloculate spermathecae appear characteristic of the genus and in the current species their form is almost identical to Maoridrilus thomsoni Benham, 1919: fig. 4 from D’Urville Island in Cook Strait. Lee (1959) held this species, along with similar M. intermedius Michaelsen, 1923 and M. mauiensis Benham, 1904, as incertae sedis because original descriptions were inadequate. Permanence of the name M. felix depends on redescription of M. thomsoni, however, the manifestly larger penial setae and lack of oesophageal glands in 14–16 seem to separate the current species. Maoridrilus nelsoni Lee, 1959 differs in its prostatic pores in b lines, and its prominent tuberculae pubertatis ventrally on segments 10 and 16. Maoridrilus uliginosus (Hutton, 1877) differs, not least, in its paired dorsal blood vessel.Published as part of Boyer, Stephane, Blakemore, Robert J. & Wratten, Steve D., 2011, An integrative taxonomic approach to the identification of three new New Zealand endemic earthworm species (Acanthodrilidae, Octochaetidae: Oligochaeta), pp. 21-32 in Zootaxa 2994 on page 23, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20517