Missing in translation: Maori language and oral tradition in scientific analyses of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK)

Recent conceptual shifts in ecology towards integration of humans into ecosystems requires all possible sources of ecological knowledge available (Berkes 2004, 2009 this issue). Māori traditional ecological knowledge of natural systems (TEK) can add valuable ecological data to more conventional scientific studies as the former tends to be diachronic, based on a cumulative system of understanding the environment founded on observations and experience (Gadgil et al. 1993; Berkes 2008), while the latter is frequently synchronic, with experiments that may explore causal effects in ecological patterns (Newman & Moller 2005; Moller et al. 2009a). However accessing TEK can be both difficult and time-consuming, as demonstrated by the 14-year research project Kia Mau Te Tītī Mo Ake Tonu Atu (the ‘Keep the Tītī Forever’ research project; Moller et al. 2009a). We argue that oral traditions offer a wealth of information that is frequently overlooked, in part because of a lack of knowledge of te reo Māori (the Māori language) and, further, a lack of recognition of the inextricable link between biological and cultural diversity (Maffi 2005)

Bringing nature back into cities: urban land environments, indigenous cover and urban restoration

1. The restoration of urban ecosystems is an increasingly important strategy to maintain and enhance indigenous biodiversity as well as reconnecting people to the environment. High levels of endemism, the sensitivity of species that have evolved without humans, and the invasion of exotic species have all contributed to severe depletion of indigenous biodiversity in New Zealand. In this work, we analysed national patterns of urban biodiversity in New Zealand and the contribution that urban restoration can make to maximising and enhancing indigenous biodiversity. 2. We analysed data from two national databases in relation to the 20 largest New Zealand cities. We quantified existing indigenous biodiversity within cities, both within the core built up matrix and in centroid buffer zones of 5, 10 and 20 km around this urban centre. We analysed the type and frequency of land environments underlying cities as indicators of the range of native ecosystems that are (or can potentially be) represented within the broader environmental profile of New Zealand. We identified acutely threatened land environments that are represented within urban and periurban areas and the potential role of cities in enhancing biodiversity from these land environments. 3. New Zealand cities are highly variable in both landform and level of indigenous resource. Thirteen of 20 major land environments in New Zealand are represented in cities, and nearly three-quarters of all acutely threatened land environments are represented within 20 km of city cores nationally. Indigenous land cover is low within urban cores, with less than 2% on average remaining, and fragmentation is high. However, indigenous cover increases to more than 10% on average in the periurban zone, and the size of indigenous remnants also increases. The number of remaining indigenous landcover types also increases from only 5 types within the urban centre, to 14 types within 20 km of the inner urban cores. 4. In New Zealand, ecosystem restoration alone is not enough to prevent biodiversity loss from urban environments, with remnant indigenous cover in the urban core too small (and currently too degraded) to support biodiversity long-term. For some cities, indigenous cover in the periurban zone is also extremely low. This has significant ramifications for the threatened lowland and coastal environments that are most commonly represented in cities. Reconstruction of ecosystems is required to achieve a target of 10% indigenous cover in cities: the addition of land to land banks for this purpose is crucial. Future planning that protects indigenous remnants within the periurban zone is critical to the survival of many species within urban areas, mitigating the homogenisation and depletion of indigenous flora and fauna typical of urbanisation. A national urban biodiversity plan would help city councils address biodiversity issues beyond a local and regional focus, while encouraging predominantly local solutions to restoration challenges, based on the highly variable land environments, ecosystems and patch connectivity present within different urban areas

Sex- and season-dependent behaviour in a flightless insect, the Auckland tree weta (Hemideina thoracica)

In a polygynous mating system, males frequently compete by locating and defending sites with resources essential to female survival and reproduction. We investigated seasonal changes in site occupancy in a sexually dimorphic, harem-forming insect, the Auckland tree weta (Hemideina thoracica). First we established artificial cavities as diurnal refuge cavities and potential harem guarding sites. We then examined cavity occupancy changes, and, based on our knowledge of prior occupants, determined sex-specific patterns of arrival, departure, and aggregation at a population level throughout the year. Both season and the sex of prior occupants influenced weta occupancy patterns. Most observations were of single females. However, both males and females moved into cavities previously occupied by a weta of the opposite sex more often than expected by chance alone. Females avoided cavities where other females were present, except during summer when most harems formed. In early summer, male and female tree weta previously living apart began co-habiting. Generally there was little relationship between the number and sex of the weta inside cavities and female departure rates from cavities. Males who were sharing with other males departed cavities more frequently than single males, as might be expected in a polygynous species with male-male combat. Males were less likely to depart if they were sharing a cavity with a harem of more than two females during the summer-autumn period. Analysis of departure rates from artificial cavities indicates males are more mobile than females only in winter and spring. Based on our arrival and departure data, and high occupancy of artificial cavities, we suggest that female weta at this site are mobile and may search for mates during the summer. The data are consistent with a polygynandrous mating system as inferred for other tree weta species (Hemideina spp.)

Diet selectivity in a terrestrial forest invertebrate, the Auckland tree wētā, across three habitat zones.

Insects are important but overlooked components of forest ecosystems of New Zealand. For many invertebrate species, information on foraging patterns and trophic relationships is lacking. We examined diet composition and selectivity in a large bodied invertebrate, the Auckland tree wētā, in three habitat zones in a lowland New Zealand forest. We asked if Hemideina thoracica selectively forage from available plant food sources, and if these choices were lipid-rich compared to non-preferred available plants. We also identified the proportion of invertebrates in their frass as a proxy for omnivory. From reconnaissance plot sampling, together with faecal fragment analysis, we report that more than 93% of individual wētā had eaten other invertebrates before capture. Wētā in the highest elevation hillslope habitat consumed significantly fewer plants on average than wētā on either the low elevation terrace or mid-slope habitat. Hillslope wētā also had the highest average number of invertebrate fragments in their frass, significantly more than wētā in the low elevation terrace habitat. Wētā showed high variability in the consumption of fruit and seeds across all habitats. Generally, we did not observe diet differences between the sexes (although it appears that male wētā in the mid hillslope habitat ate fruits and seeds more voraciously than females), suggesting that the sexes have similar niche breadths and display similar degrees of omnivorous behaviour. Extraction of leaf lipids demonstrated a range of lipid content values in available plants, and Ivlev’s electivity index indicated that plant species which demonstrated high electivity, tended to have higher concentrations of lipids in their leaves. Our findings indicate that H. thoracica forage omnivorously and selectively, and hence play multiple roles in native ecosystems and food webs

Promoting social and environmental justice to support Indigenous partnerships in urban ecosystem restoration

Urban ecological restoration typically employs western science approaches to restore degraded ecosystems. As yet, few restoration groups acknowledge the history of these degraded urban sites, despite connections, past and present, that root Indigenous Peoples (and others) in these lands. Here, we promote partnership with Indigenous communities from project inception and present two successful case studies from Aotearoa New Zealand. We specifically note that partnering and building relationships with Indigenous communities in restoration efforts require recognition of power inequalities and injustices. We consider success to include both restoration of ecological function and biodiversity and reconnection of all communities to urban ecosystems

Traditional plant harvesting in contemporary fragmented and urban landscapes

Ecosystem fragmentation and destruction can lead to restrictive administration policies on traditional harvesting by indigenous peoples from remaining ecosystem tracts. In New Zealand, concerns about endangered species and governmental policies that focus on species and ecosystem preservation have resulted in severely curtailed traditional harvesting rights. Although provision has been made for limited gathering of traditional plants from government-administered conservation lands, it is unclear how much harvesting is undertaken on these lands and elsewhere and what this harvest might consist of. We interviewed seven expert Maori elders from the Waikato, New Zealand, to identify plant species they currently harvested and from where. We compared these data with the data we collected on permits issued for plant collecting on conservation lands in the same region. We sought to gain information on indigenous plant harvesting to determine the extent of permitted harvesting from conservation lands in the Waikato and to identify issues that might affect plant harvesting and management. Elders identified 58 species they harvest regularly or consider culturally important; over 50% of these species are harvested for medicinal use. Permit data from 1996 to 2006 indicated no apparent relationship between species of reported cultural significance and the number of permits issued for each of these species. Currently, few plant species are harvested from conservation lands, although some unofficial harvesting occurs. Elders instead reported that medicinal plants are frequently collected from urban and other public areas. They reported that plant species used for dyeing, carving, and weaving are difficult to access. Elders also discussed concerns such as spraying of roadsides, which resulted in the death of medicinal species, and use of commercial hybrids in urban planning. Local government may have an increasingly important role in supporting native traditions through urban planning, which takes account of cultural harvesting needs while potentially reducing future harvesting pressure on conservation lands. We suggest that active participation by the Māori community in the development and management of urban harvesting resources will result in positive outcomes

Appendix B. Text sources for whakataukī.

Text sources for whakataukī

Isotopic fractionation in a large herbivorous insect, the Auckland tree weta

Determining diet and trophic position of species with stable isotopes requires appropriate trophic enrichment estimates between an animal and its potential foods. These estimates are particularly important for cryptic foragers where there is little comparative dietary information. Nonetheless, many trophic enrichment estimates are based on related taxa, without confirmation of accuracy using laboratory trials. We used stable isotope analysis to investigate diet and to resolve trophic relationships in a large endemic insect, the Auckland tree weta (Hemideina thoracica White). Comparisons of isotopes in plant foods fed to captive wetas with isotope ratios in their frass provided variable results, so frass isotope values had limited usefulness as a proxy indicator of trophic level. Isotopic values varied between different tissues, with trophic depletion of 15N highest in body fat and testes. Tissue fractionation was consistent in captive and wild caught wetas, and isotopic values were not significantly different between the two groups, suggesting that this weta species is primarily herbivorous. Whole-body values in captive wetas demonstrated trophic depletion (Δδ) for δ¹⁵N of about–0.77‰ and trophic enrichment of 4.28‰ for δ¹³C. These values differ from commonly estimated trophic enrichments for both insects and herbivores and indicate the importance of laboratory trials to determine trophic enrichment. Isotopic values for femur muscles from a number of local wild weta populations did not vary consistently with body weight or size, suggesting that juveniles eat the same foods as adults. Considerable variation among individuals within and between populations suggest that isotopic values are strongly influenced by food availability and individual foraging traits

Behavioural differences in predator aware and predator naïve Wellington tree wētā, Hemideina crassidens.

Insects have evolved a wide range of behavioural traits to avoid predation, with anti-predator behaviours emerging as important adaptive responses to the specific strategies employed by predators. These responses may become ineffective, however, when a species is introduced to a novel predator type. When individuals cannot recognise an introduced predator for instance, they may respond in ways that mean they fail to avoid, escape, or neutralize a predator encounter. New Zealand's endemic insect fauna evolved in the absence of terrestrial mammalian predators for millions of years, resulting in the evolution of unique fauna like the large, flightless Orthopteran, the wētā. Here we investigate how experience with introduced mammalian predators might influence anti-predator behaviours by comparing behaviours in a group of Wellington tree wētā (Hemideina crassidens) living in an ecosanctuary, Zealandia, protected from non-native mammalian predators, and a group living in adjacent sites without mammalian predator control. We used behavioural phenotyping assays with both groups to examine rates of activity and defensive aggression shortly after capture, and again after a period of acclimation. We found that wētā living in protected areas were more active shortly after capture than wētā in non-protected habitats where mammalian predators were present. Male wētā living in non-protected areas tended to be less aggressive than any other group. These results suggest that lifetime experience with differing predator arrays may influence the expression of antipredator behaviour in tree wētā. Disentangling innate and experiential drivers of these behavioural responses further will have important implications for insect populations in rapidly changing environments