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Category Archives: Biodiversity

Kia ora from northern Germany

14 May 2013 – 7.51pm

Moin!

That is how you say Kia ora or Hello in Oldenburg, which is where my family and I have been living since August 2013. As I near the half-way point in my 18-month fellowship, I thought I would show you where I am living, update you on what I have been up to in the lab, and introduce you to my lovely colleagues here.

Oldenburg is located in the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany and has about 160,000 inhabitants, most of whom get around by bicycle, ourselves included.

Getting on our bicycles at Pferdemarkt, Oldenburg, Germany, Sept 2012. Photo by Mauricio López.

Each day I cycle to the University of Oldenburg, where I am curently based. The best part of my 15-minute daily commute is cylcing down the last kilometre along Drögen-Hasen-Weg.

My trusty bicycle at the start of Drögen-Hasen-Weg, about 1 km from the University of Oldenburg, May 2013. Note also the beautiful spring flowers! Photo by Heidi Meudt.

My colleagues tell me that “Drögen-Hasen-Weg” means “Dry Feet Way” in Plattdüütsch, the local dialect of German still spoken in this area. In earlier times, this road was a way for the locals to get around without having to cross any waterways. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

The beautiful native trees (“Traubeneiche”, or sessile oak, Quercus petrea) that line this “Eichenallee” (literally, “oak avenue”) are now a protected natural monument.

Sessile oak trees (Quercus petraea) along the Drögen-Hasen-Weg Eichenallee, Oldenburg, Germany. Here they are just beginning to show their new green spring leaves, May 2013. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

A fellow commuter along the Drögen-Hasen-Weg Eichenallee, Oldenburg, Germany, May 2013. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

After cycling through the beautiful tunnel of oak trees (did I mention I get to do this every day?), I arrive at the science campus of the University of Oldenburg, and turn right at this sign to get to my office. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

I have come to Oldenburg to work on a research project regarding polyploidy in New Zealand and European Veronica with Dirk Albach, and in the process learn some new techniques. Polyploidy means whole genome doubling, and it occurs in Veronica species from both areas. We will compare the genes that are expressed in European and New Zealand polyploid species with their closest diploid relatives to determine when these genome doubling events occurred, confirm that the polyploid species likely evolved following hybridisation of diploid ancestors, and compare patterns of evolution of duplicated genes.

One of the first things I learned was how to extract RNA, or ribonucleic acid, from leaf tissue.

Here I am with Eike Mayland-Quellhorst, grinding up some Veronica leaf tissue in liquid nitrogen for RNA extractions in the lab, May 2013. Photo by Silvia Kempen.

Once the tissue has been ground to a fine powder, it is poured with the liquid nitrogen into a small tube. Photo by Silvia Kempen.

Here I am extracting the RNA of the ground leaf tissue at the clean bench in the lab. Photo by Simon Pfanzelt.

Once the RNA is extracted and cleaned up, it is checked to determine whether it is of sufficient quality and quantity for sequencing. The next step will be to send the samples to a sequencing facility, and hopefully soon I will get some new data to analyse!

Another part of the project involves determining genome size, that is, measuring how much DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) a particular plant contains in the nuclei of its cells. By working with Silvia Kempen, one of the technicians in the lab, I have learned how to use a flow cytometer and have measured the genome size of several Veronica species.

Getting everything ready in the flow cytometry lab to measure the genome size of three samples, May 2013. Photo by Silvia Kempen.

Chopping up the leaves from the first sample with a razor blade in preparation for flow cytometry, May 2013. Photo by Silvia Kempen.

Watching Silvia calibrate the flow cytometer, which is the small machine to the right of the computer. Once the machine is calibrated, it is ready to measure the genome size of our prepared samples, May 2013. Photo by Eike Mayland-Quellhorst.

I must admit, the lab work has had its ups and downs, and it has taken me longer to get to this point than I had planned. One logistical problem we had, was that the plant material collected prior to my arrival did not result in good RNA extractions. That meant we needed to collect fresh plant material and retry the extractions, so I did my part by heading to Mallorca, Spain, on a collecting trip.

Collecting Veronica plants in Mallorca, Spain, with local botanist and PhD student Jaume Seguí Colomar. Photo by Mauricio López.

But perhaps delays, hiccups and changes are to be expected when one is learning new techniques, in a new lab, in a new country, and in a new language, no less! Although I speak quite a bit of English at the university, I am taking an evening language course, and I seek out daily opportunities to practice German with my colleagues. Speaking of which, here they are!

Photo of Dirk Albach’s working group, outside our office and lab space at the Universtiy of Oldenburg, May 2013. Standing, left to right, Heidi Meudt, Eike Mayland-Quellhorst, Vera Mageney, Niklas Buhk, Katarzyna Palinska, Thomas Schmidt, Jane Looschen, Jennifer Nolzen, Lillian-Lee Müller, Imke Notholt, Simon Pfanzelt, Ute Friedrichs, Maria Brandes, Lena Koehler. In front, Bernhard von Hagen and Dirk Albach. Photo by Gerhard Zotz.

Lab outings and field trips are a great way to get to know each other. One day last October, we took a trip to the nearby North Sea coast to the Wattenmeer (Wadden Sea), which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

At the Wattenmeer (Wadden Sea) along the North Sea coast in Germany in May 2013. From left to right Petr Kosachev, Eike Mayland-Quellhorst, Dirk Albach, Carolina García, Simon Pfanzelt. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

Then in February, one afternoon our lab took a “Grünkohlfahrt” (literally, “kale walk”), which is a regional custom involving walking around with your friends or colleagues while eating, drinking, and playing special, regional games together. Oldenburg claims to be the kale capital of Germany.

Here I am on our Grünkohlfahrt (“kale walk”) taking my turn at the northern German sport called “Boßeln”, which is essentially outdoor road bowling! Feb 2013. Photo by Silvia Kempen.

At the end of the Grünkohlfahrt, we sat down together to share some excellent regional cuisine…

Our traditional northern German dinner after the “kale walk”, including two types of German sausages (Pinkel and Kochwurs), potatoes, and (of course!) kale! Feb 2013. Photo by Silvia Kempen.

And earlier this month, we had a very exciting special visitor, Radio New Zealand journalist Veronika Meduna, who came to interview Dirk and me about our collaborative research. You can hear the resulting interview here.

Dirk Albach and his son Felix, Veronika Meduna, and Heidi Meudt in the University of Oldenburg glasshouses during our interview. There is one Veronica plant in a pot in front of us, and several kale plants behind us. April 2013. Photo copyright Veronika Meduna, Radio NZ National.

On both professional and personal levels, our experience in Germany so far has been at times enlightening, challenging, surprising, and overwhelming. Germany is a great place to do scientific research, and there are countless opportunities to learn about and experience its fascinating culture and history. Our first 9 months have certainly qualified as an adventure so far, and I look forward to experiencing what the next 9 months will bring.

Bis dann!

A big thank you to my whanau for supporting and accompanying me in this adventure. Here they are in the Schlossgarten (Palace Garden) in the winter snow! The main church of Oldenburg, Lambertikirche, is in the background. Jan 2013. Photo by Heidi Meudt.

By Heidi Meudt | Also posted in Field trips, Plants, Veronica | Tagged botany, DNA, flow cytometry, genome size, Germany, Humboldt Foundation, Mallorca, New Zealand, RNA, University of Oldenburg, Veronica | Comments (2)

How to DNA sex birds.

11 May 2013 – 2.13pm

The males and females of many bird species are difficult to distinguish by their appearance (peacocks are a notable exception). There are many situations where it is useful to know the sex of birds including captive breeding programmes, behavioural studies and even species delimitation in extinct taxa.

DNA sexing provides a simple and quick way to determine which birds are females and which are males. We have been using this technique for some of our bird research projects, including our study of the prion wreck of 2011. For our prion study we want to determine whether there is a gender bias in the birds that were wrecked.

So how does DNA sexing work for birds? By way of background, birds have a different chromosome system to us for determining their sex. In mammals, including us, males have an X and a Y chromosome and females have two X chromosomes. In contrast, birds have a ZW sex-determination system whereby males have two Z chromosomes and females both Z and W chromosomes.

Sex chromosomes in birds and mammals. Figure credit: Lara Shepherd

To genetically sex a bird, DNA is first obtained from a blood, feather or tissue sample. We used tongue samples for the prions.

From these DNA samples we made lots of copies of the CHD region, a gene that occurs on both the Z and W chromosomes. Our processing of these gene copies produces a single DNA band for males (because they only have one type of chromosome) and two bands for females (representing the different CHD copies from the Z and W chromosomes).

Prion sex assignment based on the CHD region. Females have two DNA bands – the top band is from the W chromosome and the lower band is from the Z chromosome. Males just have the single Z chromosome band. The lane on the far left with multiple bands contains a size standard with bands of known size. Photo credit Lara Shepherd

DNA sexing is also possible for humans, albeit using a modified method suited to our X/Y chromosome system, and is routinely used in forensics. A recent example is the detection of female DNA on the bombs used in the Boston marathon bombing.

By Lara Shepherd | Also posted in Birds | Tagged avian, Birds, CHD, DNA sexing, female, male, prions, sex determination | Comments (0)

Would you mine a rare population?

21 April 2013 – 2.28pm

The Escarpment Mine on the Denniston Plateau has been tentatively approved by the Environment Court, subject to suitable mitigation plans. One of the issues that may be under consideration is what to do about the site’s population of the Sticherus tener umbrella fern.

Scoop news report: “…tentative nod for Denniston mine plan”.

Sticherus tener has a conservation ranking in New Zealand of Nationally Critical. That is as rare as you can get without being extinct.

The umbrella fern Sticherus tener at a site within the planned Escarpment Mine on the Denniston Plateau. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Destroying a population of a species so threatened in New Zealand has to be weighed against the economic benefits of the proposed mine. Of course, the Denniston area’s natural values are far greater than this one fern species. A factor in any consideration specific to Sticherus tener is that it is common in Australia. In that context, it is similar to the white heron or kōtuku (Ardea modesta), which graces our $2 coins. The white heron is also Nationally Critical in New Zealand, but Secure Overseas. Would New Zealanders accept a development destroying part of the white heron population in New Zealand?

Our paper detailing the status of Sticherus tener in New Zealand has just been published. Sticherus tener was known in New Zealand only from one 1980s record from Fiordland. Department of Conservation staff have recently made additional records from Fiordland. Furthermore, Te Papa’s botanists realised that some of the plants in the Stockton and Denniston areas are actually Sticherus tener.

Abstract from the New Zealand Journal of Botany.

Email me if you would like a pdf of the paper.

Te Papa’s collections of Sticherus tener, with more photos.

Our paper also recognises Sticherus urceolatus in New Zealand for the first time. Sticherus urceolatus is closely related to Sticherus tener, and also is Nationally Critical in New Zealand while being common in Australia. Sticherus urceolatus occurs at Stockton (but not Denniston), near Takaka, and apparently in Fiordland.

Te Papa’s collections of Sticherus urceolatus, with more photos.

The umbrella fern Sticherus urceolatus at Stockton. The frond segments of this species arise at a pronounced angle, while those of Sticherus tener are close to 90 degrees. Other differences are detailed in our paper. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Populations of Sticherus tener and Sticherus urceolatus in the northern South Island had previously been mistakenly attributed to Sticherus flabellatus. We now believe that Sticherus flabellatus does not occur in the South Island, but it is common in the northern North Island. When the Denniston population was erroneously attributed to Sticherus flabellatus, an issue for the proposed mine was the destruction of a population at the southern limit of a species common in New Zealand. The correct identification of the Denniston population as Sticherus tener, Nationally Critical in New Zealand, makes the conservation implications for the proposed mine more serious.

Te Papa’s collections of Sticherus flabellatus.

It was an internet photo that first alerted me to the possibility of Sticherus at Denniston being more complicated that everyone thought. I was trying to find more information about Denniston for our 2012 field work surveying for the then-undescribed Gleichenia inclusisora tangle fern; this Naturally Uncommon species also occurs at Denniston. I came across a report containing a photo from Denniston labelled “Sticherus flabellatus”. I was immediately sure that the photo did not show Sticherus flabellatus, but instead some other species of Sticherus. However, determining the correct identity as Sticherus tener took several more months. This involved a revision of existing herbarium specimens from the northern South Island that were labelled “Sticherus flabellatus” (all actually either Sticherus tener or Sticherus urceolatus), DNA sequencing, and field work to visit the sites ourselves.

Blog post on our 2012 field work in the South Island, targeting Sticherus and other ‘problem’ ferns.

Blog post on the recently described new species of tangle fern, Gleichenia inclusisora.

Interestingly, the Forest and Bird-organised BioBlitz of the Denniston Plateau in 2012 did not detect Sticherus tener. That this medium-sized fern was missed by such a concerted effort to document the area’s biodiversity is a cautionary indicator of how difficult it is to make well-informed land management decisions.

Forest and Bird’s BioBlitz at Denniston.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Collections Online, Ferns, Field trips, Plants | Tagged conservation, court, development, environment, ferns, mining, rare, Sticherus, threatened species, umbrella fern, white heron | Comments (3)

The amazing longfin eel

19 April 2013 – 9.28am

This week the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment released a report on the status and management of the longfin eel. It was entitled “On a pathway to extinction?” The report found that the management of longfin eels by New Zealand government agencies was inadequate and failing. It further recommended the cessation of commercial fishing of longfin eels.

The Commissioner’s report.

A longfin eel. This female hasn't bred yet, and she will do so only once, after swimming to somewhere between New Caledonia and Fiji. Photo (c) Alton Perrie.

A longfin eel, in a stream near Thames. This female hasn’t bred yet, and she will do so only once, after swimming to somewhere between Fiji and New Caledonia. Photo (c) Alton Perrie.

Longfin eels (Anguilla dieffenbachii; tuna is Maori for eel) are amazing animals. They breed only once and then die. The adults found in New Zealand’s waterways have yet to breed. When mature, which may take 80 years, they swim to somewhere between Fiji and New Caledonia to find a mate. The prospect of finding a mate in a far-flung ocean presumably becomes less likely as numbers decline because of human impacts. After breeding, the adults die. The young larvae then drift back to New Zealand, and make their way upriver. The amount of suitable habitat for eels in New Zealand is now much decreased.

The Commissioner highlighted this unusual lifecycle as complicating the management of eels.

The Department of Conservation rates the threat status of longfin eel as “At Risk/Declining”, while the Ministry for Primary Industries allows the annual commercial harvest of more than 100 tonnes of longfin eel. The inability to reconcile these two facts is at least partially behind the Commissioner’s call to stop the commercial fishing of longfin eels.

Earlier this year, Te Papa’s NatureSpace hosted the Travelling Tuna Tapestry project. The aim of this project was to inspire children to be interested in the conservation of the longfin eel. The tapestry grew during its travels around New Zealand as children contributed panels; one panel came from visitors to NatureSpace.

A Department of Conservation site about the Travelling Tuna Tapestry.

Many New Zealanders will be concerned that an endemic New Zealand species is effectively being managed to extinction. According to the commissioner, “Longfin eels need urgent help from the agencies that are responsible for their management and protection.” How will those agencies respond? Will they do enough to get the longfin eel off its pathway to extinction?

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Fish | Tagged conservation, eels, environment, fishing, tuna | Comments (1)

Three Kings Expedition collects yellow weever, a new record for the area

17 April 2013 – 6.50am

By Clive Roberts

Three Kings Expedition collects yellow weever, Parapercis gilliesi (family Pinguipedidae), a new record for the area, 13 April 2013. Te Papa

The Te Papa fish team currently has two members participating in the Three Kings Islands Marine Expedition. Skilled in fieldwork techniques, collecting, photographing and preserving fishes, Vincent Zintzen and Jeremy Barker are busy underwater surveying and sampling fishes, invertebrates and algae with colleagues during the day, and are up late at night on board MV Braveheart processing the day’s catch.

Carefully preserved and frozen specimens will be brought back to Te Papa, Auckland Museum and NIWA collections, to be documented and made available for 3–4 generations of researchers to study over the next 50 years or more.

An early highlight and new record for the Three Kings fish fauna was the capture of a yellow weever, also known as the yellow cod, Parapercis gilliesi family Pinguipedidae (see photo). Three species of weever are known in New Zealand waters. By far the most common is the ubiquitous blue cod Parapercis colias – the largest species in the weever family, which can weigh 5kg. Closely related are two poorly known, smaller, deeper water cousins – the yellow weever (or yellow cod) and the redbanded weever (or redbanded grubfish).

The yellow weever can be distinguished from its relatives by maximum size, colour and soft fin ray counts. It attains a maximum size of 32cm and has a yellow-tan body with two horizontal rows of dark brown blotches, and bright yellow fins in fresh examples (vs. max size 40cm, whitish with two longitudinal bands along the back in females, or max size 60cm, body blue to blue‑grey in males of blue cod; and a max size of 20cm and a pale pinkish-yellow body with 13-14 dark red-brown vertical bars arranged in pairs in the redbanded weever). The yellow weever has 21 dorsal fin soft rays and 18 anal fin soft rays (vs. 20 and 17 soft rays in blue cod; and 22–23 and 20 in redbanded weever).

Originally described in 1879 by Captain F. W. Hutton of the OtagoMuseum, Dunedin, the yellow weever is endemic (unique) to the New Zealand region, where it is widely distributed on the shelf and upper slope at depths of 60–350m. The present specimen, collected by rod and line from 100 m depth, is the most northerly record for the species.

Update: the team on MV Braveheart are sheltering from 50 knot winds, driving rain and large swells. Soon the storm will pass and they will get back to collecting and survey. Watch this space.

Find out more about the Three Kings Islands Marine Expedition

By Te Papa | Also posted in Fish | Tagged blue cod, cod, Three Kings Islands Marine Expedition, yellow weever | Comments (0)

How to learn ferns

15 April 2013 – 8.27am

Last weekend I was out with the Kapiti-Mana branch of Forest and Bird, giving them an introduction to ferns. A few weeks back, I gave a similar walking-talk at Otari-Wilton’s Bush in Wellington. Many people find ferns an appealing group to learn. Aside from their iconic status in New Zealand, good learning resources are available, and there are enough different New Zealand ferns to be a challenge without being overwhelming. Most forested sites in New Zealand will be home to between 20 and 50 species of fern.

Te Papa’s online guide to Common New Zealand ferns.

Te Papa’s online guide to New Zealand tree ferns.

When teaching people how to identify a fern plant, I stress that there are four characteristics to initially look for:

1) does it have reproductive structures? Fern reproductive structures occur on the underside (or margins) of the frond. The shape (e.g., round versus elongate into lines) and position (i.e., on the margin or away from the margin) are important. Related ferns almost always have similar reproductive structures, even if their fronds look completely different.

Different groups of ferns are characterised by their reproductive structures, which can come in many forms. Clockwise from top left: 1) Polystichum; shield ferns. The reproductive structures are aggregated into round patches. Each of the black spheres is a sporangium (plural = sporangia), the capsule that produces the spores (in Polystichum, there are 64 spores in each sporangium). A distinct cluster of sporangia is called a sorus (plural = sori). In many ferns the sori are partially covered by protective tissues, called indusia (singular = indusium). In Polystichum, the indusia are round, giving rise to the common name of shield fern for this group. 2) Cardiomanes; kidney fern. The sori occur on the margins and arise from tubular indusia. 3) Gleichenia; tangle ferns. Two or three sporangia (the yellowish dots) occur on the underside of each frond segment. 4) Hypolepis; pig ferns. The sori are on the margin of the frond and are partially protected by the inrolled margin of the frond. 5) Asplenium; spleenwort ferns. The sori occur in lines away from the margin, and are arranged in a ‘herring bone’ pattern. 6) Pteris. The sori line the margins of the frond. Photos Leon Perrie, montage © Te Papa.

The nature of the reproductive structures can be critical for identifying a fern. If I happen upon a fern I don’t know and it does not have reproductive structures, I do not bother attempting to identify it. If you’re learning ferns, I recommend you do the same.

2) does it have scales or hairs or is it naked (glabrous)?

There are two major groups of tree ferns in New Zealand: Cyathea tree ferns are scaly, whereas Dicksonia tree ferns are hairy. Photos Leon Perrie, © Te Papa.

Close up of the scales of Cyathea (left) and the hairs of Dicksonia (right). Photos Leon Perrie, © Te Papa.

Hairs are only one cell wide, but this can only be checked with a microscope. As a general rule, if you can’t decide whether something on a fern is a scale or a hair, call it a scale if it is obviously wider than your own hairs.

3) how divided is the frond? It might be undivided (= “simple”), or once divided, or twice divided… etc.

Loxogramme dictyopteris, lance fern, has undivided/simple fronds. Asplenium oblongifolium, shining spleenwort, has once divided fronds. Asplenium bulbiferum, hen & chickens ferns, has three-times (or nearly so) divided fronds. Photos Leon Perrie, montage © Te Papa.

4) are the fronds tufted, or do they arise along a creeping rhizome (modified stem)?

Blechnum discolor, crown fern, has tufted fronds. Right: In Arthropteris tenella, the fronds arise at intervals along a creeping rhizome; several creeping rhizomes can be seen as brown lines up the tree trunk. Photos Leon Perrie, montage © Te Papa.

Left: Blechnum discolor, crown fern, has tufted fronds. Right: In Arthropteris tenella, the fronds arise at intervals along a creeping rhizome; several creeping rhizomes can be seen as brown lines up the tree trunk. Photos Leon Perrie, montage © Te Papa.

Noting these features will help you identify a fern. These features are what I make sure I record when I am collecting and/or photographing ferns.

The Kapiti-Mana Forest and Bird trip was to Mangaone Walkway near Waikanae. Below are the ferns we discussed. Several of them already feature in:

Te Papa’s online guide to Common New Zealand ferns.

Blechnum novae-zelandiae, kiokio. Most Blechnum species have different looking fertile (top left) and sterile fronds. Fertile Blechnum fronds are usually reduced to narrow segments, which are green when young, black when the spores are mature, and brown after the spores have been shed. Most Blechnum species also have only once-divided fronds. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Blechnum fluviatile, creek fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

Blechnum discolor, crown fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Blechnum colensoi, Colenso’ hard fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Blechnum colensoi, Colenso’s hard fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Cyathea smithii, kätote. A scaly tree fern. Has a distinctive skirt of dead frond stalks. Photo Leon Perrie. (c) Leon Perrie.

Dicksonia squarrosa, whekï. A hairy tree fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

Asplenium flaccidum, hanging spleenwort. Usually grows from tree trunks. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

Asplenium bulbiferum, hen & chickens fern. This looks very different to the hanging spleenwort, but they have the same arrangement of their reproductive structures, reflecting their close relationship. (They commonly form (sterile) hybrids.) Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Microsorum pustulatum, hound’s tongue fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

Hymenophyllum revolutum. Filmy ferns have very thin leaves, and many look translucent. There are three principal groups in New Zealand: Hymenophyllum, Trichomanes, and Cardiomanes. Most Hymenophyllum species have their reproductive structures enclosed by two separate flaps. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

Trichomanes venosum. In Trichomanes, the reproductive structures are enclosed by a tubular, often trumpet-like structure. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Cardiomanes reniforme, kidney fern. More closely related to Hymenophyllum than Trichomanes, although the reproductive structures are at least superficially more similar to the latter. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

Leptopteris hymenophylloides, single crape fern. The sporangia are spread over the frond underside rather than being clustered into sori of regular shape and size. The frond is translucent like a filmy fern. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Tmesipteris elongata, a fork fern. More closely related to ferns than to seed plants or lycophytes. Nevertheless, the relationship is a distant one, and it doesn’t look very fern like. There are at least five species in New Zealand, and they are usually epiphytic on tree ferns. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.

Lycopodium volubile. A lycophyte rather than a fern. Ferns are more closely related to seed plants than they are to lycophytes, but ferns and lycophytes share a similar mode of reproduction. The leaves of lycophytes are only small, and the leaves bearing sporangia are often clustered into distinct ‘cones’, which are the pendulous, brown structures in this image. Photo Leon Perrie. © Leon Perrie.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Ferns, Plants | Tagged botany, ferns, learning, New Zealand, Plants, teaching | Comments (2)

A few more botanical highlights from the Foxton fieldtrip….and a katipo spider!

11 April 2013 – 9.19am

I also spent an enjoyable few days over Easter on the Wellington Botanical Society fieldtrip (see Leon’s blog about the trip). Here are a few more photos from the trip.

A carpet of tiny ‘3-leaf clover’-like leaves, growing on the shores of Lake Koitiata. We think this is Hydrocotyle sulcata. Photo: Lara Shepherd

The distinctive asymmetric flower of Selliera rotundifolia. Photo: Lara Shepherd

The keen eyes of Bot Soc member Bev Abbott spotted the tiny fruit of sand gunnera (Gunnera arenaria). Photo: Lara Shepherd

It is difficult to believe that this tiny native species is in the same genus as the huge Chilean rhubarb. The leaves of this weedy exotic can be several metres in height.

Sand coprosma (Coprosma acerosa). The fruit colour of this species can vary but the sand coprosma we saw in the dunes near Foxton had striking blue striped fruit. Photo: Lara Shepherd

During a break from botanizing Viv McGlynn located this Katipo spider under a piece of driftwood in the dunes. Photo: Lara Shepherd

Find out more about the endangered katipo here.

By Lara Shepherd | Also posted in Bugs, insects and spiders, Field trips, Plants | Tagged coastal plants, Foxton, Katipo spider, sand dunes, Wellington Botanical Society | Comments (0)

The small and the weedy: Foxton field trip

2 April 2013 – 3.14pm

I spent a couple of days of the long weekend with the Wellington Botanical Society, exploring the Foxton area, between Whanganui and Palmerston North. Much of the first and second days were spent in the sand dunes between Himatangi and Foxton Beach, and at Koitiata near Turakina.

A huddle of prostrate people peering intently at the ground; can only mean a botanical society has fixated on some small plant. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Many of the plants in the wetter parts of the dunes are very small. This is mudwort (Limosella lineata). Photo © Leon Perrie.

Arrowgrass, Triglochin striata, is not actually a grass, and belongs to the unusual monocot family Juncaginaceae. The arrangement of the flowers and the narrow leaves are distinctive. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Intermixed Selliera rotundifolia, with the round leaves, and Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae, with the jointed linear leaves. Selliera rotundifolia is only found in the south-west of the North Island. Photo © Leon Perrie.

The tiny Isolepis basilaris is distinctive in holding its inflorescences amongst its leaf bases, near ground level; see just below the image’s centre. Immediately behind are the small, oval leaves of Myriophyllum votschii. To the rear are the green oval fruit of Selliera rotundifolia, whose leaves flank the image’s left and right. Photo © Leon Perrie.

The dunes are also home to larger plants. This is the sand daphne (Pimelea villosa). It has a conservation status of Declining because of ongoing damage to sand dunes and apparent seed-set failure. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Close-up of the flowers of sand daphne. With its abundant hairs, it is easy to see the relevance of the recently reinstated species name, villosa (= covered with soft hairs). This was previously known as Pimelea arenaria. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Some surprising things can become weedy in the sand dunes.

Formosum lily (Lilium formosanum), from Taiwan, is abundant in the dunes around Foxton Beach. A pretty problem. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Formosum lily (Lilium formosanum), from Taiwan, is abundant in the dunes around Foxton Beach. A pretty problem. Tree lupin (Lupinus arboreus), with yellow flowers, is the bush behind and is also a weed. The orange stems in the foreground belong to the native knobby club rush (Ficinia nodosa). Photo © Leon Perrie.

An exotic Fuchsia in the sand dunes at Koitiata, near Turakina. Just one or two plants were seen. Does anyone know what species/cultivar of Fuchsia this is? Photo © Leon Perrie.

One plant of what I think is French lavender (Lavandula stoechas) in the Koitiata dunes. © Leon Perrie.

The ‘Red Apple’ cultivar related to Aptenia cordifolia (thanks to Colin Ogle for the identification), from South Africa. This is in the same family as our native iceplants. A couple of patches of Aptenia ‘Red Apple’ were established next to a garden-discard site in the dunes at Koitiata. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Pumpkin had also self-established next to the Koitiata garden-discard site. Several fruit were harvested, albeit for nutrition rather than science. Photo © Leon Perrie.

A few plants of the aristea iris (Aristea ecklonii) were found in the Koitiata sand dunes. The species is already a menace in Northland, and hopefully it doesn’t become as abundant in the southern North Island. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Weeds also caught our attention elsewhere.

The abundant pom-pom daisy heads of wavy leaved fleabane (Conyza bonariensis) caught my eye in the carpark of Round Bush/Omarupapako, where it was growing in the gravel with the related broad leaved fleabane (Conyza sumatrensis), which I’m more familiar with. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Wavy leaved fleabane (Conyza bonariensis) has larger daisy heads than broad leaved fleabane (Conyza sumatrensis). Additionally, the inflorescence bracts of wavy leaved fleabane are tipped red, which can be clearly seen in the image, compared to green in broad leaved fleabane. Photo © Leon Perrie.

The botanical society did not progress far through the tangled swamp forest vegetation of Round Bush/Omarupapako Scenic Reserve. However, we went far enough to encounter karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) and to debate its merits in the southern North Island, where some people consider it to be weedy. The large trunk at centre is a podocarp, while the trunk to the immediate left is a tall and reproducing but not particularly old karaka. Karaka seedlings are evident in the foreground. Photo © Leon Perrie.

Water purslane (Ludwigia palustris), at Lake Koitiata, was new to me. I identified it using David Glenny’s Key to Flowering Plant Genera of New Zealand. Photo © Leon Perrie.

David Glenny’s (Landcare Research) Key to Flowering Plant Genera of New Zealand.

We found the exotic ferny azolla (Azolla pinnata) at Lake Koitiata. Normally this floats, but it had become marooned in the mud with the summer-lowered water levels. This is only the fourth record of this invader in the southern North Island. Photo © Leon Perrie.

How to distinguish the native Azolla rubra from the weedy Azolla pinnata, and how you can help track their distributions.

Botanical Society trips are a great way to learn how to distinguish plants. I certainly learnt a lot during this trip, and thanks to all those who took part and shared their knowledge.

Contact details for local botanical societies in New Zealand.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Field trips, Plants | Tagged Foxton, Plants, sand dunes, weeds, Wellington Botanical Society | Comments (2)

A name change for strap ferns

28 March 2013 – 2.11pm

I recently co-authored a paper with Barbara Parris that investigated the scientific classification and naming of New Zealand’s strap ferns.

If you’ve spent any time in New Zealand’s forests, you will have almost certainly seen the common strap fern. It has simple, undivided fronds up to 20 cm long, but usually much less. It is widespread and can be abundant, growing at the base of tree trunks or on the ground, usually amongst mosses and liverworts. The other species are less frequently encountered.

Abstract of our paper in the New Zealand Journal of Botany.

Email me if you would like a pdf of our paper.

A cluster of individuals of common strap fern, Notogrammitis billardierei, previously known as Grammitis billardierei. Photo Leon Perrie. (c) Leon Perrie.

Reproductive structures on the frond underside of Notogrammitis billardierei. Photo Leon Perrie. (c) Te Papa.

The 10 species of strap ferns in New Zealand have been classified in the genus Grammitis. All have small, simple, undivided fronds, and their reproductive structures are in a herring-bone pattern on the underside of the fronds. Although related, the comb fern differs from the strap ferns in having a lobed frond, and it was placed in a different genus, Ctenopteris, as Ctenopteris heterophylla.

Comb fern, Notogrammitis heterophylla, previously known as Ctenopteris heterophylla. Photo Leon Perrie. (c) Te Papa.

Barbara had hypothesised that the New Zealand strap ferns and comb fern were misclassified in both Grammitis andCtenopteris. After looking closely at their external structures, she considered them to be closely related to one another but to be distantly related to the ‘true’ Grammitis and Ctenopteris (which are defined by the first species named as such). DNA analyses that I conducted supported Barbara’s hypothesis.

This left the New Zealand strap ferns and comb fern without a genus name, so Barbara coined Notogrammitis; noto being Greek for southern, and Grammitis being the genus in which the New Zealand strap ferns were previously (mis-) classified.

Notogrammitis also occurs in Australia, South America, South Africa, and many of the sub-Antarctic islands. There are 12 species in total, with 11 found in New Zealand (four of these are only found in New Zealand, while seven also occur elsewhere). However, our DNA results suggest there are almost certainly more species than currently recognised.

Te Papa’s collections of Notogrammitis.

Fortunately, the name change is simple for most species, with Notogrammitis being substituted for Grammitis (or Ctenopteris). For example, Grammitis billardierei and Grammitis pseudociliata have become Notogrammitis billardierei and Notogrammitis pseudociliata, respectively. However, there are a couple of discrepancies to watch for. Firstly, Grammitis magellanica has become Notogrammitis angustifolia. This is because although angustifolia is the oldest relevant species name, it could not be used for this New Zealand strap fern when it was classified in Grammitis as the combination Grammitis angustifolia had already been used for a completely different species. Secondly, Grammitis poeppigiana has become Notogrammitis crassior. This is because the type specimen of Grammitis poeppigiana actually belong to the species now called Notogrammitis angustifolia, and the species name crassior is the earliest that is based on a type specimen that actually belongs to the species we have previously (mistakenly) called Grammitis poeppigiana. Straightforward, huh?!

Changes to scientific names (should) reflect improved understanding of species’ evolutionary relationships. Although we might grumble about having to learn new names, it is the stark reality that current scientific classifications are still far from accurately portraying evolutionary history. In this case, the species in New Zealand are not closely related to true Grammitis, which have fronds with black margins and occur in the Pacific Islands, Africa, Madagascar, and the New World, or Ctenopteris, which is actually an older (and therefore not to be used) name for Prosaptia. Expect many more name changes as evolutionary relationships are determined with ever more accuracy.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Ferns, Plants | Tagged classification, dna analyses, ferns, Grammitis, names, Notogrammitis, phylogenetics, taxonomy | Comments (0)

Burgess Island – a recovering seabird island

19 March 2013 – 8.22am

By Alan Tennyson, Curator of Vertebrates

I was invited by Chris Gaskin (Forest & Bird) and Matt Rayner (Auckland University) to join a party in February 2013 on the Mokohinau Islands to hunt for the nesting grounds of the recently rediscovered New Zealand storm petrel (Fregetta maoriana). This island group lies more than 50 km to the east of Whangarei and 21 km northwest of Great Barrier Island. The storm petrels that we were hunting are tiny (35 g) tube-nosed seabirds that spend most of their lives at sea, coming ashore only to nest.

Twenty-four storm petrels had been caught at sea and fitted with transmitters shortly before my visit, so one of our main plans was to use handheld telemetry receivers to try and detect where the birds were going. However by the time of my arrival another team on Little Barrier Island Hauturu had already determined that several of the birds were visiting that island (http://www.birdlife.org/community/2013/02/new-zealand-storm-petrel-discovered) so our focus became other projects on the Mokohinaus.

Fig. 1. Team members Jo Peace, Megan Friesen and Derek Bettesworth head towards the Burgess Island lighthouse. Little Barrier Island Hauturu can be seen in the background. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

Fig. 2. Old lighthouse accommodation provided a comfortable base with spectacular views. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

From 12-19 February our team was based on Burgess Island. It is the most accessible of the Mokohinau Islands, requiring no landing permits but needing permits for over-night stays (it is a scenic reserve). It is also the only one to have permanent accommodation, in the form of an old lighthouse keepers’ building. The light was built in 1883 and fully automated in 1980. Burgess Island used to have Pacific rats (Rattus exulans) present but these were eradicated in 1990 and the island has been left to recover naturally since then (that is, largely without human help). We focused on assessing the current status of petrels on the island but also completed surveying some vegetation plots established by researchers in previous years. This was hot work in 30˚C temperatures without shade but it provided a good incentive to go snorkelling. Unlike the much better known Poor Knights group, just to the north, the waters around the Mokohinaus are not a marine reserve, however the underwater life was still spectacular in the crystal clear water.

Fig 3. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) accompanied us as we approached the Mokohinau Islands. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

Many of the petrel species known to nest on the island, including grey-faced petrels (Pterodroma macroptera), North Island little shearwaters (Puffinus assimilis haurakiensis) and northern diving petrels (Pelecanoides u. urinatrix), were in their non-breeding seasons, so absent from the island during our visit. Fluttering shearwaters (Puffinus gavia) had finished breeding but we heard several flying around the coast at night. A few sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) had been reported but we found none ashore. The two species that were breeding were the New Zealand white-faced storm petrel (Pelagodroma marina maoriana) and the black-winged petrel (Pterodroma nigripennis). At 45 g, white-faced storm petrels are a little larger than New Zealand storm petrels and much browner above. A night of catching storm petrels quickly established that the species has a drawn-out breeding season on Burgess Island with chicks ranging from being small and downy to ready to fledge.

Fig. 4. This white-faced storm petrel chick was heading to the sea for its first flight. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

Black-winged petrels are a numerous but very poorly known bird because most of their nesting sites are hard to get to, being mainly at the subtropical Kermadec Islands. Although the species had been recorded from Burgess Island for many years, only recently were a few pairs found nesting. This relatively accessible colony has allowed some on-going research on the species. Graeme Taylor (Department of Conservation) is leading a team tracking the movements these birds using geologgers attached to their legs (see images in Night Life on the Poor Knights Islands) and one of our jobs was to try and recover these devices so that the data could be downloaded (however we didn’t find any geologgers!). We were however able to gather more information on the species’ breeding cycle and colony size. It was the end of the incubation period and the tiny colony was showing no signs of on-going expansion.

Fig. 5. Black-winged petrels displaying over Burgess Island at night. . Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

At the time of the rat eradication in 1990, the only petrel species reported to nest on Burgess Island were grey-faced petrels and common diving petrels, so it seems that the eradication has had dramatic effects and allowed several new petrel populations to establish. Certainly the number of lizards was very high, with the day active moco skink (Oligosoma moco) often seen basking, while at night the local undescribed gecko (Dactylocnemis sp.) was abundant, as was Suter’s skink (Oligosoma suteri) – New Zealand’s only egg-laying lizard – on the shoreline. By day bellbirds (Anthornis melanura) and red-crowned parakeets (Cyanoramphus n. novaezelandiae) were seen at densities rarely found on the mainland.

Fig. 6. Bellbirds are the most common land birds on Burgess Island. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

It will be fascinating to see how Burgess Island continues to recover.

By Te Papa | Also posted in Birds | Tagged Black winged petrel, Burgess Island, Mokohinau Islands, New Zealand storm petrel | Comments (1)

Te Papa's Blog

Category Archives: Biodiversity

Kia ora from northern Germany

How to DNA sex birds.

Would you mine a rare population?

The amazing longfin eel

Three Kings Expedition collects yellow weever, a new record for the area

How to learn ferns

A few more botanical highlights from the Foxton fieldtrip….and a katipo spider!

The small and the weedy: Foxton field trip

A name change for strap ferns

Burgess Island – a recovering seabird island

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