Research Article

Āwheto, also known as the vegetable caterpillar, is a taonga (treasure) of Aotearoa | New Zealand, produced when endemic Ophiocordyceps fungi infect ghost moth (Hepialidae) larvae and produce fruiting bodies extending from the infected larvae to above the forest floor. Despite its cultural importance, āwheto ecology is not well documented or understood. Partnering with kaitiaki (guardians), we paired mātauranga (Māori knowledge)-informed soil DNA assays with systematic field surveys to resolve āwheto ecology in a montane native forest.

Introduced mammalian predators have had dramatic impacts on the ecosystems of oceanic islands. While conservation strategies have been developed to suppress or eradicate them in a wide range of unpopulated habitats, their management in human-dominated landscapes is less advanced. Here, we assess the efficacy of urban predator control using two years (four sessions) of mammal monitoring data in before-after control-impact (BACI) experiments in Ōtepoti Dunedin and Kirikiriroa Hamilton.

Wetlands are a critical, though vulnerable, global carbon store, but the carbon stored in vegetation has not been quantified at a national scale for New Zealand wetlands. We undertook a literature review to assess vegetation carbon density in wetlands and used meta-analysis to estimate means and uncertainty for both vegetation structural classes and wetland type. We then used a combination of derived vegetation carbon densities alongside spatial extrapolation to estimate the amount of carbon stored in wetland vegetation in New Zealand.

Rapid alterations in plant and animal phenology driven by global climate change and rising temperatures can have far-reaching consequences for cultural and ecological systems. We documented changes, and mechanisms behind the changes, in fruit biomass and phenology in mixed podocarp-hardwood forests in the central North Island of New Zealand since the 1950s using the traditional knowledge (herein referred to as mātauranga) of Indigenous Māori (Tūhoe Tuawhenua and Ngāti Whare) forest practitioners.

The Western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) is an important species for crop pollination and honey production. New Zealand has a major wealth-creation opportunity through the production and export of honeys sourced from native flowers. However, honey bees are not native to New Zealand, and the impacts of commercial honey production and honey bee apiaries on native ecosystems are largely unknown.

Many of Aotearoa | New Zealand’s lizards are threatened, and translocation to offshore islands where introduced mammalian pests are absent is one option to increase species’ security. However, the high densities of native avian predators of lizards that occur on some offshore islands are a potential barrier to translocation success. This threat is amplified for obligate alpine lizards, as few offshore islands have an alpine zone.

Seasonal dynamics shape the timing and intensity of bird-plant interactions but are increasingly altered due to anthropogenic disturbances such as biodiversity loss and climate change. Baseline data on these patterns are critical, especially for restored communities where threatened bird species act as both pollinators and seed dispersers.

Kauri dieback disease, caused by the soil-borne oomycete pathogen Phytophthora agathidicida, has spread through much of New Zealand’s kauri (Agathis australis) forest, killing thousands of trees. However, whether kauri dieback affects the broader biological community in kauri forests is largely unknown.

The Nationally Endangered kea (Nestor notabilis) is one of five endemic New Zealand bird species for which non-target mortality from consumption of 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate) pellet baits, used to control invasive mammals, has been recorded. Kea by-kill varies among operations, but reducing predators can deliver population-level benefits that outweigh the risks. Inclusion of bird-specific repellents within the bait matrix is possible, provided that target species (possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) and ship rat (Rattus rattus)) kills remain high.

Over 25% of endemic bird species have become extinct since the time of the first human settlement of Aotearoa | New Zealand in the mid-13th century CE. This has been attributed to multiple factors, including human impact from over-hunting, habitat loss, and the introduction of successive waves of novel mammalian predators. In this study, we analyse carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) stable isotope values from bulk bone collagen of 19 positively identified living and extinct bird species from the coastal pre-contact (i.e.