News archive

13 February 2025

Royal Society Te Apārangi

The call for nominations for medals and awards for Research Honours Aotearoa 2025 is now open. Please note the closing date for applications is Monday, 31 March 2025.

The Society’s Academy Executive Committee is focused on increasing the diversity of nominations from under-represented groups, particularly with respect to gender, ethnicity and employment context, including from Crown Research Institutes and Independent Research Organisations.

28 November 2024
 

Two renowned New Zealand ecologists were celebrated last night at the New Zealand Ecological Society conference in Rotorua.

Dr Colin O’Donnell, who works for the Department of Conservation, has spent more than 40 years researching the ecology of New Zealand’s unique birds and bats. He is without doubt the expert on New Zealand bats and their ecology.

8 October 2024
 

The NZES has this morning issued a media release with respect to the fast-track project list, highlighting some of those judged to have the most profound ecological impacts.  You can read the press release here.

Looking at the wood, seeing the trees and more

22-23 January 2025

The 2025 Australia-New Zealand Tree Ring Science Conference brings together a diverse array of researchers using tree-ring based science in archaeology, ecology, environmental sciences, radiocarbon, climatology, art history or other disciplines.

'Hope Matters: Climate Change and Ecology'

Online. Four sessions over two days.

23 and 24 July

NZ time: 11am - 12:30pm and 1:30-3pm

Four themes:

The New Zealand Ecological Society today joined nine other scientific societies that promote research into Aotearoa’s native biodiversity, which together represent thousands of members with expertise in this field, in writing an open letter to the New Zealand government expressing our collective concern at these legislative proposals. 

The NZES mentoring scheme 2024 is now open for participants to sign up. The aim of the scheme is to connect members throughout the country and give everyone an opportunity to share their experiences. We’ve been running it for several years now, and the feedback has been very positive.

This year’s New Zealand Bird Conference will be held from 1-3 June (King’s Birthday Weekend) in Nelson!

Join Birds New Zealand for this important event and learn more about our country's unique birds! Over two days there will be a series of scientific presentations covering all aspects of New Zealand birds. This is the perfect opportunity to find out up to date information about our amazing seabirds, shorebirds and land birds!

NZES is pleased to announce that we are opening submissions from NZES student members (at all levels of study) for a student plenary speaker at the national virtual event. One student will be selected at random to give a 15-minute presentation including time for questions. To be eligible for the draw, your presentation must simply be on a topic that is relevant to the study of ecology and application of ecological knowledge in New Zealand or the Pacific.

NZES mentoring scheme 2023 is now open for sign up here. Please see the mentoring scheme webpage for more information: https://newzealandecology.org/mentoring-scheme

65^th Annual Symposium of the

International Association of Vegetation Science

Save the date!

IAVS 2023 will be held at Opal Cove Resort, Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia, from 3–8 September 2023. Side events include the pre- and post-conference tours and several mid-week, day-long excursions to choose from.

The 4th International Congress on Biological Invasions (ICBI2023) will be hosted in Ōtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand, from 1-4 May 2023.

ICWES19 (the 19^th International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists) will bring together more than 600 women from around the world to discuss their work and how to improve engagement of women in STEM at all levels. The conference theme – Shaping the Future – will offer examples of and insights for women studying and working in STEM (science, engineering, technology and mathematics), and their advocates, and showcase the potential of science and engineering to change the world for the better.

The Ecological Society of America is seeking applicants for the position of Editor-in-Chief of its Open Access journal Ecosphere. This broad and expansive publication covers subdisciplines across ecology.

Kia ora koutou

The INTECOL 2022 Congress in Geneva will be happening soon, 28 Aug – 2 Sept. https://intecol2021.org

INTECOL (International Association for Ecology) Is holding elections for Board members prior to the Congress. Turnover of half of the INTECOL Board will occur, and a new Board including leadership roles, will be announced during the Congress. 

We are looking for someone to help run the Social Media Channels for the NZ Ecological Society!

This would involve some or all of the following:

The call for abstracts for the INTECOL conference 2022 (Geneva, August 28 - September 2) is now open.  Please see the INTECOL website for further details.  A description of the sessions can be found here.

We are seeking a new Sustainability Officer for the NZ Ecological Society Council. The role of the Sustainability Officer is to lead the implementation of the NZES Sustainability Plan. Specific duties include liaising with the Council and the annual NZES conference organisers to reduce the conference carbon footprint.

We are seeking a new Scientific Editor for the New Zealand Journal of Ecology (NZJE). The NZJE is the scientific publication of the Ecological Society of New Zealand and as such is an important voice for NZ ecology and ecologists.  The journal publishes 60-70 papers per year.  We are looking for a scientific editor to replace George Perry, who is stepping down from this role.  The role of the scientific editor requires a broad understanding of NZ ecology and ecosystems and the science publishing process; specific duties include:

In this issue:

The New Zealand Ecological Society (NZES) completely rejects the content of a recent letter to The Listener magazine. Our society recognises the equal status of Indigenous Knowledge, particularly mātauranga Māori, and Western science and considers that both are valid components of the NCEA science curriculum and global research landscape.

In this issue:

• News from NZES Council
• NZES Conference - Information and Survey
• Ecotones: New ecological research
• Call for Contributors to a new book on protection and restoration of NZ's native forests
• Notice about the NZ Bird Atlas
• Notice about the AWIS Conference
• Publications in the current issue of the NZ Journal of Ecology
• Other recent publications on New Zealand ecology
• Noticeboard

Birds New Zealand are holding their conference NZ Bird Conference 2021 in Thames 5 - 7 June (Queen's Birthday Weekend).  Join them for a weekend of fascinating lectures and presentation focusing on the study and enjoyment of birds.  Take part in exciting field trups and shre the company of other members.  Register online at www.birdsnz.org.nz . For enquiries contact conference@birdsnz.org.nz or call 09 238 8407 or 021 656 369.

The New Zealand Ecological Society is a constituent member of the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS).  Here's a summary of the good work they did in 2020:

The NZES mentoring scheme is kicking off for 2021. We’ve been running the mentoring scheme for a couple of years now, and the feedback has been very positive. The aim of the scheme is to connect members throughout the country and give everyone an opportunity to share their experiences. 

In this issue:

• News from NZES Council
• NZES Mentoring Scheme 2021
• Illustrate Ecology
• Ecotones: New ecological research
• Call for Contributors to a new book on protection and restoration of NZ's native forests
• Postgraduate Profile: Zachary Carter
• Publications in the current issue of the NZ Journal of Ecology
• Other recent publications on New Zealand ecology
• Noticeboard

The New Zealand Bird Atlas is currently underway! This is Birds NZ’s third bird Atlas, running from 1^st June 2019-1^st June 2024 and is NZ’s largest community science project. Find out more about the project here, including the essentials, and webinar recordings running through Atlas and eBird basics.

For anyone who has tried to contact us via email over the past fortnight (from 15 January until 2 February), we were unable to receive your emails to our @newzealandecology.org addresses as these were down.  As of the afternoon of 2 February, we have got them back up and running, so please do contact us again.  This includes any inquires via our 'Contact Us' form on this website.  We sincerely apologise for any issues this may have caused.  The following addresses were affected by the outage, but are now back online:

The NZES Council encourages all of its members to read Rauika Māngai: A Guide to Vision Mātauranga.

In this issue:

In this issue:

The NZ Ecological society is currently accepting expressions of interest for the role of Hot Topics Coordinator/Editor. This volunteer role entails soliciting NZ ecological experts to write short opinion pieces on currently popular science on behalf of the NZES. These science communication pieces are typically about 500 words and constitute a brief overview and scientific perspective on an issue currently of interest in mainstream society.

The Royal Society Te Apārangi has invited the NZES membership to provide comment to the International Science Council on a draft scoping report for the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Tēnā koe,

We are reaching out on behalf of the Ngā Rākau Taketake – Risk Assessment and Ecosystem Impacts theme of the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge seeking Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to participate in our work planning and research team.

The New Zealand Ecological Society (NZES) is watching current events in the United States of America unfold with sadness and grave concern. We have seen the media coverage showing violence directed towards African-Americans, all too often with fatal consequences. We have heard numerous stories of racism directed at non-white scientists, for example having their presence on public lands questioned merely based on the colour of their skin.

In this issue:

Dear NZES community

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic,  a number of NZES activities will be affected.  We will continue to keep you informed of the effects of the pandemic on our society's activities on this website, through email announcements, and via social media.  This news page will continue to be updated as new information comes to light.  The effects on our activites to date are as follows:

In this issue:

Colin J. Webb

This guide provides, for the first time, an account of the seeds and other persistent parts of fruits for New Zealand monocotyledons. The earlier volume, published in 2001, covered the native gymnosperms and dicotyledons, so this volume completes the treatment of all the native seed plants. It includes more than 700 illustrations, representing all the seed types in the monocotyledons, as well as descriptions and keys to aid identification.

In this issue:

In this issue:

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Global Soil Partnership (GSP), the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative and the European Commission are pleased to launch a call for experts for the establishment of a Working Group to develop a global and regional assessment of the state of knowledge on soil biodiversity.

Join the Manaaki Whenua team for a mini-series of live-streamed talks and Q&A.

“Achieving results for the environment through technology” is part of TechWeek NZ. In three short sessions this week we will showcase the latest technologies used in our work to better understand New Zealand’s environment.  The three talks are listed below – all are free to join. Click the link to set a reminder and join the speakers and audience live on line.

The 2019 New Zealand Ecological Society conference will be held at Lincoln University, while our field trips will allow delegates to explore the landscapes and ecosystems of Christchurch and the broader Canterbury area.  

In this issue:

• Illustrate Ecology
• Ecotones: New ecological research
• News from NZES council
• Hot Topics
• NZ Ecological Society 2018 AGM minutes
• News from across the ditch
• Publications in the current issue of NZ Journal of Ecology
• Other recent publications on New Zealand ecology
• Noticeboard and upcoming conferences

Plants from the past - plants for the future.

Te Papa (Wellington) 20-23 October, 2019

Scion and the University of Canterbury's Wireless Research Centre invite you to a one day workshop on novel engineering solutions to the real-time tracking of small animals (including insects) for conservation and biosecurity purposes.

In this issue:

Hannah Zimmerman, a student from Boise State University in the US is requesting assistance from NZES members with a survey on how wildlife are vulnerable to anthropogenic night light and noise.

Three new sections have been added to the Our Estuaries Hub on the DOC website: Revegetating estuaries, Seagrass and mangroves extent, and Featured estuaries projects.

The Our Estuaries Hub was launched in February 2016 as a dedicated resource to help anyone explore and learn more about our many estuaries. The Hub also includes interactive maps that show where monitoring and restoration work is happening around New Zealand.

Highlighting the 2019 Freshwater Management Conference. 11-12 February, Wellington.

Join freshwater stakeholders from all sectors of New Zealand with sessions including:

On 25 October 2018, the Biodiversity Collaborative Group handed its recommended draft NPS Indigenous Biodiversity and Complementary & Supporting Measures to the Minister of Biodiversity, Nanaia Mahuta, and Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage.  The report can be found here:

www.biodiversitynz.org

The report of the Biodiversity Collaborative Group has been published today (26 October), with a draft RMA National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity and recommendations on complementary measures to support biodiversity protection. Ministers Sage and Mahuta formally received the report from the group this afternoon.

The report can be found here: https://www.biodiversitynz.org/

The October 2018 issue of the NZES Newsletter is now available. In this issue:

Illustrate Ecology

Ecotones: New ecological research

News from NZES council

NZES 2018 Conference update

Notice of 2018 Annual General Meeting for NZ Ecological Society

Summary of Draft Strategic Aims of NZ Ecological Society

Final print edition of New Zealand Journal of Ecology 

News from across the ditch

The 2018 New Zealand Ecological Society Conference will be held at Victoria University of Wellington, 25 Nov - 29 November 2018.  For more information visit the conference website https://www.confer.nz/nzes2018/  Abstract submissions are now open.  Abstracts are due by 28 September 2018.

The July 2018 issue of the NZES Newsletter is now available. In this issue:

Illustrate Ecology

Ecotones: New ecological research

News from NZES council

NZES 2018 Conference update

Profiles of NZES office holders

Special Issue of NZ Journal of Ecology in 2019

NZES Awards 2018

NZES student travel grants 2018

News from across the ditch

Dear New Zealand Ecological Society member,

Periodically the team that manages the National Vegetation Survey (NVS) databank seeks input from users of the NVS databank and other interested people to help steer our direction for future years.  We have designed a short survey to help people  provide this valuable input.  Even if you are not a current NVS user we’d love to hear from you.

Please take the survey here:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GWH3YXM 

Tēnā koutou e te whānau,
New Zealand Journal of Ecology is calling for submissions for a 2019 Special Issue entitled Mātauranga Māori and shaping ecological futures. Please forward this email to your networks, so we can create a vibrant issue!


Mātauranga Māori and shaping ecological futures

Tēnā koe

Following on from our ‘save the date’ email earlier this month, below are the locations, dates and times for the first round of our meetings. These meetings are about getting your collective ideas to develop the future direction for managing kauri dieback disease.

There are a mix of marae and community venues during the day and in the evening, and these are public hui - open to everyone:

Dear Ecological Society of New Zealand Member,

The April 2018 issue of the NZES newsletter is now available. In this issue:

Ecotones: New ecological research
NZES council news
New Zealand Ecological Society 2017 AGM minutes
2017 NZ Ecological Society membership survey results
News from across the ditch
EcoTAS 2017 conference report
Publications in the current issue of NZ Journal of Ecology
Other recent publications on New Zealand ecology
Noticeboard and upcoming conferences

Birds New Zealand Research Fund

APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR NZIF FOUNDATION 2018 AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS

Applications are invited for the awards and scholarships offered by the NZIF Foundation for 2018.  With the addition of The New Zealand Redwood Company Scholarship and the Invercargill City Forests Awards this year, the total value of awards offered is $44,500.

The awards open for application are:

The NZES annual conference will be held in Wellington in 2018. Sunday 25^th to Thursday 29^th November. We look forward to seeing you there! More details soon.

The December 2017 issue of the NZES Newsletter is now available. In this issue:

Ecotones: New ecological research
NZES council news
2017 New Zealand Ecological Society award winners​
New Zealand Ecological Society diversity statement 2017
News from across the ditch
Tribute to Michael Greenwood (1920–2017)
Transforming Biodiversity conference report
Postgraduate profile: Elizabeth E. Elliot
Other recent publications on New Zealand ecology
Noticeboard and upcoming conferences

The October 2017 issue of the NZES Newsletter is now available. In this issue:

• Ecotones: New ecological research
• NZES council news
• News from across the ditch
• Report from the INTECOL Congress, 2017
• Inaugural Critic and Conscience Award to Mike Joy
• Postgraduate profile: Azhar Alam
• New Zealand's worth loving
• Other recent publications on New Zealand ecology
• Noticeboard and upcoming conferences

Occupancy Modelling Short Course: 27 Nov - 1 Dec 2017, New Zealand
Instructor: Darryl I. MacKenzie

The Society for Conservation Biology Oceania’s 2018 conference is taking place in Wellington in July next year. Please see the conference website (http://wellington2018.scboceania.org/) for more details. The call for symposia and workshops is now open (closes on 16^th October).

Applications for field courses and scholarships are now open for six opportunities hosted across four countries: Peru, India, Bangladesh and Costa Rica. Courses span 2 and 3 weeks and are offered from December 2017 to February 2018. Topics include Entomology, Ornithology, and Botany/Ecology in Peru; Conservation and Zoology in Bangladesh; Tropical Biology and Conservation in Costa Rica; and Primatology and Man-Wildlife Conflict in India. Scholarship opportunities are available for all courses. 

Applications are now open for student travel grants to attend EcoTAS2017, the joint NZ Ecological Society Conference with the Ecological Society of Australia in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia.

Applications are due by Friday 8 September 2017. Details of the grants including eligiblity requirements and the application form are available here.

The New Zealand Ecological Society recently made a comprehensive submission on the Department of Conservation's Draft Threatened Species Strategy. You can read our submission here. Thanks to all those members who provided comments and helped to prepare the submission at short notice.

The Barlow Scholarship for 2017 has been awarded to Julia Schmack at University of Auckland for her PhD research on managing Vespula wasp invasion in New Zealand. The Barlow Scholarship was established from a generous bequest from Nigel Barlow, who developed pioneering mathematical models underpinning pest management and wasp invasion in New Zealand. Fittingly, Julia's PhD research will build on Nigel Barlow's population model on the ecology of invasive Vespula wasps.

The July 2017 issue of the NZES Newsletter is now available. In this issue:

The statistical ecology and environmental monitoring (SEEM) conference will be held in Queenstown, New Zealand, Dec 6-8 2017 (www.stats.otago.ac.nz/conferences/seem2017).  It aims to bring together statisticians and ecologists so that both groups can share their research and learn from each other.

Abstract submission closes 14 July.

Early bird registration until 31 August.

We have an exciting list of keynote and invited speakers:

Keynote:

The April 2017 issue of the NZES Newsletter is now available. In this issue:

Ecotones: Ecology from around NZ
Barlow Scholarship: Call for applications
News from Council
NZES Annual Awards: Call for nominations
Port Hills: A love story
News from across the ditch
Noticeboard and upcoming conferences

The following New Zealand Ecological Society awards are now open for nominations:

• Te Tohu Taiao – Award for Ecological Excellence
• Ecology in Action
• Outstanding Publication on New Zealand Ecology
• Honorary Life Membership

Details of the awards and nomination requirements are available here.

4th ANdinA international workshop Species range extensions and local adaptation: challenging ecological and evolutionary ideas and assumptionsSan Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina, 29 January-2 February 2018ANdinA holds its unique dialogue-style workshops in wonderful locations around the world every two years. We bring together 30-40 researchers from a diverse range of disciplines to debate challenges, deconstruct contentious issues, develop new ideas and expand future horizons in topics related to ecology, evolution and management.

Applications for the Barlow Scholarship are now open. The scholarship provides support to international (including Australian) postgraduate students studying ecology in New Zealand. Funds may be used for direct costs associated with research such as, but not limited to, field costs and analytical expenses, but excluding fees, living expenses and conference costs. Applicants must be enrolled in a New Zealand university for postgraduate study (MSc, PhD or equivalent) in ecology and can apply for up to $2500.

EMAPI 2017 - Registration Open!

The EMAPI 2017 - International Conference on Ecology and Management of Alien Plant Invasions - will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, September 4th-8th, 2017, organized by cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes.

The latest issue of the NZES Newsletter is now available. In this issue:

Ecotones: Ecology from around NZ
New journal Rethinking Ecology – Unfurling new ideas
News from Waikato District Council
NZES award winners
Conference reports – ERA2016
Past Kauri Seed Scholars
News from council
News from across the ditch
Noticeboard and upcoming conferences

The conference web pages have now been updated with the exciting set of topics and keynote speakers to be covered by the conference. Please visit http://www.slu.se/ecology-symposium - and then keep watching this space for further information. We hope that you will also take a minute to tell your friends and colleagues about the event.

For important dates, see “practical information”:

15 February: Registration opens

30 April: Deadline for abstract submission

The 2017 New Zealand Ecological Society conference will be a joint conference with Ecological Society of Australia. The conference will be held at Cypress Lakes in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia from 26 November – 1 December 2017.

Visit the official conference website and find out all the latest details.

Register now for the NZES annual conference.This year we are joining with the Society of Ecological Restoration for a joint conference in Hamilton. Register now: http://www.era2016.com/registration.html 

The Conference will also feature:

• Over 30 posters

• A Science Open Day

• A Bat Symposium

• A Student Day

• Two Workshops

• Nine keynote speakers

• Nine Symposium Sessions

Lots of interesting research papers are online early now. Visit our journal page for the latest papers and download pdfs: http://newzealandecology.org/nzje/j41_1

The provisional conference programme is out now! http://on-cue.co.nz/ERA%20Conf%20Provisional%20Programme-2016.pdf

The latest issue of Ecological Management and Restoration is out now http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/emr.2016.17.issue-3/issuetoc

Articles include:

2016 nominations are now open for the following NZ Ecological Society awards:

• Te Tohu Taiao – Award for Ecological Excellence
• Ecology in Action
• Honorary Life Membership
• Outstanding Publication on New Zealand Ecology
• Communication in Ecology (sponsored by Royal Society of New Zealand Canterbury Branch)

Please see the Awards page for links to further information for each award. Nominations close 8 July 2016.

Newsletter pdf 

A course on Molecular Analysis of Trophic Interactions (MATI) will be held later this year at the University of Innsbruck, Austria and may be of interest to New Zealand students using DNA to explore such ecological questions.

The course welcomes anyone interested in the analysis of food web interactions using DNA-based approaches and runs from 12^th to 22^nd September 2016.

Postgraduate course for students of ecology and environmental science, being offered 9-24 August 2016 at Lincoln University.

Includes:

South Island of New Zealand: coast-to-coast across the Southern Alps.

A showcase of field research on the re-integration of biodiversity into human-modified and managed ecosystems.

Pollution mitigation, monitoring, phytotechnologies and ecosystems services.

Hands-on experience of active restoration projects : Canterbury and West Coast.

The 2016 NZ Bird Conference and Annual General Meeting of Birds New Zealand will be held in Napier (Hawkes Bay) at the Museum Theatre Gallery, Marine Parade, during Queens Birthday Weekend 4-6 June 2016.

The conference will comprise two days of scientific papers and workshops, with field trips to local birding highlights on the third day. The AGM will be held on Saturday afternoon. A variety of workshops are planned for the Sunday morning, followed by a variety of fieldtrips on Monday.

Workshop for braided river practitioners, stakeholders, and students.
Interested members of the public are welcome.

The workshop is FREE and includes lunch, morning, and afternoon teas*

“On the plains, virtually all we see above-ground today has been introduced in the last 200 years. Only the braided rivers still retain a reasonable component of their original indigenous ecosystems. The most obvious component of that is a range of bird species – the majority of which are threatened.”

The loose photographs included in the parcel of issues 40(1) and (2) of the journal mailed out this week are replacements for unclear, over-dark figures on pages 160, 191, 192, and 318 of NZJE 39(2). Please peel the back off them, and stick them over the earlier figures.

Rodent eradication successes documented in journal special issue

Check out the latest NZES newsletter (December 2015 issue) for lots of news, especially about the recent NZES conference in Christchurch. In this issue:

Society Award winners

Feature Articles

• Introduced species
• Twitter and conferences

NZES Conference 2015

• Writers’ retreat 

NZES Conference 2016

Across the Tasman 

2016's annual NZES conference wil be joint with SERA (Society for Ecological Restoration Australisia) in Hamilton.

NZES 2015 was a huge success. We had over 350 delegates, around 200 talks and posters and loads of excellent social events. Check out our facebook page for photos from the poster session, the evening public talk by Devon McLean about the role of philanthropy in conservation and the panel discussion on the role of philanthropy, partnerships and non-government initiatives in conservation. You can still find the full conference programme here.

The NZES has sent a letter to politicians in New Zealand calling for action on climate change after a gathering of heads of ecological societies from across the globe at the ESA100 meeting in Baltimore in August. Read the letter here. On behalf of INTECOL, Shona Myers has also sent this letter to the UN. 

NZJE 40(1) 2016 - all articles free online

Catch up on the latest NZES ecology news (September 2015)

Download the pdf

Register now for NZES 2015 conference - UPDATE - earlybird rates still apply!

Don't miss the rare opportunity for media training with the Science Media Centre's SAVVY programme on offer for ecologists attending the conference. For more information and to sign up see our programme page. 

After a lot of work behind the scenes, the new NZES website is now live. Apart from a sparkly new look, several major changes have been made that should make the NZES and New Zealand Journal of Ecology websites much easier to use and navigate. However, it will be "work in progress" for some time yet, as we tinker and tweak to make it look and work exactly how we want it. Your feedback will be much appreciated during this process - so please let us know (by filling out our Contact Us form with the relevant information).  

In June the NZES wrote to the Minister of Conservation, Hon Nick Smith, in support of the proposed Dryland Park in the Mackenzie Basin. The letter points out the high ecological values of the Mackenzie basin and the threats it faces with ongoing land use change in the area. Additionally, the letter highlights the support from local communities for the proposed park as well as from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. 

Abstract submission and registrations are now open for the NZES 2014 conference, with the theme of “Is New Zealand the world’s invasion hotspot?”

There is a great programme of plenary speakers, including Phillip Cassey, Ragan Callaway and Ken Thompson. Several symposia are planned, both general and related to the conference theme. As well there are workshops, field trips, and for those needing a break, a writers’ retreat over the following weekend. 

We hope to see you there! Check it all out on www.nzes2014.org

EcoTas 2013 was recently reviewed by the journal New Phytologist. The paper provides an interesting take on the conference and is well worth reading. 
The review sums up the conference under four main headings:
• Ecosystem development and retrogression
• Human arrival and invasion ecology
• Changing climate
• Changing ecology
Dickie IA, Tjoelker MG 2014. Changing ecology. New Phytologist 202: 1118–1121. DOI: 10.1111/nph.12724 

The annual garden bird survey starts next Saturday (28 June – 6 July 2014).
Join the citizen science effort to monitor the population trends of common garden birds in New Zealand

http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/science/plants-animals-fungi/animals/…

The sixth annual Garden Bird Survey starts on 30 June 2012. Anybody who can identify the common birds in their garden can participate. Simply watch out for birds in your garden for one hour (and just one hour) sometime between 30 June to 8 July, and for each species you encounter, record the largest number you see or hear at any one time. The reason for recording the largest number seen or heard at one time is so that individual birds are not counted twice.