Welcome to Aquatic Biodiversity & Biosecurity Update, the e-newsletter of NIWA's National Centre for Aquatic Biodiversity & Biosecurity. Here, we will bring you news of research, courses, and events NIWA is engaged in to advance the understanding and protection of New Zealand's aquatic biodiversity.
Waikato’s shallow lakes — lakes less than 15 m deep — are highly valued but often degraded as a result of human activities and introductions of exotic species. About 80 people with a diverse range of interests gathered in Hamilton in December to review the state and value of these lakes, and discuss science and policy tools for shallow lake restoration.
NIWA and WWF-New Zealand are offering two day-long courses in marine conservation planning. They will be held in Auckland on 31 August and 1 September prior to the 2009 New Zealand Marine Sciences Society Meeting.
The first of three volumes offering a comprehensive stock take of New Zealand’s entire known biological biodiversity — the New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity — has been published by Canterbury University Press.
NIWA is providing scientific and technical support to MAF Biosecurity New Zealand’s programme to rid Lyttelton Port of the invasive Mediterranean fanworm.
Analysis of the huge volume of data and samples collected on last year’s New Zealand International Polar Year Census of Antarctic Marine Life (NZ IPY–CAML) voyage to the Ross Sea continues apace. Some early results are already being put to good use.
Long-term monitoring of plankton is essential to understanding the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification on marine biodiversity and ecosystems. NIWA has begun a five–year project to map changes in the distribution of plankton in the Southern Ocean as part of a Ministry of Fisheries marine biodiversity programme.
