Science Centres: Aquatic Biodiversity and Biosecurity

Follow-up field inspection in Otukikino Reserve, Christchurch

A handful of aquatic plants to identify, including a native milfoil, pondweed, and the introduced Canadian pondweed

The potential for eradicating aquatic weeds very much depends on catching the new incursion early, and that depends on people recognising them. Similarly, a wide range of organisations benefit from field staff and volunteers being able to identify native aquatic species.

To this end, NIWA runs a range of courses, incorporating work in the laboratory and the field.

Coming up:

• Identification of New Zealand Native Fish: 19–20, 26–27 October 2004
• Identification of Aquatic Macrophytes: 17–18 February 2005
• Identification of Wetland Sedges and Rushes: 23–24 February 2005
• Introduction to Freshwater Pests: 10–11 May 2005

NIWA also provides training sessions tailored to the needs of individual clients. For example, NIWA has trained Department of Conservation staff in aquatic weed identification. Several new sites for various aquatic weeds have been found during this training, including the first detection of hornwort (currently our worst submerged weed) in the South Island.

Details of NIWA training courses can be found on www.niwa.co.nz/training

For more information, contact: Paul Champion p.champion@niwa.co.nz