Copenhagen Climate Change Talks

This week marks the start of the United Nations climate change talks in Copenhagen. The UN officials are meeting to discuss the options for action on global warming in the coming decades. Following on from the original Rio and Kyoto summits it is hoped that this two week conference will pave the way for plans to be drawn on the most effective way for countries to come to an agreement on tacking rising carbon emissions.

Climate scientists warn that to avoid reaching the dangerous level of a two degree rise in temperature, global emissions of carbon must be cut 25-40% below 1990 levels. It is hotly debated who should make the biggest cuts. With the US, UK and Japan responsible for most of the emissions, should it be on them to make the biggest effort or should it be on those countries with the biggest carbon footprint per person i.e. Australia? Either way it is hoped that progress will be made in the areas of carbon trading, reductions in deforestation and novel sustainable technologies.

If you're interested in finding out more check out the official UN website: http://unfccc.int/2860.php or for an easier read the Guardians website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/copenhagen.

Fieldwork

Ok, so long time no blog, sorry about that. I've just got back from the first round of surveying and thought it was time for a wee update. So after a rather intense month moving from Nelson->Wellington->Hamilton finding sites, gaining permission to work on the land, collecting vegetation data and shifting dataloggers around the countryside we (my two field assistants and I) make it to the last of the locations, Auckland. The video joins us on a venture into the forests surrounding the Waitakere ranges west of the supercity. Please excuse the various mishaps that occurred during filming.

There is no planet B

The Climate Change day of action seemed to be rather a success in Christchurch. With a great turn-out for 'Frocks on Bikes' whords of Cantabrians gathered in Victoria Park to raise awareness about CO2 levels ahead of the meetings in Copenhagen in December.

Poster making attempts..

It was the biology postgraduate conference at the University of Canterbury today. Watching some fascinating talks and perusing a number of informative posters was rather insightful. And then there was my poster...well, I haven't got any feedback yet but it was a useful process for me. Check it out and feel free to comment if you've got something on the tip of your tongue you fancy divulging.

Climate Change Awareness + Activities= :) People & Planet

For all those Cantabrians reading this, check out the events planned for the climate change awareness day coming up in and around Christchurch on the 25th October. Of course there's plenty of regional events going on all over globe for the other readers. Just click on the big '350' below to view the imaginative proceedings going on near you....

I think I'm keen for the great vege giveaway: grow your veg, reduce the imports! Great cause, lots of fun, get involved.

Charismatic megafauna

The ace thing about being based in the zoology department is that you have colleagues who do all kinds of interesting work. The great thing, is that en-route to your own field sites you can join those fellow students briefly and learn a little about their study organisms. So on the trip up to Nelson last week there was opportunity for some falcon tracking and fur seal observation.


Sara Cross is monitoring the reintroduction of New Zealand falcons in the Marlborough wineries, this is Ginny (above) one of the birds sporting a radio tracker.


Jenipher Cate is investigating the impact of tourism on the New Zealand fur seal colonies in Akaroa, Kaikoura and the Abel Tasman. Despite the signs informing people to keep 20m away from the seals, visitors still persisted to crowd around this bull. This one particular visitor got her come-uppance when she got so close to the seal, that it riled up and chased her down the rock face. The issue in action.

Banks Peninsula Biodiversity Workshop

Yesterday marked the first gathering of Banks Peninsula ecologists, rangers and landowners to discuss the research being done on the peninsula and the implementation of conservation strategies to aid regeneration of native forest and support native wildlife. As I have been rather preoccupied with my own work of late, it was fantastic to get a broad overview of what else is going in the area.

Hugh Wilson, the local ecological celebrity kicked off the day highlighting the massive amount of deforestation that have gone on over the peninsula since our ancestors settled. Although fully aware that the landscape contains very fragmented remnants of forest, the extent to which it had been diminished was rather shocking!
The rest of the day boasted some very interesting talks on monitoring lizards, bird life (the reintroduction of the Tui), plants and arthropods (a group including the insects, spiders and slugs etc.)

There was also a big plant giveaway to promote the climate change day on the 24th October. If you have a chance, check it out on 350.org ('350 is the most important number in the world--it's what scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere'.)


Good day.

Forest hopping

Data collection has begun and the torrential rains have come to greet me for the occasion! The last couple of weeks have involved: decorating kawakawas (in true Christmas tree fashion) with tiny numbered labels; discussion with very helpful council members/landowners; sliding down muddy waterfalls (not to be recommended) and listening to hours of Dictaphone playbacks documenting tree measurements. Therefore the good news is I now have 16 sites set up: 8 on the Banks Peninsula and 8 in the Nelson area (just another 24 to go).

I have posted this pic below as I think it exemplifies just how isolated some of the native forest remnants can be. This is Onawe peninsula, one of the smaller sites in the Akaroa harbour where I am working. The area within the forest where there is kawakawa is rather steep and impenetrable but I just about managed to squeeze through the undergrowth.

(Note: although this is not actually classed as an island, if you ever visit make sure you check the tidal regime because it's rather worrying when the water comes up between you and the 'mainland')

Ever written out 2500 labels?

Well if not, when they are stacked in 5's and lined up on card strips like this...




...you will be writing 5 times this amount!

So this is all part of my preperation for field work. All these labels should loop around the new leaves sprouting from the kawakawas. That way I can identify how quickly the leaves grow and how much they get munched by caterpillars over the season.

So those caterpillars do exist

I found the first caterpillar of the season yesterday. Yes. A cheeky critter that was just sitting on my bag once I battled my way out the bush. This is not a great photo but it gives you an idea of what this moth larvae looks like.

The trials and tribulations of fieldwork…

One of the first things I’ve learnt about field work is that plans never turn out how you expect. So, this week marks the official start of my field work. Although a little early in the season it seems wise to make sure all my sites are visited, plotted out and the equipment is all in place so I’m ready to go once caterpillars start emerging.

Already an eventful week; I have managed to strand myself on an island, slide off the side of a steep slope, get massively delayed behind a large herd of sheep blocking the road and generally get abused by the forest vegetation. Good times. On a more serious note, I now have enough sites on the Banks Peninsula to start taking records of tree size, the number of leaves and the amount of munching caterpillars have done over the years.

Next week: up to the Abel Tasman and Nelson region…

First video blog...

Prefer to watch than read? Have a quick look at the following clips that explain all about the website, my research and why I'm gallivanting round the New Zealand countryside...

About my research...

About me...

INTECOL Conference: Towards the end of the week

Today the focus of the talks I attended were based around climatic modelling and landscape ecology. Two topics which I am yet to find out much about, but should form a fundamental part if my research towards the end of year 2-3.

Landscape ecology is a fairly new science and it is one which is becoming increasingly integrated with social sciences to understand what influences humans are having on the ecosystem at a landscape scale (i.e. smaller than a global scale but larger than an individual scale). I particularly enjoyed meeting people based in the Amazon, Australia, USA, Tasmania, UK, The Basque Country and France spanning fields as wide as ecological professor to biological photographer.

Tomorrow…bat walk in the nearby forest…

INTECOL Conference: The second day...

Day two of the conference: the big highlights from today were the sessions on ‘ecological networks and global change’ as well as ‘food webs and trophic interactions’, this involved plenty of running around between various seminar rooms to sit in on all the relevant talks.

The poster session towards the end of the day provided the opportunity for reading a little about other work going on (a lot of student work) and was a good chance to meet a few academics whose research I had read a lot about. A number of my colleagues at both Imperial College and the University of Canterbury were presenting today (see video). One of the interesting things about events such as these is that you get an impression of the various styles and most effective means of presenting in different media which is useful particularly for a scientist early on in a research career.

So Brisbane convention centre kindly issued permission for me to film a video extract amongst the conference infrastructure… enter me walking clumsily around the main exhibit hall…

INTECOL Conference

My first conference...


INTECOL is the International Association for Ecology. They hold conferences every four years and this years meeting is held in the Southern Hemisphere and hosted by the ecological societies of New Zealand and Australia.

As a researcher it is important to keep up to date with recent developments in your area of interest. Conferences are an excellent opportunity to learn about other scientists work, present your own findings and meet other academics.

I will be attending this year’s conference in Brisbane on 'Ecology in a Changing Climate' as it is highly relevant to the work I am doing. There will be a mixture of talks and posters presented ranging from how climate impacts biodiversity directly to how to conserve ecosystems given certain climate predictions.

Keep your eyes peeled for the up-and-coming video blogs that will soon be uploaded with news from the event….

Hello

Hey, so welcome to my blog page. I’m Poppy, a PhD student from the UK studying in New Zealand and this blog will follow the progress of my research. I’ve recorded a quick hello and brief introduction to my work which you can find under the video tab. So all that’s left to say for now is enjoy, and feel free to message me with any questions and/or comments.