Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research is a New Zealand

Crown Research Institute In New Zealand, Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) are corporatised Crown entities charged with conducting scientific research. Crown Research Institutes date from 1992, with most formed out of parts of the former Department of Scientific and Indus ...

whose focus of

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

the environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses t ...

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

, and

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

History

Manaaki Whenua was originally part of the

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development. * Department of Scientific and Industria ...

(DSIR), but was established as an independent organisation when the Crown Research Institutes were created in 1992. As part of that process, it was semi-commercialised, and now operates as a government-owned company rather than as a government department. The commercialisation has led to greater emphasis on financial viability, and Manaaki Whenua is employed by various private groups to provide advice and information. It is currently chaired by Acting Chair Dr Paul Reynolds QSO.

Locations

The main site is in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, near

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. There are also other sites at

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

on the Tamaki campus of

Auckland University , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, Alexandra, and

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

Collections

Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research holds several collections of

organism In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...

s that are of significant national importance to New Zealand. Detailed information on all the specimens can be found though the Systematics Collections Data (SCD
website

International collection of microorganisms from plants

The

International Collection of Microorganisms from Plants The International Collection of Microorganisms from Plants (ICMP) is a major international culture collection of live bacteria, fungi, and chromists based in Auckland, New Zealand. The ICMP had its origin in 1952 as the personal collection of pla ...

in Auckland holds live

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

l and

fungal A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

specimens that are preserved under liquid nitrogen or in

freeze dried Freeze drying, also known as lyophilization or cryodesiccation, is a low temperature dehydration process that involves freezing the product and lowering pressure, removing the ice by sublimation. This is in contrast to dehydration by most conve ...

ampoules An ampoule (also ampul and ampule) is a small sealed vial which is used to contain and preserve a sample, usually a solid or liquid. Ampoules are usually made of glass. Modern ampoules are most commonly used to contain pharmaceuticals and chem ...

. Currently there are over 20,000 specimens in the collection.

New Zealand Fungarium (PDD)

The Auckland office also has the New Zealand Fungarium (PDD), a fungarium containing over 80,000 dried fungal specimens, including all the New Zealand fungal

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. This represents one of the most extensive compilations on the national

biota of any country.

New Zealand Arthropod Collection

The

New Zealand Arthropod Collection The New Zealand Arthropod Collection is a collection of terrestrial invertebrates held by Maanaki Whenua – Landcare Research in Auckland, New Zealand.http://biocol.org/institutional-collection/new-zealand-arthropod-collection It specialises i ...

(NZAC) or ''Ko te Aitanga Pepeke O Aotearoa'' in Māori. The NZAC has over 6 million specimens (1 million pinned and 5 million preserved in fluid) and has the most complete coverage of terrestrial

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s of all the collections held in New Zealand. In addition to its fundamental value to the science of taxonomy and systematics, the collection underpins

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

and border control decisions (e.g., verifying the presence or absence of species in New Zealand); and contributes to listings of threatened insect species. The NZAC is held at Landcare Research's Tamaki site.

National Nematode Collection of New Zealand

The National Nematode Collection of New Zealand (NNCNZ) contains thousands of

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

specimens. It is contained within the New Zealand Arthropod Collection.

Allan Herbarium

The Allan Herbarium (CHR) at Lincoln, contains species from around the world but specialises in

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

s (

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

and

exotic Exotic may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Exotic R4, a differentiable 4-manifold, homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the Euclidean space R4 * Exotic sphere, a differentiable ''n''-manifold, homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the ordina ...

) of the New Zealand region and the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. It also has specialist collections of

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

, plant leaf cuticle, liquid-preserved specimens, and

microscope slide A microscope slide is a thin flat piece of glass, typically 75 by 26 mm (3 by 1 inches) and about 1 mm thick, used to hold objects for examination under a microscope. Typically the object is mounted (secured) on the slide, and then b ...

s. The oldest samples are the 91 duplicate specimens collected by

Banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

and Solander during

Captain Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

's first voyage to New Zealand in 1769–1770. There are currently over 550,000 specimens in the Allan Herbarium with 5,000–8,000 being added annually. Two-thirds of the specimens are of indigenous plants with the remainder divided between naturalised, cultivated, and foreign specimens. It was named for

Harry Allan Harry Howard Barton Allan (27 April 1882 – 29 October 1957) was a New Zealand teacher, botanist, scientific administrator, and writer. Despite never receiving a formal education in botany, he became an eminent scientist, publishing ove ...

, to acknowledge his contributions to New Zealand

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

National New Zealand Flax Collection

Manaaki Whenua is kaitiaki of an ethnobotanical collection of traditional weaving varieties of harakeke ( NZ flax, ''Phormium'' spp.) donated by Rene Orchiston of Gisborne. The 50 harakeke were selected long ago from natural stands and cultivated by Māori weavers for their special leaf and fibre properties. There are varieties specially suited to making

kete KETE (99.7 FM; "Three Angels Broadcasting Network") is a terrestrial radio station, licensed to Sulphur Bluff, Texas, United States, and owned by Brazos TV, Inc. KETE broadcasts a Christian preaching format, featuring programming from the Thre ...

, whariki, piupiu and cloaks.

Research

Science includes research into the processes that maintain New Zealand's ecosystems, enable natural flora, fauna and fungi to flourish, and protect soil and catchments for a range of production and other purposes. The impacts of disruption to ecosystems; biosecurity risks from foreign weeds, pests and micro-organisms; and contamination to land, water and air caused by the production of natural, manufactured or waste compounds are investigated. Research is also undertaken to develop tools to help mitigate inefficient resource use and excess waste, and systems designed to improve resource use productivity, lifestyle and business viability. Research focuses on six key areas: BioBlitz Auckland 2005

* Conserving and restoring our biodiversity and the healthy resilience of natural ecosystems * Reducing pest, disease and weed impacts in our natural and managed ecosystems * Understanding, mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change * Sustaining the long-term health of soils, waterways and landscapes for the continued viability of our rural environments * Enhancing urban biodiversity and developing low-impact approaches for

built environment The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ac ...

s * Fostering environmentally sustainable and globally competitive business practices

BioBlitz

Manaaki Whenua has organised several

BioBlitz A BioBlitz, also written without capitals as bioblitz, is an intense period of biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within a designated area. Groups of scientists, naturalists and volunteers conduct an intensive f ...

events – a survey of all species in a given area. The first New Zealand BioBlitz was held in the Auckland suburb of

St Heliers Saint Heliers is an affluent seaside suburb of Auckland with a population of as of This suburb is popular amongst visitors for the beaches, cafés, and views of Rangitoto Island, the distinctive volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf. St. Helier ...

on 30 April – 1 May 2004; in a remnant of native forest at Dingle Dell reserve, 925 separate species were found, and 631 species were found in a native bush gully at Meadowbank Primary School. A second BioBlitz in the

Auckland Domain The Auckland Domain, also known as Pukekawa / Auckland Domain, is a large park in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the oldest park in the city, and at is one of the largest. Located in the central suburb of Grafton, the park land is the remains o ...

on 12–13 March 2005 found 1575 distinct species. Another BioBlitz occurred at Hagley Park in

on 8–9 April; here 1197 species were found. In 2006, BioBlitz was held in

; this event uncovered 948 species.‘BioBlitz’ Finding Nature in the City
, Manaaki Whenua BioBlitz web pages, accessed 28 March 2008.

People

The following people are associated with Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research:

Governance positions

* Dr Paul Reynolds, QSO, Acting Board Chair * Jane Taylor (lawyer), former Board Chair

Researchers

see https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/about-us/our-people/ * Ross Beever * David A Wardle * Gregor W. Yeates *

Janet Wilmshurst Janet Mary Wilmshurst (born 1966) is a New Zealand palaeoecologist who works on reconstructing the ecological past. Wilmshurst has been a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi since 2015. She was president of the New Zealand Ecological Soc ...

References

External links

Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research

Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research Digital Library
– publications produced by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research and predecessor organisations, divisions of the former DSIR (Department of Scientific and Industrial Research) and Forest Research Institute {{DEFAULTSORT:Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research Crown Research Institutes of New Zealand