Erica Mather • Jul 27, 2015 •
The importance of mangroves in estuaries and river deltas has been highlighted in a new study. Vulnerable parts of the coast are protected from erosion by the mesh-like roots of mangroves that trap soil, buffering the impact of waves and tidal currents. New Zealand and UK scientists utilised data on the New Zealand mangrove (mānawa) in a new … Read More
Waiology • Nov 03, 2014 •
By Deirdre Hart Hapua are a type of predominantly freshwater river mouth lagoon that occurs on high energy temperate coasts. In New Zealand, they comprise a group highly-dynamic and socio-culturally important environments (Figure 1). Hapua behave differently to lagoons with tidal prisms. This means that classic estuary models cannot be applied to their understanding or management. Over the last three … Read More
Waiology • Oct 30, 2014 •
By Daniel Collins New Zealand is both a pluvial and fluvial country. A lot of water falls on, moves through, and runs off the landscape to the surrounding seas. At each step along the way water can play a role in shaping the landscape, whether by resisting or facilitating erosion or by providing environments where eroded sediment is deposited. Read More
Waiology • Jun 23, 2014 •
By Murray Hicks Braided rivers, defined by networks of channels that are forever changing and shifting, are iconic features of the New Zealand landscape. Their existence depends on abundant supplies of gravelly sediment and frequent disturbance by floods and freshes. They also support unique communities of in-stream and terrestrial organisms (fish and birds) that have adapted to this dynamic physical … Read More
Waiology • Dec 05, 2013 •
By Bob Wilcock About 40% of the land area of New Zealand is in some form of agriculture. Sheep and beef farming are the most extensive (33%) followed by dairy farming at 6%, and the remainder being horticulture and cropping. Based on a large number of comparative land use studies we have a good understanding of how agriculture affects … Read More
Matthew Wood • Jun 05, 2010 •
New Zealand is a geographically lonely place. It is the only major landmass between the tropics and Antarctica at these longitudes, and shares the southern mid-latitudes with only Patagonia and Tasmania. As such, it is a fantastic natural laboratory for investigating oceanic and atmospheric change in the southern hemisphere. Our country is perpetually being ground down … Read More