A near-unique pair of adjacent bays in the karst region of western Ireland provided the opportunity to compare phytoplankton diversity and abundance in an area of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) side by side with a ‘control’ region of similar size and with the same marine influences. Freshwater input to Kinvara Bay comes from the surrounding karst hinterland via a subterranean groundwater network, emerging at several sit...

Biosecurity is essential to protect against the negative effects of non-native invasive species. As part of the government’s ‘Biosecurity 2025’ Initiative to enlist all New Zealanders as biosecurity risk managers, Tauranga Moana has been named the ‘biosecurity capital’ of New Zealand. The initiative will involve large-scale citizen science, for reporting and management of pest and disease threats. In this context we measured b...

Argentine stem weevil adults (ASW, Listronotus bonariensis ) feed on the leaves of agricultural grasses and their larvae mine the pseudostem, causing extensive damage that can result in plant death. Plants emit volatiles that serve as signals to host-searching insects and these odours can be altered by both herbivory and fungal endophyte-infection. This study investigated whether ASW adults utilise olfaction to identify their...

Purpose Engineering and dredging strategies to manage sediment, along with river-scouring, can reveal older sediments. These present a unique opportunity to assess past sources of phosphorus (P) inputs into river sediments. We used the sediment concentrations of P, lead (Pb) and 206/207 Pb isotopes to produce ‘first-order’ estimates of the source (diffuse agricultural or sewage treatment) of phosphorus. Materials and methods S...