Showing posts with label 1080. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1080. Show all posts

Monday, August 10, 2009

Species Specific Science on 1080

I am trying to learn as much as I can about the 1080 debate. My subjective view from personal experience of travel in the bush is that 1080, while doubtlessly not the ideal solution, has at least helped our biodiversity hold out against the wave of invaders. I am actively challenging the assumptions I have though by trying to approach this issue with an open mind.



An interesting resource is the Lincoln University database that looks at 1080 at a species specific level through the food web.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Otira

The first practical project I am hoping to get started on with rock wren protection is in the subalpine area nestled above the Otira and Bealey Valley. The Otira Basin, the head of the Bealey and Temple Basin. It is an area where rock wren still "hang on" to existence, but we need for a start to determine how many and what predators they co-exist with.





I came across this video on youtube of well know local (to Arthurs Pass) ecologist Gerry McSweeney describing the positive effects of 1080 on theOtira Valley, to see the amazing rata blooming in the Otira then skeletal nearby in the Ahaura is devastating...and listen to the Otira birdsong..





A question I am trying to get to grips with is what effect 1080 may have on a subalpine/alpine environment. We have used it so much in the bush now that its positive effects have been proven to outweigh the negative. Would this be the same? Would the removal of mice in particular from the alpine environment enable invertebrates to flourish, flower numbers to rebound and rock wren to breed more successfully?