Samantha Fitzgerald: Artificial refugia for lizard conservation and behaviour: investigating traditional designs and a novel camera box on Canterbury farms.
For New Zealand lizard species, there are still many knowledge gaps that are yet to be filled. Over 85% of our species are Threatened or are At Risk (Hitchmough et al., 2021) and in order to reduce their risk of extinction, there needs to be a collaborative approach across landholders, conservationists and farmers. This study investigated three different artificial retreat (AR) designs constructed with different materials that are commonly found on farms: bricks and plywood. The third material is Onduline that is commonly used for monitoring lizards in New Zealand. The AR designs were tested across three Canterbury farms.
Olivia Reynolds: Distribution and habitat preferences of a threatened braided river fish.
The upland longjaw galaxiid is a threatened freshwater fish found in only three braided river catchments in New Zealand’s South Island. My research uses both large- and small-scale surveys to identify key drivers of upland longjaw distribution, habitats important to their survival and to identify potential threats, as this knowledge will be key in developing future conservation strategies to protect this species.
Supper and a chat after.