Environmental management research

Abeille Abbaye - Abbaye de Noirlac, Dordoyne, France 2017

The environmental threats faced by the world’s bee populations was inspiration for the latest major exhibition by Distinguished Professor Anne Noble.

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Kauri at risk

The future of the iconic kauri tree of New Zealand (Agathis australis) is under serious threat from a dieback disease caused by the fungus-like organism Phytophthora agathidicida. This pathogen invades through the tree roots and damages the tissues that carry nutrients within the tree.So far, very little is known about these interactions at the molecular level.

A Massey University research team is studying proteins of P. agathidicida that are important in these interactions. This work is expected to help identify resistance traits in kauri that could be used in selection and breeding programmes.

Contact Rosie Bradshaw

Measuring the absolute sustainability of goods and services

We are adapting Life Cycle Assessment to measure the environmental impacts of buildings relative to the planetary boundaries set for climate change. The project is funded by the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ), and will provide reference values for measuring the performance of New Zealand buildings against absolute limits.

Contact Sarah McLaren

Measuring the environmental footprint of milk

We undertook Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies of 53 pasture-based dairy farms in the Waikato region of New Zealand.

Using one litre of milk as the unit of analysis, we found that the environmental impacts of the more intensive dairy farms were significantly higher than the less intensive dairy farms. However, as expected, the more intensive dairy farms produced more milk per cow and per hectare. Thus there is a trade-off between production of more milk per hectare and increased environmental impacts per litre of milk.

This can be addressed through increasing pasture intake in order to reduce use of supplementary feeds, efficient use of fertilisers, and increased feed conversion efficiency in livestock.

Contact Sarah McLaren

Monitoring stream sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations on hill country farms

Partner: Beef+Lamb New Zealand

This ongoing project is monitoring nutrient and sediment concentrations in a hill country stream at Massey's Tuapaka Farm and identifying climatic and management practices which increase losses. This study has been monitoring nutrient and sediment concentrations in selected streams and a seepage wetland since April 2013.

Around 60% of land area in the Manawatu catchment is used for sheep and beef grazing and most of this is in hill country. The project aims to improve our understanding of nutrient loss in these systems to inform future decision-making in the region.

Contact Lucy Burkitt

The raw and the carved: Shipping costs and ivory smuggling

This research aimed to determine causes of a dramatic increase in elephant poaching in the late 2000s in Africa and Asia. Using a fixed panel-data regression model, Dr Brendan Moyle showed that shipping costs, especially for large shipments, were correlated to smuggling levels. Other factors include global interest rates, which motivate stockpiling by criminal organisations.

Dr Moyle was an external scientific expert on the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report into wildlife crime and this research project was used within that report.