Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa
Station of the Year
NZ Radio Awards 2009
20 March, 2010
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Our Changing World
with Veronika Meduna & Alison Ballance
Thursdays 9 - 10pm
Audio from Thursday, 20 November 2008
Not all audio is available due to copyright restrictions.
- 21:15 Lichen Hunt
- Lichen expert Barbara Polly takes a Kiwi Conservation Club team on a lichen expedition. (duration: 12′25″)
- 21:30 Albatross By-catch
- This project tracks white-capped albatrosses to work out how much they overlap with the subantarctic squid fishery. (duration: 12′45″)
- 21:45 Ocean Acidification
- As the world's oceans become more acidic, what will be the impact on phytoplankton and seaweeds? (duration: 12′47″)
- 22:00 Extinction Risk
- Palaentologists use New Zealand's unique marine fossil record to work out factors that contribute to extinction risk. (duration: 12′23″)
On This Programme
Lichens are found everywhere. They are able to colonise almost any surface not permanently covered by water, ice or snow and many can endure extremes of heat or cold that would prove fatal to other plants. Since they require little or no nourishment from the substrate they live on, they can thrive on rocks, wood, bricks, tiles, and even asphalt, where they have no competition from other plant types. Lichen expert Barbara Polly, who looks after the lichen collection at Te Papa Tongarewa, took a group of children from the Kiwi Conservation Club on a lichen hunt in Otari Wilton Bush.
A white-capped albatross with chick, above, and David Thompson removing a small tracking device, a light-based geolocation archival tag, from an albatross leg. Photographer Fiona Proffitt, NIWA.
Leigh Torres and David Thompson from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research are collaborating on a project which aims to find out how feeding white-capped albatrosses overlap with the seasonal squid fishery that operates near the Auckland Islands, where the birds breed, and how fisheries-related mortality is affecting the population. The rapid miniaturisation of tracking technology is allowing the NIWA scientists to collect very detailed information from birds as they feed at sea, and is revealing interesting data about where the birds feed during their breeding season, and where they travel for the rest of the year.
Last week, we talked to University of Otago scientist Abby Smith about the impact of ocean acidification, caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, on small creatures called bryozoa. This week, marine botanist Catriona Hurd, at the University of Otago, and biogeochemist Cliff Law, at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, discuss the impacts of ocean acidification on marine plants, from microscopic phytoplankton to larger seaweeds.
This nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium, Trichodesmium, lives in the sub-tropical New Zealand waters. Photographer Karl Safi, NIWA.
Catriona Hurd and Cliff Law presented their findings at the Asian Pacific Phycology Forum in Wellington.
New Zealand has one of the best fossil records of marine creatures that have lived over the past 40 million years. Palaeontologists Roger Cooper and James Crampton have used fossil molluscs from the National Palaeontological Collection at GNS Science to work out which factors make some species more or less likely to become extinct.
The Team
Produced and presented by Ruth Beran & Alison Ballance
email: ourchangingworld@radionz.co.nz
About Our Changing World
Our Changing World broadcasts every Thursday evening after the 9pm news, featuring the latest in science, environment and health.
A mix of in depth interviews, packages and sound rich features, Our Changing World covers topics across all scientific disciplines, natural history and environmental issues, and developments in health as well as exploring the human side of science and the personalities behind it.
Segments are played during Afternoons with Jim Mora at 3.45pm on Mondays to Thursdays.
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