biodiversity

Biodiversity is the number and variety of organisms found within a specified geographic region.

This article has been republished from The Conversation under Creative Commons licence CC BY-ND 4.0 and is written by Dr Angela (Ang) McGaughran, Senior Lecturer in...

What are extremophilic microorganisms? Let’s start by looking closer at microorganisms. All the organisms we know about on Earth are either cellular (by far the majority)...

This Connected article looks at the aftermath of the 2011 environmental disaster caused when the MV Rena struck Astrolabe Reef, off the Tauranga coast. Since then,...

Climate change threatens the loss of culturally significant land, taonga species and resources affecting the perpetuity of mātauranga and tikanga Māori. Ka mua, ka muri –...

The 2016 Kaikōura earthquake caused sudden large-scale changes along the coastline. The intertidal zones were lifted up to 6 metres in some places. In the media,...

Aerial imaging is not new, and scientists have been using data gathered from manned flights for decades. In recent decades, Earth-oriented satellites have become the dominant...

New Zealand bats are fully protected by the Wildlife Act 1953, and their habitats are also protected by the Resource Management Act 1991. There are a...

Bats are found throughout the world, except in areas of extreme cold. New Zealand has three species of endemic bats – the long-tailed bat, the lesser...

Our planet has life on it, and for that reason, it may be unique in the universe. Ironically enough, we know much more about some of...

This article by Dr Nic Rawlence was originally published under the title Proposal to mine fossil-rich site in New Zealand sparks campaign to protect it. Dr...

Introduced wasps cause all sort of problems for people and native species, but did you know we have native wasps in New Zealand? What is a...

Aotearoa New Zealand is well known for its unusual plants and animals. The land mass we call home separated from Gondwanaland approximately 85 million years ago....

The takahē is a large, flightless bird – the largest living rail bird in the world. Rails are a family of ground-living birds and live on...

An inquiry approach is often recommended for science education. It supports student-directed learning and can enhance engagement because students pursue questions and lines of inquiry that...

Takahē once lived throughout Te Waipounamu South Island. Māori reported that their night cry sounded like the striking of two pieces of pounamu. Habitat loss and...

Takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) once lived throughout the South Island. Their original habitats were the bushy edges of lowland swamps and rivers. Today’s remnant takahē population lives...

Noho tahi ai ngā hekaheka, ngā tipu me ngā hanga oreore ki te poho o Tāne-mahuta. Ka mutu, he mahi nui anō ka kawea e tēnā,...

Fungi, plants, and animals live together in Tāne-mahuta, and all have important roles to play. Fungi live with plant roots, helping the plant to get minerals...

At the start of October 2018, Wellington ecosanctuary ZEALANDIA received bad news – there was evidence of a weasel in the valley within the protective pest...

Predation from invasive mammals poses the single largest threat for the viability of native species in New Zealand, including many of our charismatic birds. To protect...

New Zealand’s native freshwater fish are unique – 51 of the 54 species are only found here in New Zealand. However, when asked to name a...

An ecosystem consists of all of the living organisms in an area and the interactions between them and the physical environment. New Zealand has a wide...

New Zealand plants are unique! New Zealand has some of the oldest primeval forests in the world, the largest type of moss and some of the...

Identifying native plants can be tricky! Scientists base their decisions about identifying, naming and classifying plants on a variety of features. All plants have certain characteristics...