Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915

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    Social media as a tool to understand the distribution and ecology of elusive mammals
    (Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Mammalogists, 2024-02-01) Phakoago MV; Maloney SK; Kamerman PR; Meyer LCR; Weyer NM; Fuller A; Zollner P
    Comparatively little is known about the distribution and ecology of Aardvark (Orycteropus afer) and Temminck's Ground Pangolin (Smutsia temminckii). Both are elusive species that are normally nocturnal, solitary, and fossorial. Formally collected records have been used to map the distribution of these species, and social media records provide a tool to gather information on their distribution and ecology. We obtained 680 photographs and videos of aardvarks and 790 of ground pangolins in southern Africa from publicly available posts on Facebook and Instagram (2010-2019). The images provide new insights into the distribution, activity, drinking, and predation - and confirm that aardvarks are more diurnally active when they are in poor body condition. Social media can provide useful supplementary information for understanding of elusive mammals. These "soft"data can be applied to other species.
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    Micro Gondwana: soil and litter mesofauna in the subalpine and alpine of North-West Nelson, southern New Zealand
    (Taylor and Francis Group on behalf of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 2025-05-21) Minor MA; Robertson AW; Ashwood F
    Alpine ecosystems are vulnerable to the warming climate, yet alpine soil mesofauna remains the less studied part of NZ biodiversity. Here we present a survey of soil mesofauna communities of three mountain peaks in the Nelson-Tasman and Marlborough regions of the South Island of New Zealand. We assessed changes in abundance, diversity and trophic composition along the elevational gradient from subalpine forests to alpine herb fields (800–1600 m a.s.l.) and analysed the influence of selected environmental factors on mesofauna. Taxon richness was expected to decrease and the proportion of predators to increase in alpine habitats, as has been observed elsewhere. Sub-alpine beech forests harboured a high diversity of soil mesofauna, many of which are Gondwanan relics. There was a decline in abundance and taxonomic richness of mesofauna with increasing elevation. However, no proportional increase in predators with increasing elevation was seen–alpine mesofauna assemblages had lower predator-to-herbivore ratios than upland forests. Several interesting taxa–harpacticoid copepods, moss bugs (Hemiptera: Peloridiidae), unique-headed bugs (Hemiptera: Enicocephalomorpha), micro-spiders, mite harvestmen, Neelidae springtails and acarifauna are discussed in more detail. Baseline data such as these advance the knowledge of native fauna and provide a baseline for ecological monitoring in the alpine zone.