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    Standard metabolic rate variation among New Zealand Orthoptera
    (Elsevier B V, Amsterdam, 2024) Bulgarella M; Haywood J; Dowle EJ; Morgan-Richards M; Trewick SA
    Standard metabolic rates (SMR) of ectotherms reflect the energetic cost of self-maintenance and thus provide important information about life-history strategies of organisms. We examined variation in SMR among fifteen species of New Zealand orthopteran. These species represent a heterogeneous group with a wide geographic distribution, differing morphologies and life histories. Gathering original data on morphological and physiological traits of individual species is a first step towards understanding existing variability. Individual metabolic rates of ectotherms are one of the first traits to respond to climate change. Baseline SMR datasets are valuable for modeling current species distributions and their responses to a changing climate. At higher latitudes, the average environmental temperature decreases. The pattern that cold-adapted ectotherms display higher SMR at colder temperatures and greater thermal sensitivity to compensate for lower temperatures and the shorter growing and reproductive seasons is predicted from the metabolic cold adaptation (MCA) hypothesis. We predict higher SMR for the orthopteran species found at higher latitudes. We further compared the index of thermal sensitivity Q10 per species. We used closed-system respirometry to measure SMR, at two test temperatures (4 °C and 14 °C), for the fifteen species acclimated to the same conditions. As expected, we found significant differences in SMR among species. The rate of oxygen consumption was positively correlated with body mass. Our findings do not support the MCA hypothesis. In fact, we found evidence of co-gradient variation in SMR, whereby insects from higher elevations and latitudes presented lower SMR. We discuss our findings in relation to life histories and ecology of each species. The novel physiological data presented will aid in understanding potential responses of these unusual species to changing climatic conditions in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
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    Statistical methods for cricket team selection : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the degree of Master of Applied Statistics at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1999) Bracewell, Paul J
    Cricket generates a large amount of data for both batsmen and bowlers. Methods for using this data to select a cricket team are examined. Utilising the assumption that an individual's natural ability is expressed via performance outputs, this thesis seeks to describe and understand the underlying statistical processes of player performance. Randomness is tested for and then the distributional properties of the data are sought. This information is then used to monitor the estimate of natural ability via widely accepted control methods, such as Shewhart control charts, CUSUM, EWMA and multivariate versions of these procedures. To accommodate the distribution presented by batting scores, a new control chart based on quartiles is also studied. Further, ranking and selection procedures employ the estimates of individual ability to select the best individuals and note the probability of correct selection. Major contributions of this study include: a) Development of performance measures for cricket b) 2 - Dimensional runs test, with further applicability outside cricket. c) Statistical interpretation specific to cricket • Outliers are very important • Form is autocorrelation • Zone rules for cricket needed to detect good/poor performance • Relatively short nominal ARL's d) Control Chart based on quantiles to preserve outlier influences in a non-parametric procedure. e) The recommendation of appropriate tools for monitoring batting, bowling and all-rounder performance and also choosing man of the match. f) Discriminates between different types of bowlers using the consistency of their performance measures. g) Evaluates the members of a team relative to potential contenders.