Department Of Conservation Research Articles

Structured phylogeography and restricted gene flow among populations of Fairy Tern (Sternula nereis) across Australasia: implications for the endangered New Zealand population

The Fairy Tern Sternula nereis is an Australasian tern that breeds in Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand, with the last having the smallest breeding population, listed as ‘Threatened – Nationally Critical’ by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. Here, we investigate the genetic relatedness and level of endemism (gene flow) of the New Zealand Fairy Tern S. n. davisae population compared with the larger breeding populations in Australia, S. n. nereis, and New Caledonia, S. n. exsul, using the NADH subunit 2 (ND2) region of the mitochondrial DNA. We found that the three main populations (n = 86) were genetically distinct, with a different fixed haplotype restricted to New Zealand (n = 15) and New Caledonia (n = 16), and that the estimated gene flow was low to zero, indicating no interbreeding between the populations. The current genetic evidence is consistent with observations of morphological and behavioural differences among the populations, and we suggest continued independent management of the population in New Zealand and further surveys and independent management of the New Caledonia population.

Preface

The 2nd International Conference on Tropical Wetland Biodiversity and Conservation (ICWEB) Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Lambung Mangkurat University Banjarbaru – Indonesia, October 23-24th, 2021 The Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Lambung Mangkurat University collaborating with nine collaborators from International and local organized the 2nd International Conference on Tropical Wetland Biodiversity and Conservation (ICWEB), which were held in Banjarbaru on October 23-24th, 2021. Due to the extraordinary condition generated by Covid-19, this conference was held virtually, which was different from the 1st ICWEB.The theme raised was “Enhancing Education and Research in Tropical Wetland Biodiversity and Conservation for Better Development”, with four scopes are environmental science, animal biodiversity, plant biodiversity and microbe biodiversity. The aims of the conference are to remove the obstacles and the boundaries of communication between disciplines regarding tropical wetland biodiversity and conservation.List of Organizing Committee and Photographs are available in the pdf.

Transformation of a state fish and wildlife agency: Missouri Department of Conservation's effort to remain relevant in a changing world

AbstractIn 1935, the citizens of Missouri established the Missouri Conservation Commission in the state's constitution and in 1976 approved a conservation sales tax to ensure sustainable funding for those priorities. These two major citizen‐led initiatives have been the cornerstone of the Missouri model of conservation and key to the successful implementation of The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) mission for more than 80 years. Even with a successful track record, the health of an organization is only ever in two operating modes—growing or decaying. Beginning in 2017, the department began a focused and intentional effort to transform the agency in an endeavor to remain relevant to a changing citizenry and to better equip the agency to meet current and future challenges. The agency first developed a new strategic plan with three identified goals: 1) MDC takes care of nature, 2) MDC connects people with nature, and 3) MDC maintains public trust. Next, a team of internal staff were charged with creating an organizational design that empowered employees to work in a highly interdependent, team‐oriented environment that ensured efficiency of operations, supported the fulfillment of the strategic plan, and placed Missouri citizens at the center of everything the agency does. The new organizational model establishes a system of governance and organizational structure based on centralized guidance and regional implementation of the strategic plan utilizing interdisciplinary cross‐functional teams.

THE CHALLENGE OF THE EMERGENCY REMOTE TEACHING IN THE EDUCATION OF ART CONSERVATORS. EXPERIENCES AND REFLECTIONS

COVID-19 pandemic and the measures to constrain it have influenced, among others, every dimension of the cultural heritage; from research, conservation and preservation projects to training and education. The closure of training buildings and campuses, the cancellation of face-to-face classes and labs and other learning experiences forced a shift to emergency remote teaching. Especially, for art conservators education, as the field of heritage conservation is powered by art history, technology and science, any deceleration has an important impact on it. Moreover, conservators have to be in contact with the real object, to be present physically in the archaeological sites, to interact with the material of the monuments and traditionally they work very close to them. The closure of the education domain deprived conservation students from the physical contact with the objects, but had fostered the digital transformation of the heritage sector, as well as the academic conservation education. The goal of this paper is to discuss advantages and weaknesses of emergency remote teaching comparing to face-to-face teaching and online teaching too, as well as to record the experience of the remote teaching in the Department of Conservation of Antiquities and Artworks and the opportunities emerged for the curricula of the Department.

Applying a social-ecological systems lens to patterns of policy, operational change, and gender participation in a large Aotearoa New Zealand organisation

ABSTRACT The chronological development of a central government agency, the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC), in response to changes in government policy is examined against patterns of gender participation. We use interdisciplinary social-ecological systems theory to examine relationships between the DOC institutional system and its patterns of gender participation. Factors examined include external drivers and internal response mechanisms over time at individual, organisational and external scales. A thematic analysis of DOC’s online corporate literature is used to collect data regarding six organisational themes: leadership, finance, structure, strategy, legislation, and management. The thematic data, synthesised into a timeline, are then assessed against the corresponding political backdrop (1987–2019). DOC’s history is characterised by repeated disruption and these events are associated with different response patterns at different levels across the entire workforce. Gender equity gains within lower ranks are not mirrored at higher ranks and both glass ceiling and glass cliff patterns are evident. Prior to policy intervention, larger female representation rates are associated with smaller pay gaps in leadership ranks. Stratification within occupation types limits pay gains at lower ranks. Changes in the organisation’s core business affect male and female representation in the workforce differently.

НАУКОВО-РЕСТАВРАЦІЙНА ДІЯЛЬНІСТЬ В МИСТЕЦТВОЗНАВЧОМУ ДИСКУРСІ: ЄВРОІНТЕГРАЦІЙНИЙ ДОСВІД ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ

The purpose of the article is to outline the scientific-restorative European integration experience as an important component on the path of the art history discourse of identification and preservation of architectural and artistic heritage beyond geopolitical understanding and territorial features. According to the goal, the task is to analyze one of the many examples of generative cooperation of scientific institutions and personalities of Ukraine in the sector of the cultural industry, in particular, the scholarship program of the Minister of Culture of the RP Gaude Polonia. The implementation of complex Ukrainian personal projects on the basis of prominent Polish institutions, supervised by experienced tutors, generates qualitative exchanges and the integration of new conceptual and methodological approaches in the scientific and restoration field. The experience of approbation of a high-tech creative approach to the preservation of painting layers from different periods on one basis – the process of transfer (layering) – which was implemented on the basis of the scientific research unit "Transfer of works of easel art" under the leadership of Professor Marta Lempart-Heratowska, conservation and restoration department of the Krakow Academy of Arts (RP). In the historical context, a significant part of movable and immovable sacral heritage is geographically preserved or constitutes museum collections outside the boundaries of previous historical ethnolocations, and constitute, to a certain extent, pan-European cultural and spiritual heritage. From this review, the observance of common principles and non-destructive methods of preservation and scientific processing of these objects, with the use of the latest technologies, becomes an important humanitarian factor on the way to European integration in the scientific and research sector. An in-depth study of monuments, in particular monuments of icon painting and common sacred architectural heritage, allows to change and improve the art history discourse, identify and classify movable and immovable monuments and introduce them into the scientific circulation of the European community, forming a new progressive humanitarian factor in the interpretation of architectural of artistic heritage beyond the narrow historiographical and territorial context, which is evidenced in the practice of UNESCO’s activities, Centrum Architektury Drewnianej, Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa (Рoland).

Habitat Works: How Partnerships and Habitat Improvement have Restored Quail Populations in the 2C Quail Focus Area

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) began establishing Quail Focus Areas (QFAs) on private lands in 2004. The goal of QFAs was to bring groups of landowners together to manage bobwhite habitat on a larger scale in a targeted landscape. Through a variety of state, federal, and other partnership programs, habitat improvement efforts have resulted in large increases in northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite) numbers in the 2C QFA. In spring 2013, MDC staff and Quail Forever biologists began monitoring bobwhite and songbirds in a portion of the 2C QFA in Carroll County, Missouri, USA and in a control area (without habitat management for bobwhite). This effort is part of the Coordinated Implementation Plan developed by the National Bobwhite Technical Committee as a part of the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative. The goal of the monitoring plan is to document whether quail habitat management can achieve sustainable bobwhite populations within 5–10 years. We selected a 2,100-ha portion of the 2C QFA where habitat management for quail has been conducted through efforts by landowners, MDC staff, and Quail Forever volunteers. Point-transect surveys were conducted at 48 250-m radius points in spring for bobwhite and songbirds and at 12 500-m radius points in fall for bobwhite coveys. Quail densities ranged from 0.18 quail/ha (95% credible interval [CrI] = 0.09–0.32) to 0.41 quail/ha (95% CrI = 0.30–0.57) in the focus area and from 0.04 quail/ha (95% CrI = 0.01–0.11) to 0.12 quail/ha (95% CrI = 0.06–0.20) in the control area from 2013–2019. We have also documented increases in grassland songbirds through monitoring efforts. Results show that dedicated management efforts were successful in increasing bobwhite density in the focus area.

Landowner Cooperative Key to Success in the Bee Ridge Quail Focus Area

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) began establishing Quail Focus Areas (QFAs) on private lands in 2004. The goal of QFAs is to increase and expand quail habitat management efforts around a core area. Because most (93%) of the landscape of Missouri, USA is in private ownership, habitat improvement programs on private lands have greater potential to impact quail populations than on public lands alone. A motivated group of landowners led the charge to begin habitat improvement efforts in the Bee Ridge QFA. This group was instrumental in starting earlier monitoring efforts to determine whether habitat improvements were leading to increased northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite) numbers. In fall 2017, MDC staff began monitoring bobwhite and songbirds in a portion of the Bee Ridge QFA in Knox County, Missouri and in a control area (without habitat management for bobwhite). This effort is part of the Coordinated Implementation Plan developed by the National Bobwhite Technical Committee as a part of the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative. The goal of the monitoring plan is to document whether quail habitat management can achieve sustainable bobwhite populations within 5–10 years. We selected a 2,225-ha portion of the Bee Ridge QFA where habitat management for quail has been conducted through efforts by landowners and MDC staff. Point transect surveys are conducted at 46 250-m radius points in spring for bobwhite and songbirds and at 12 500-m radius points in fall for bobwhite coveys. Bobwhite densities ranged from 0.23 bobwhite/ha (95% credible interval [CrI] = 0.14–0.35) to 0.27 bobwhite/ha (95% CrI = 0.15–0.43) in the focus area and 0.03 bobwhite/ha (95% CrI = 0.01–0.08) to 0.06 bobwhite/ha (95% CrI = 0.01–0.15) in the control area from 2013 through 2019. Landowners working together to implement recommended habitat management practices resulted in greater quail and songbird numbers in the focus area, compared to the control area.

Condition Assessment of August A. Busch Bridge Deck Using Portable Seismic Property Analyzer and Ground Penetrating Radar

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) and the portable seismic property analyzer (PSPA) have been extensively used in the past two decades for monitoring, quantifying, and mapping the deterioration of bridge decks. Using PSPA and GPR ensures regular monitoring of bridge conditions, leads to the early detection of deterioration. This research is to address the condition of August A. Busch bridge deck owned by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Visual inspection, GPR, and PSPA data were acquired on the bridge deck. Over 90% of the bridge deck was in fair to good condition with an average compressive strength of over 2500 psi. GPR data showed no indication of significant deterioration. The overall bridge deck was determined to be in fair to good condition.

ANALISIS KOMPETENSI, BEBAN KERJA, DISIPLIN KERJA DAN LOYALITAS KARYAWAN

The aims this study to analyse the competence, work load, work disiplince, and loyalty of permanent employees of conservation at Gembira Loka Zoo Yogyakarta type of the research is cuantitative descriptive research, the sampling technique of this reaearch is non probality sampling technique with the type of saturated sampling ( census ) of 36 respondent Whyle the analytical methode uses Descriptive Statistic by using means and mode analysis, the result of this study show that (1) the competence of permanent employees of conservation department at Gembira Looka Zoo Yogyakarta is in good criteria with a mean value of 3,99. (2) the work load of permanent employees of conservation department at Gembira Looka Zoo Yogyakarta is in good criteria with a mean value of 3,83. (3) the work diciplince of permanent employees of conservation department at Gembira Looka Zoo Yogyakarta is in good criteria with a mean value of 4,16. (4) the loyalty of permanent employees of conservation department at Gembira Looka Zoo Yogyakarta is in good criteria with a mean value of 4,15.

Strengthening livestock welfare policies to mitigate human–wildlife conflicts

Strengthening livestock welfare policies to mitigate human–wildlife conflicts

The Cottage that Kids Built: Jack's Mill School and the significance of architecture for progressive education in New Zealand in the late 1930s

Even today, the tiny West Coast community of Kōtuku is difficult to find. In 1935, when Edward Darracott arrived to the position of sole teacher at Jack's Mill School, it must have felt very far removed indeed from the rest of New Zealand. Yet here, in what might be described as a Department of Education backwater, Darracott implemented an audaciously progressive educational experiment. Central to his teaching, Darracott embarked on two major projects with his students. The first (and in keeping with an interschool competition at that time) was the design and establishment of a garden. The second project would prove more ambitions. With responsibility for the planning and building passed to the students, Darracott initiated the construction on the school grounds of a three-quarter scale bungalow, complete with furnishings, running water and electricity. The "miniature bungalow" received national attention at the time, and survives today under the care of the Department of Conservation, but outside the interests of back-road tourists, Darracott's educational experiment remains largely neglected. This paper will provide an overview of Darracott's achievements in Kōtuku before focusing attention of the specific architectural interests he activated. This begins with the self-conscious civility on display in the garden, before moving on to the opportunities and consequences of domesticity at work with the cottage itself. Viewed in this way, it is hoped that the isolation of Darracott's achievement (geographically and educationally) will begin to be replaced by a well-informed alignment with international practices of the time. Moreover, it will be shown how these "radical pedagogies" saw architecture as a necessary - perhaps inevitable - tool of implementation.

Anchoring “tourism value” within a regenerative tourism paradigm – a government perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic alongside other environmental and social crises have raised questions around the role of government, governance and the notion of tourism value. The aim of this paper, therefore, was to develop a conceptual framework that makes sense of the tourism value discussion within the wider context of the New Zealand Department of Conservation’s aspiration of Papatūānuku Thrives (Mother Earth Thrives). Drawing on critical studies, current New Zealand tourism strategies, stakeholder input and discussions with government employees, a values-based tourism framework has been developed. The “tourism tree” integrates aspects of a regenerative tourism paradigm and cultural values from Te Ao Māori (the world of Māori) and recognises the importance of healthy roots for tourism to contribute positively to multiple wellbeings and give back to place. Whilst only a stepping-stone towards transformative blending of paradigms, the framework will help the Department in their policy and operational decisions, with a view towards achieving intergenerational positive outcomes from tourism.

Left Button Picture, Right Button Bomb: Nature, Warfare and Technology in a Southern African Border Region

In this paper, we argue that the relationship between nature conservation and warfare was and continues to be actualized through socio-technical relationships and shared infrastructures. We historicize “green militari zation”—defined as the use of military techniques, technologies and partnerships in the pursuit of conservation (Lunstrum 2014)—showing that the partnership between military and nature conservation in Southern Africa has a long and violent history. Our paper accounts for the entanglements of war and nature through a shared technological infrastructure used in north-eastern Namibia during the Namibian War of Liberation (1966–1989). In particular, we focus on the Mirage IIIR2Z, an aerial reconnaissance and ground-attack supersonic jet which provided both the South African Defence Force and the civil administration’s nature conservationists with aerial photography and remote sensing data. The spatial information produced jointly by the military and the civil nature conservation department was used to produce strategic maps, but also to fight invasive plants and protect wildlife. Our reading of green militarization against this background sheds light on the long-lasting connections between warfare, conservation and ecology along Southern African border regions and contributes to a novel understanding of the contemporary “war on poachers” through a study of the techno-scientific networks that made it possible. Since there is nothing inevitable about the way technologies emerge or change over time (Bijker and Law 1992), this paper develops an empirically grounded and sustained analysis of technological change in the domain of green militarization through three interlinked concepts: “multiple” (Law 2002), “shifting down” (Latour 1994; 1999), and “firming up” (Bijker and Law 1992).

A History of the Department of Conservation and Technology at the Courtauld Institute of Art

ABSTRACT This article traces the foundation and development of the Department of Conservation and Technology at the Courtauld Institute of Art from its inception as a Technology Department in 1934 to 2020, when the Department merged with Wall Paintings Conservation into a single Conservation Department. The first section describes the development of research and teaching, the interests of the Department’s staff, and collaborations within and outside the Institute, and the financial and technical developments that influenced these changes. The second section discusses the later years, highlighting interdisciplinary research by staff and students with national and international partners and the challenges in the delivery of graduate education in conservation that is practical, technically informed, and interdisciplinary.

An affective absence: Memorialising loss at Pike River Mine, New Zealand

Pike River Mine was an ordinary, everyday workplace, unremarkable, pragmatic, an industrial aesthetic inserted into a pristine landscape. Following an explosion in November 2010, 29 men became entombed in the mine and their bodies remain there. Unfolding revelations of the culpability of the mine's management and a shocking narrative of events left the mine suspended in time. As a crime scene, it remained sealed off until mid-2019, when the process of re-entry began. All of this is set within one of the country's most sublime landscapes, with lush rainforest, dripping, moist, tranquil. The living and the dead continue to communicate, families shouting names into the portal, Mines Rescue leaving a note for the dead men to read, and out of the mine flows the water that has crossed their bodies. The dead, the living, the mine, the forest, and the deep history of Māori, coalesce in the affective landscape of Pike River. This paper explores affectivity in the context of co-designing a memorial landscape with the dead men's families, local Māori, and the Department of Conservation.

Dutch or Iranian? Technical study of a seventeenth-century painting on paper from Gesina Ter Bosch\u2019s scrapbook

A scrapbook compiled between 1660 and 1687 by Gesina ter Borch (1631–1690), a female artist from the small town of Zwolle in the Netherlands, contains an intriguing painting on paper of a full-length portrait of a young Iranian. Although the figure wears the attributes in vogue at the Safavid court of Isfahan, certain elements seem rather incongruous and peculiar. The general composition appears static and rigid, an impression reinforced by an unusual black painted background. Stylistic differences within the painting were also observed, hinting at alterations to the original painting. To investigate the history of the painting and to reconstruct the original composition and identify the later additions, perhaps made by Gesina herself, the painting was examined with different imaging and analytic techniques available at the Conservation and Science Department of the Rijksmuseum. This allowed the research team to discriminate between pigments used for the original composition and pigments used to conceal damaged areas of the painting and added pictorial elements. After interpreting scientific results, as well as historical findings, it was possible to shed light on the use of specific pigments, namely lead white and smalt, and on the possible misinterpretation of some details, such as the cup held by the young man. The results of macro X-ray fluorescence scanning (MA-XRF) and lead isotope analysis, viewed in the light of information about the economic and cultural exchanges between Iran and the Netherlands in the seventeenth century, fed new theories about the origin and history of this painting. The painting, originally made in Iran in the style of Riza Abbasi, the head of the Emperor Shah Abbas’ library, ended up in Gesina ter Borch's workshop and may have been ‘restored’ by the artist to improve its condition and to match her tastes.

Species, causes, and outcomes of wildlife rehabilitation in New York State.

Wildlife rehabilitation is a publicly popular practice, though not without controversy. State wildlife agencies frequently debate the ecological impact of rehabilitation. By analyzing case records, we can clarify and quantify the causes for rehabilitation, species involved, and treatment outcomes. This data would aid regulatory agencies and rehabilitators in making informed decisions, as well as gaining insight into causes of species mortality. In New York State, the Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has licensed rehabilitators since 1980 and annual reporting is required. In this study, we analyzed 58,185 individual wildlife cases that were attended by New York rehabilitators between 2012 and 2014. These encompassed 30,182 (51.9%) birds, 25,447 (43.7%) mammals, 2,421 (4.2%) reptiles, and 75 (0.1%) amphibians. We identified patterns among taxonomic representation, reasons for presentation to a rehabilitation center, and animal disposition. Major causes of presentation were trauma (n = 22,156; 38.1%) and orphaning (n = 21,679; 37.3%), with habitat loss (n = 3,937; 6.8%), infectious disease (n = 1,824; 3.1%), and poisoning or toxin exposure (n = 806; 1.4%) playing lesser roles. The overall release rate for animals receiving care was 50.2% while 45.3% died or were euthanized during the rehabilitation process. A relatively small number (0.3%) were permanently non-releasable and placed in captivity; 4.1% had unknown outcomes. A comparable evaluation in 1989 revealed that wildlife submissions have increased (annual mean 12,583 vs 19,395), and are accompanied by a significant improvement in release (50.2% in the study period vs 44.4% in 1989) (χ2(1) = 90.43, p < 0.0001). In this manuscript, we aim to describe the rehabilitator community in New York State, and present the causes and outcomes for rehabilitation over a three-year period.

Colour in Church Interiors, Medieval and Beyond

Recent studies of churches of medieval origin in Estonia have shownthat these edifices have long histories of polychrome decorationboth before and after the Reformation. In this article, some aspectsof these colour schemes are discussed. Firstly, the question of thedecoration and redecoration of interiors during the Middle Ages isaddressed, secondly the authorship and technique of vernacularlookingmurals is discussed, and thirdly the geographical spreadof these decorations is analysed. In addition, post-medieval muralsare also examined.This article is based on fieldwork in Estonian medieval churchesconducted over a period of fifteen years by the staff and studentsof the Department of Conservation and Cultural Heritage at theEstonian Academy of Arts. Here mainly the results of work in thechurches at Koeru, Keila and Järva-Jaani is presented. Some otherchurches are also discussed for comparison.So far, medieval painted decoration has been found in around25 church interiors on the territory of present-day Estonia, i.e. inroughly a quarter of the medieval churches. Although the numberis not large, the finds allow us to draw some conclusions regardingthe spread of and networks behind these paintings.We can claim that as elsewhere in medieval (northern) Europe,medieval church interiors included at least some kind of painteddecoration. It seems likely that the first (and possibly in many casesthe only) colour scheme was provided by the builders. Especiallyin rural parishes, where no specialised guilds existed, it mighthave been difficult to employ professional painters, although notimpossible. Almost certainly the decoration was applied at the timeof plastering, when the mortar had not yet set and the scaffoldingwas still available.Historical records, surviving artworks and investigated interiorsdemonstrate that after the Reformation the Lutherans were less radical in transforming churches than were other Protestants: severalCatholic altar retables and statues were preserved, side altars werenot removed, etc. The churches were usually decorated with new,more modern murals and only whitewashed in many cases severalcenturies later.Gradually, church interiors became more monochrome, althoughnot necessarily white, something that has been associated with thespread of Pietistic ideas in the Lutheran church. However, the late 19thcentury brought a revival of colour to at least some churches. Thesecolourful, mainly Gothic revival interiors survived for only a shorttime and disappeared again when they were painted over everywhere.For example, in St Lawrence’s in Kuusalu, wall paintings dating fromthe period of the Gothic revival renovation of the medieval church(1899) were found and uncovered in 2021.

Translating jet noise measurements to near-field level maps with nearest neighbor bilinear smoothing interpolation.

U.S. Department of Defense hearing conservation and noise limits standards require the definition of safe areas around all objects that emit noise and suggest various methods for characterizing these levels. The protection documents do not describe methods for reducing discrete measurement points into level fields to map safe and hazardous noise areas. For maintainers of high-powered jet aircraft, the suggested 85 dBA level contours that delineate the border between safe and hazardous regions occur at distances that far exceed normal operation positions. Conversion of discrete measurements to modeled levels defined over the entire ground personnel operational area in the aircraft vicinity is required to ensure sufficient protection. Present research offers a method to build a coarse map of grid points with nearest neighbor approximations, and then refines this using bi-linear smoothing. This nearest neighbor bi-linear smoothing approach provides predictions that are sufficiently accurate in cross-validation comparisons to the near-field locations and is the preferred method for the creation of hearing conservation contour level maps.