Stephen Hartley | Victoria University of Wellington (original) (raw)

Papers by Stephen Hartley

Research paper thumbnail of Tree survival, growth, sequestration and natural regeneration of a Wairarapa swamp forest restoration project

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Invasive Urban Mammalian Predators: Distribution and Multi-Scale Habitat Selection

Biology

A barrier to successful ecological restoration of urban green spaces in many cities is invasive m... more A barrier to successful ecological restoration of urban green spaces in many cities is invasive mammalian predators. We determined the fine- and landscape-scale habitat characteristics associated with the presence of five urban predators (black and brown rats, European hedgehogs, house mice, and brushtail possums) in three New Zealand cities, in spring and autumn, in three green space types: forest fragments, amenity parks, and residential gardens. Season contributed to variations in detections for all five taxa. Rodents were detected least in residential gardens; mice were detected more often in amenity parks. Hedgehogs were detected least in forest fragments. Possums were detected most often in forest fragments and least often in residential gardens. Some of this variation was explained by our models. Proximity of amenity parks to forest patches was strongly associated with presence of possums (positively), hedgehogs (positively), and rats (negatively). Conversely, proximity of re...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Better food-based baits and lures for invasive rats Rattus spp. and the brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula: a bioassay on wild, free-ranging animals

Journal of Pest Science, 2015

Food-based baits and lures remain the mainstay of eradication and monitoring methodologies for in... more Food-based baits and lures remain the mainstay of eradication and monitoring methodologies for invasive mammalian species. To date, however, best-practise baits and lures for rats and possums have not been systematically compared to alternative food-based products in ways that quantify their effectiveness on free-ranging, wild animals. We designed a rapid bioassay using chew-cards to present large numbers of food-based products to free-ranging rats and possums to assess their attractiveness and consumption compared to current standards. We used linear mixed-effects regression analysis and an information-theoretic model set to consider the nutritive drivers of consumption for each species with the aim of informing the design of, and future search for, baits. Current standards were statistically outperformed in our trials. For rats, cheese, milk chocolate, Nutella® and walnut were statistically more attractive than the peanut butter standard. For possums, apricot and almond were statistically more attractive that the cinnamon standard. Model comparisons indicate that energy, particularly from fats, is the most important determinant of consumption by rats, while protein is the most important determinant of consumption by possums. Our results demonstrate that current standard lures for both species could be more attractive whilst the inclusion of fat to rat baits and protein to possum baits could increase bait consumption and improve control operation outcomes. Further, our bioassay provides practitioners a cost effective and rapid methodology to systematically assess large numbers of food products on free-ranging, wild animals thus providing more realistic results than those obtained under pen or laboratory conditions.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of © 2002 British Ecological Society

1. The aggregation model of coexistence has been used widely to explain the coexist-ence of compe... more 1. The aggregation model of coexistence has been used widely to explain the coexist-ence of competing species that utilize patchy and ephemeral resources. Over the years, it has been reformulated in many different ways, using different assumptions, indices and analyses, leading sometimes to contradictory conclusions. We present a general framework, from which many of the alternative approaches are derived as special cases. 2. A generalized distribution, composed of the distribution of visits across patches and the distribution of eggs per visit, is used to model changes in the mean individual-level experience of density that occur at different population-level densities. 3. New and more general criteria for coexistence are derived, based upon standard invasability analysis of Lotka–Volterra competition equations applied to a patchy system. 4. An important parameter in the new coexistence criteria is the mean per capita den-sity of individuals in a single clutch ( §). Until now this ...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Spatially Explicit Simulation of Individual Foraging Behaviour Across Patchy Resources

business.otago.ac.nz

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Bioacoustic monitoring of lower North Island bird communities before and after aerial application of 1080

New Zealand journal of ecology, 2021

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Hebeloma spp.) on organic and inorganic nitrogen

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Developmental degree-day models to assess the establishment potential of three exotic turtle species in New Zealand

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Effects of mammal exclusion on invertebrate communities in New Zealand

Austral Ecology

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Citizens, Scientists, and Enablers: A Tripartite Model for Citizen Science Projects

Diversity

In this paper, we focus on different roles in citizen science projects, and their respective rela... more In this paper, we focus on different roles in citizen science projects, and their respective relationships. We propose a tripartite model that recognises not only citizens and scientists, but also an important third role, which we call the ‘enabler’. In doing so, we acknowledge that additional expertise and skillsets are often present in citizen science projects, but are frequently overlooked in associated literature. We interrogate this model by applying it to three case studies and explore how the success and sustainability of a citizen science project requires all roles to be acknowledged and interacting appropriately. In this era of ‘wicked problems’, the nature of science and science communication has become more complex. In order to address critical emerging issues, a greater number of stakeholders are engaging in multi-party partnerships and research is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. Within this context, explicitly acknowledging the role and motivations of everyone ...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Disentangling the factors that vary the impact of trees on flooding (a review)

Water and Environment Journal

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Reviewing the past, present and potential lizard faunas of New Zealand cities

Landscape and Urban Planning

Abstract Cities and urban processes typically have a negative impact on biodiversity via land cov... more Abstract Cities and urban processes typically have a negative impact on biodiversity via land cover change, high rates of disturbance and high densities of pest species. Increasingly, however, people are being encouraged and empowered to reduce these impacts through urban restoration and backyard conservation initiatives. Internationally, lizards are a common feature of urban biodiversity, but in New Zealand where many species are threatened, little is known about populations of native skinks and geckos in cities. Yet cities may offer unique opportunities for lizard conservation compared with alternatively modified habitats. To explore the potential of cities for the conservation of lizards, we collated knowledge about the current lizard faunas of six New Zealand cities and developed a list of species that would likely have been present in the locations of these cities prior to human settlement. Comparing the two, we found that, although each of the cities has at least one currently urban-dwelling species, the diversity of lizards in all of the cities has declined dramatically since human colonisation. Patterns of species loss in cities reflect those observed across New Zealand more generally; that is, the loss of large-bodied skinks and geckos, probably resulting from predation by introduced mammalian predators, as well as the loss of regionally endemic species. The high diversity of species that are currently, or were historically, present in the locations of New Zealand cities means that urban restoration involving recovery or reintroduction of populations could have significant benefits for lizard conservation and advocacy.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Responses of New Zealand forest birds to management of introduced mammals

Conservation Biology

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of The effects of squid-baiting pitfall traps for sampling wētā (Orthoptera) and other ground-dwelling forest invertebrates

New Zealand Entomologist

© 2020 Entomological Society of New Zealand. Pitfall traps are commonly used to sample surface-ac... more © 2020 Entomological Society of New Zealand. Pitfall traps are commonly used to sample surface-active invertebrates, although the efficiency of the technique varies among taxa. We investigated how baiting pitfall traps with squid influenced sampling of some ground-dwelling invertebrates in New Zealand forests. The study was conducted across a total of 21 sets of seven lethal pitfall traps established between November 2012 and November 2015 in Aorangi and Remutaka forests. Four non-baited and three squid-baited lethal pitfall traps were established per set and remained active for one night during November/December and three nights during February. Squid-baited pitfall traps caught four times as many ground wētā and three times more cave wētā per unit effort than unbaited traps. Most of the ground wētā were identified as Hemiandrus pallitarsis (Walker, 1869). Carabidae, Scarabaeidae, Staphylinidae, Opiliones, Hymenoptera and Araneae were also more abundant in squid-baited than in unbaited traps. There was little difference in the catches of peripheral pitfall traps versus central pitfall traps, suggesting that 5 m spacing is sufficient to generate independent samples. Exceptions were Araneae and Amphipoda which were both approximately 1.5 times more abundant in central compared to peripheral unbaited traps. The attraction of ground and cave wētā to squid provides some insight into their dietary range. The higher catches obtained with squid-baiting, suggests this may be a useful modification to increase sampling rates, which is valuable where sampling effort is logistically constrained such as on islands or other remote study sites.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Geostatistical interpolation can reliably extend coverage of a very high-resolution model of temperature-dependent sex determination

Journal of Biogeography

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Modelling the soil microclimate: does the spatial or temporal resolution of input parameters matter?

Frontiers of Biogeography

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Activity of free-roaming domestic cats in an urban reserve and public perception of pet-related threats to wildlife in New Zealand

Urban Ecosystems

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Monitoring the mammalian fauna of urban areas using remote cameras and citizen science

Journal of Urban Ecology

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Efficient sampling of avian acoustic recordings: intermittent subsamples improve estimates of single species prevalence and total species richness

Avian Conservation and Ecology

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluation of remote cameras for monitoring multiple invasive mammals in New Zealand

New Zealand Journal of Ecology

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Tree survival, growth, sequestration and natural regeneration of a Wairarapa swamp forest restoration project

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Invasive Urban Mammalian Predators: Distribution and Multi-Scale Habitat Selection

Biology

A barrier to successful ecological restoration of urban green spaces in many cities is invasive m... more A barrier to successful ecological restoration of urban green spaces in many cities is invasive mammalian predators. We determined the fine- and landscape-scale habitat characteristics associated with the presence of five urban predators (black and brown rats, European hedgehogs, house mice, and brushtail possums) in three New Zealand cities, in spring and autumn, in three green space types: forest fragments, amenity parks, and residential gardens. Season contributed to variations in detections for all five taxa. Rodents were detected least in residential gardens; mice were detected more often in amenity parks. Hedgehogs were detected least in forest fragments. Possums were detected most often in forest fragments and least often in residential gardens. Some of this variation was explained by our models. Proximity of amenity parks to forest patches was strongly associated with presence of possums (positively), hedgehogs (positively), and rats (negatively). Conversely, proximity of re...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Better food-based baits and lures for invasive rats Rattus spp. and the brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula: a bioassay on wild, free-ranging animals

Journal of Pest Science, 2015

Food-based baits and lures remain the mainstay of eradication and monitoring methodologies for in... more Food-based baits and lures remain the mainstay of eradication and monitoring methodologies for invasive mammalian species. To date, however, best-practise baits and lures for rats and possums have not been systematically compared to alternative food-based products in ways that quantify their effectiveness on free-ranging, wild animals. We designed a rapid bioassay using chew-cards to present large numbers of food-based products to free-ranging rats and possums to assess their attractiveness and consumption compared to current standards. We used linear mixed-effects regression analysis and an information-theoretic model set to consider the nutritive drivers of consumption for each species with the aim of informing the design of, and future search for, baits. Current standards were statistically outperformed in our trials. For rats, cheese, milk chocolate, Nutella® and walnut were statistically more attractive than the peanut butter standard. For possums, apricot and almond were statistically more attractive that the cinnamon standard. Model comparisons indicate that energy, particularly from fats, is the most important determinant of consumption by rats, while protein is the most important determinant of consumption by possums. Our results demonstrate that current standard lures for both species could be more attractive whilst the inclusion of fat to rat baits and protein to possum baits could increase bait consumption and improve control operation outcomes. Further, our bioassay provides practitioners a cost effective and rapid methodology to systematically assess large numbers of food products on free-ranging, wild animals thus providing more realistic results than those obtained under pen or laboratory conditions.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of © 2002 British Ecological Society

1. The aggregation model of coexistence has been used widely to explain the coexist-ence of compe... more 1. The aggregation model of coexistence has been used widely to explain the coexist-ence of competing species that utilize patchy and ephemeral resources. Over the years, it has been reformulated in many different ways, using different assumptions, indices and analyses, leading sometimes to contradictory conclusions. We present a general framework, from which many of the alternative approaches are derived as special cases. 2. A generalized distribution, composed of the distribution of visits across patches and the distribution of eggs per visit, is used to model changes in the mean individual-level experience of density that occur at different population-level densities. 3. New and more general criteria for coexistence are derived, based upon standard invasability analysis of Lotka–Volterra competition equations applied to a patchy system. 4. An important parameter in the new coexistence criteria is the mean per capita den-sity of individuals in a single clutch ( §). Until now this ...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Spatially Explicit Simulation of Individual Foraging Behaviour Across Patchy Resources

business.otago.ac.nz

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Bioacoustic monitoring of lower North Island bird communities before and after aerial application of 1080

New Zealand journal of ecology, 2021

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Hebeloma spp.) on organic and inorganic nitrogen

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Developmental degree-day models to assess the establishment potential of three exotic turtle species in New Zealand

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Effects of mammal exclusion on invertebrate communities in New Zealand

Austral Ecology

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Citizens, Scientists, and Enablers: A Tripartite Model for Citizen Science Projects

Diversity

In this paper, we focus on different roles in citizen science projects, and their respective rela... more In this paper, we focus on different roles in citizen science projects, and their respective relationships. We propose a tripartite model that recognises not only citizens and scientists, but also an important third role, which we call the ‘enabler’. In doing so, we acknowledge that additional expertise and skillsets are often present in citizen science projects, but are frequently overlooked in associated literature. We interrogate this model by applying it to three case studies and explore how the success and sustainability of a citizen science project requires all roles to be acknowledged and interacting appropriately. In this era of ‘wicked problems’, the nature of science and science communication has become more complex. In order to address critical emerging issues, a greater number of stakeholders are engaging in multi-party partnerships and research is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. Within this context, explicitly acknowledging the role and motivations of everyone ...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Disentangling the factors that vary the impact of trees on flooding (a review)

Water and Environment Journal

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Reviewing the past, present and potential lizard faunas of New Zealand cities

Landscape and Urban Planning

Abstract Cities and urban processes typically have a negative impact on biodiversity via land cov... more Abstract Cities and urban processes typically have a negative impact on biodiversity via land cover change, high rates of disturbance and high densities of pest species. Increasingly, however, people are being encouraged and empowered to reduce these impacts through urban restoration and backyard conservation initiatives. Internationally, lizards are a common feature of urban biodiversity, but in New Zealand where many species are threatened, little is known about populations of native skinks and geckos in cities. Yet cities may offer unique opportunities for lizard conservation compared with alternatively modified habitats. To explore the potential of cities for the conservation of lizards, we collated knowledge about the current lizard faunas of six New Zealand cities and developed a list of species that would likely have been present in the locations of these cities prior to human settlement. Comparing the two, we found that, although each of the cities has at least one currently urban-dwelling species, the diversity of lizards in all of the cities has declined dramatically since human colonisation. Patterns of species loss in cities reflect those observed across New Zealand more generally; that is, the loss of large-bodied skinks and geckos, probably resulting from predation by introduced mammalian predators, as well as the loss of regionally endemic species. The high diversity of species that are currently, or were historically, present in the locations of New Zealand cities means that urban restoration involving recovery or reintroduction of populations could have significant benefits for lizard conservation and advocacy.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Responses of New Zealand forest birds to management of introduced mammals

Conservation Biology

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of The effects of squid-baiting pitfall traps for sampling wētā (Orthoptera) and other ground-dwelling forest invertebrates

New Zealand Entomologist

© 2020 Entomological Society of New Zealand. Pitfall traps are commonly used to sample surface-ac... more © 2020 Entomological Society of New Zealand. Pitfall traps are commonly used to sample surface-active invertebrates, although the efficiency of the technique varies among taxa. We investigated how baiting pitfall traps with squid influenced sampling of some ground-dwelling invertebrates in New Zealand forests. The study was conducted across a total of 21 sets of seven lethal pitfall traps established between November 2012 and November 2015 in Aorangi and Remutaka forests. Four non-baited and three squid-baited lethal pitfall traps were established per set and remained active for one night during November/December and three nights during February. Squid-baited pitfall traps caught four times as many ground wētā and three times more cave wētā per unit effort than unbaited traps. Most of the ground wētā were identified as Hemiandrus pallitarsis (Walker, 1869). Carabidae, Scarabaeidae, Staphylinidae, Opiliones, Hymenoptera and Araneae were also more abundant in squid-baited than in unbaited traps. There was little difference in the catches of peripheral pitfall traps versus central pitfall traps, suggesting that 5 m spacing is sufficient to generate independent samples. Exceptions were Araneae and Amphipoda which were both approximately 1.5 times more abundant in central compared to peripheral unbaited traps. The attraction of ground and cave wētā to squid provides some insight into their dietary range. The higher catches obtained with squid-baiting, suggests this may be a useful modification to increase sampling rates, which is valuable where sampling effort is logistically constrained such as on islands or other remote study sites.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Geostatistical interpolation can reliably extend coverage of a very high-resolution model of temperature-dependent sex determination

Journal of Biogeography

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Modelling the soil microclimate: does the spatial or temporal resolution of input parameters matter?

Frontiers of Biogeography

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Activity of free-roaming domestic cats in an urban reserve and public perception of pet-related threats to wildlife in New Zealand

Urban Ecosystems

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Monitoring the mammalian fauna of urban areas using remote cameras and citizen science

Journal of Urban Ecology

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Efficient sampling of avian acoustic recordings: intermittent subsamples improve estimates of single species prevalence and total species richness

Avian Conservation and Ecology

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluation of remote cameras for monitoring multiple invasive mammals in New Zealand

New Zealand Journal of Ecology

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact