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A new DNA-based tool to detect tuna (eel)

The Lakes380 team has developed a new DNA-based tool to detect tuna (short and long-finned eel) in lakes and rivers. This method will assist with understanding the distribution of this taonga (treasured) species in our waterways.

The New Zealand long-finned and short-finned eel are taonga species and are found in lakes and rivers across the country. However, there has been a national decline in their populations due to habitat destruction and commercial harvest. Understanding where they live and how their populations have changed is critical to their protection. Traditional methods of monitoring tuna are time consuming and limit the number of surveys that can be undertaken. PhD student Georgia Thomson-Laing has developed a new DNA-based method that can rapidly detect both species in water and sediment samples. This new method will allow us to undertake surveys for tuna at a resolution and scale not previously possible. Georgia is also working on adapting this method to use on lake sediment cores to detect the presence of tuna in the past. We hope this will help understand how and why their populations are declining. This research has recently been published in an international journal – you can read the full article here.

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New manuscript on Rototoa (Auckland)

New manuscript on Lake Rototoa in Auckland has bee New manuscript on Lake Rototoa in Auckland has been published!!

A new manuscript titled - Resolving 500 years of anthropogenic impacts in a mesotrophic lake: Nutrients outweigh other drivers of lake change - led by Dr Rose Gregersen (Victoria University of Wellington) has been published in the prestigious journal Environmental Science & Technology.

The research explores the history of Rototoa, a lake in the Auckland region of Aotearoa-New Zealand. The researches combined sediment core analysis with historical data, and ecological experiments to determine what was causing the decline in lake health in recent decades. 

The researchers show that the health of the lake remained stable despite catchment deforestation and erosion, and the introduction of several non-native fish species. The most significant and sustained changes in lake health coincided with nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers in the catchment.

Congratulations Rose on your excellent research!

Visit www.lakes380.com for a link to the full manuscript.

#Lakes380 #Cawthron #GNS #ScienceLife #NZscience #research #researchLife #VictoriaUniversityofWellington #Aucklandlakes #rototoa #paleolimnology #sedimentcores
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About

  • The Project
  • The Science
    • Field Sampling
    • Laboratory Analysis
    • Student Projects
  • Science Aims
  • Rohe Studies
    • Rangitīkei Iwi Rohe Study
    • Wairarapa Moana iwi rohe study
  • Virtual Experience
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  • Iwi Relationships
  • The Team
    • Advisory Groups
    • Lakes380 Co-lead Institutes​
    • National Collaborators
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Resources

  • Contact & Links
  • Blog, News & Publications
  • Video Gallery
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