Carving a contemporary replica of the 1769 ‘Joseph Banks’ panel using pre-steel tools: reviving a traditional Māori carving technique

In this article, the author explores previously lost techniques and practices associated with reproducing a New Zealand Māori wood carving of a poupou (panel) that was collected by Joseph Banks in October 1769 from a partly-constructed house on Pourewa Island, Tolaga Bay (Ūawa), North Island. The original poupou, a rare Māori artefact that pre-dates European influence, is curated today in the University Museum, Tübingen. A conference in Oslo, Norway, in 2014, provided the author, a tohunga whakairo (master carver), with the opportunity to demonstrate the use of Māori pre-steel tools, notably pounamu (greenstone) and argillite toki (adzes), greenstone and toroa whao (albatross bone chisels), and hardwood tā (carving mallets). The unique, historically inspired and practice-led empirical research undertaken in carving the poupou has helped to recover previously lost indigenous wood-carving knowledge. The replica poupou, carved in totara ( Podocarpus totara) and coated in kokowai (ochre), was subsequently completed at, and donated to, the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum in Middlesbrough, UK. The empirical approach to this research required detailed analysis as well as experimental archaeology and ethnography. The carving of the poupou honours the legacy of one of the most famed Māori carving centres and traditional higher schools of learning of pre-European times, namely Te Rāwheoro.

Nontarget plant damage from picloram and triclopyr used for climbing spindle berry control in regenerating native forests

Climbing spindle berry (Celastrus orbiculatus) is a deciduous liane climbing to 12 m It is spreading in Waikato particularly in hedgerows and native forest remnants Control has been by foliar spray with a herbicide mixture containing picloram This study investigated damage to surrounding nontarget native flora where climbing spindle berry was treated with herbicides containing picloram The most abundant native species in the plots included Podocarpus totara Blechnum blechnoides Asplenium bulbiferum Coprosma spathulata Carex sp Adiantum cunninghamii Pittosporum eugenioides Deparia petersenii and Lastreopsis glabella Picloram triclopyr (Tordon Brushkiller 100 g/litre picloram as the amine salt 300 g/litre triclopyr as the butoxyethyl ester) as a foliar spray was compared with picloram gel as a cut stump treatment Both the cut stump and foliar spray resulted in excellent control of climbing spindle berry The cut stump treatment resulted in little damage to adjacent vegetation The foliar spray was damaging to adjacent small nontarget plants especially the ferns The affected nontarget plants recovered within 6 months with no damage apparent on new growth This study coincided with a protracted drought and seedling recruitment was compromised; therefore it was difficult to obtain conclusive results about seedling emergence

Kahikatea Dacrycarpus dacrydioides and Totara-Matai Podocarpus totara-Prumnopitys taxifolia forest patches in the agricultural landscape, Westland, New Zealand: representatives of a past and future condition

Due to extensive clearance, podocarp forests on alluvial floodplains are under-represented, relative to their original extent, in the New Zealand agricultural landscape, and remnants are a priority for protection. This study uses a stand dynamics approach to 1) determine whether Kahikatea Dacrycarpus dacrydioides and Totara-Matai Podocarpus totara-Prumnopitys taxifolia forest patches in Westland, New Zealand, are remnants of pre-European forest, and 2) predict whether podocarp species will remain dominant in these patches. The majority of patches were initiated following European land clearance, with few being remnants of the original forest. Recruitment of podocarp seedlings and saplings into the canopy is no longer occurring in these stands, and over time they are likely to become dominated by angiosperm species. Within patch management may be an option to maintain podocarp dominance, while providing an economic return for landholders. While the forest types are representative of the original forest, the forest communities are not, with a lower � diversity than in intact Kahikatea forest in the region. Planning for and managing patches as a shifting mosaic in the landscape is likely to be the most successful approach for maintaining their conservation value in the region.

A Mosquito Larvicidal Diterpenoid Isolated from Podocarpus totara D. Don ex Lambert

Totarol, a diterpenoid phenol isolated from Podocarpus totara (D. Don ex Lambert) root bark, was found to be active against second- and fourth-instar Culex pipiens Coquillett with the 24 h LC50 values of 0.25 and 0.37 μg/mL, respectively. The mosquito larvicidal activity against C. pipiens increased when bioassays were extended to 48 h. Structural elucidation of totarol was by means of 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and GC-MS analysis.