Contract holders reporting

The RGMAD NSCD has two parts: the Historic Geological Map Archive part comprises hardcopy published and unpublished geological maps and field sheets with their scanned image equivalents; and the Geological Map of New Zealand comprising geological maps completed since 2012 that are available in various digital formats and printed hardcopy in some cases.

Active urban- and volcano-focussed geological mapping projects are occurring in Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Napier-Hastings and Dunedin as well as general geology nationally. New RGMAD geological map products for 2023-2024 included the release of the 4th (2023) edition of the NZL_GNS_250K_Geology (Seamless QMAP) product and the Pukekohe geology map digital dataset was made available on the GNS server for public download/streaming. Strong use of geological web map applications and services continues, as do downloads of geological map products and citations of them.

The additional funding managed through RGMAD is also enabling governance and project work for the:

• pan-CRI National Environmental Data Centre (NEDC)(external link)
• Emergency Event Data Catalogue(external link)
• pan-CRI Māori Data Sovereignty Working Group(external link)

RGMAD also supports ongoing contribution to and coordination of international geoscience data standards, particularly geoscience data model and terminology development, as well as involvement in Australia-New Zealand geoscience information sharing. Digital geological map data continues to be widely used in many diverse ways for research and commercial applications. The National Soil Geochemistry Atlas draws on the geological data for its interpretation. Regionally-focussed aggregate opportunity model reports for northern and southern Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Wellington and Otago sought by the NZ Infrastructure Commission use the geological map data for their aggregate potential components.

Geological map data are critical inputs into NIWA’s National Groundwater Model for New Zealand published landslide polygons identified during Auckland Volcanic Field mapping are being used by WSP to develop a landslide susceptibility model for Auckland Council. Geological map and rock properties data were important input data for a 2019 study of aggregate supply for the Ōpōtiki Harbour Development project which received the 2023 Overall Supreme Award for Economic Development New Zealand.

The New Zealand Volcano Database (VolcDB) is mostly a virtual resource of volcano and volcanic-activity related parts of larger datasets such as the Earthquake Information Database (EID), the Regional Geological Map Archive and Datafile (RGMAD) and non-NSCD datasets such as ground deformation monitoring and photographic images in GNS Science’s Visual Media Library (VML). Other datasets include time-series measurements of water and gas chemistry and records of past eruptions.

The GeoNet hazard monitoring service provides the active monitoring equipment for measuring earthquakes and gas chemistry flux and the infrastructure to manage the data. A historic eruption event catalogue of observed and noted volcanic activity at Whakaari/White Island is nearly complete and will complement completed catalogues for Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe. VolcDB, particularly through GeoNet co-funding, contributed to the understanding and messaging of Whakaari/White Island eruption hazard, including raising the Volcanic Alert Level to 3 over the period 24-29 May.

The National Paleontological Collection (NPC) and Associated Databases is the largest and most comprehensive collection of fossil specimens; primarily from Zealandia, South Pacific and Antarctica, datasets describing these taxa, the New Zealand Stratigraphic Lexicon, and the New Zealand Geological Timescale.

NSCD-funded work for the NPC includes curation of newly collected material and material accumulated from field campaigns over the past couple of decades. Online catalogues that describe the collection are updated during this curatorial work, further enhancing the online database, with NPC type catalogues being publicly available and searchable. The funding supports access to the collection and its data by internal and external researchers, geoeducators and museums. The volume of these requests has been steadily increasing over the past two years, with most research-related requests made by external stakeholders.

Maintenance of the physical NPC is also supported by additional CAPEX funding provided by GNS Science, investing in the replacement of unsuitable cabinets with purpose-built steel cabinets that provide long-term, secure storage of material. Research highlights over the 2023/2024 fiscal year include contribution to ‘The marine biota of Aotearoa New Zealand’ memoir, published by NIWA, which describes all of Aotearoa’s modern and fossil marine biodiversity; A paper describing an NPC specimen, which is the oldest seagoing marine reptile from the southern hemisphere and sheds new, important light on global Mesozoic marine reptile evolution and distribution; and NPC material featured in the highly successful Dinosaurs of Patagonia exhibition at Te Papa, bringing a NZ link and context to this display of overseas fauna.

NSCD-funded work on the Associated Databases over the past fiscal year supported the New Zealand Geological Timescale update, which is nearly complete and expected to be published in the 2024/2025 fiscal year. Updates to the New Zealand Stratigraphic Lexicon (StratLex) occurred as publications on new or revised stratigraphic names were published. StartLex data searches and downloads by users have steadily increased over the past year.

The Fossil Record File (FRF) is a register of fossil localities mainly from the Aotearoa New Zealand and Antarctica regions, with additional information on fossil identification and adopted geological age. The FRF is jointly managed by the Geoscience Society of New Zealand and GNS Science.

The Fossil Record Electronic Database (FRED) is the online platform providing user access to FRF data, which is maintained by GNS Science. NSCD funding supports the addition of new and backlog data to FRED by GNS staff, as well as addressing database requests by external users. The funding also supports the development of new functionality within FRED and addressing user issues.

Over the past fiscal year, 115 new localities, 267 new paleontological analyses, and 438 fossil occurrence observations have been added to FRED. During the same period, an improved user data entry workflow was added to the database, including a system for a much greater degree of validity checking of new data. Data searches and downloads by users have remained consistent with the previous year, achieving a substantial reach. Research works using FRED included five key taxonomic publications on New Zealand birds, molluscs, brachiopod and crustaceans.

The NSCD-funded work for EID focusses on the preservation and recalibration of historic earthquake data and understanding the effects of changes in data collection over time.

The EID works closely with GeoNet, who is responsible for the acquisition of current EID data and making that data available to users. There were nearly 21 million website visits to the GeoNet website, increased from 16 million the previous year, and around 95 Tb of seismic data was downloaded from GeoNet webservices last year.

The EID includes the following seven datasets; Earthquake Catalogue (derived), Waveform Archive (seismogram archive and digital), Station Metadata, Moment Tensors (derived), Felt Reports (split into three distinct datasets), Strong motion data products (derived) and Fault Rupture Models.

Key achievements in the last year include several rounds of upgrades of the Earthquake Location system. More than 30 scientific papers used EID data last year. The citations follow a similar trend to past years spanning the entire scope of EID datasets. A scientific highlight are the special issues in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America and the focus section in Seismological Research Letters on “Seismic Hazard Models” including 16 papers related to the 2022 update of New Zealand’s National Seismic Hazard Model that used EID data or developed enhanced datasets based on EID data.

The New Zealand Geomagnetic Database (GMD) acquires data from the two New Zealand geomagnetic observatories, one in Canterbury (Eyrewell), one at Scott Base, and from the Samoan observatory in Apia. The instruments (magnetometers) continuously record the rapid changes of the geomagnetic field associated with solar storms, as well as other geologic processes. The data collection and some of the products are supported in close collaboration with GeoNet.

During the last year the GMD continued delivering crucial data to New Zealand-led research on how our electricity network will be impacted by an extreme space weather event (or ‘Solar Tsunami’); a key achievement was that the Eyrewell observatory in Canterbury now delivers real-time data through a publicly accessible dashboard providing New Zealand with a geomagnetic storm monitoring tool.

The 11-12 May ‘Gannon’ geomagnetic storm was captured by the new real-time dataset, validating the increasingly significant role the GMD plays in preparing New Zealand for the next extreme space weather event. The GMD data directly contributed to scientific advice given to the electricity sector during the Gannon storm.

The NGMP is the national groundwater quality dataset, collected regularly through collaborations with regional council personnel from 110 sites across all 15 regions of New Zealand, since 1990. The network grew to attain national coverage in 1998. Information stored in the NGMP database includes groundwater source location, groundwater quality indicators (e.g. major ions, nutrients, dissolved metals), groundwater age tracer measurements (e.g. chlorofluorocarbons, tritium, and sulphur hexafluoride), mean residence time age interpretation at each site and key hydrogeological properties, where available.

Samples are collected according a national, dedicated protocol (published in 1999, updated in 2006, national environmental Monitoring Standards for discrete water quality 2009). The NGMP assets are preserved and enhanced through dedicated quality assurance procedures, maintaining the viability and longevity of the network, adding new samples and data, undertaking research to enhance the assets, and ensuring that curation facilities are appropriate for long-term protection and availability. The current work is centred around expert advice to MfE and the coordination across 16 organisations to address inconsistencies and issues identified by the PCE in 2019. These issues are long-standing and multi-level and will require collective and iterative work to effect a step change in our current approach.

Last years outputs included the development to a pilot study for monitoring optimisation aligning regional and national objectives in collaboration with Waikato Regional Council. This pilot work led to multiple engagement with the Groundwater Forum and after a few months the collective decision to develop a national framework (all regions). This effort is unprecedented in environmental monitoring and essential to address national consistency required under the Environmental Reporting Act (2015). In June 2024, common monitoring aims agreed to by all parties were documented, alongside the process to elicit them to MfE, with a funding contribution from MfE. The next phase will look at practical implications of the new framework.

The National Petrology Reference Collection (NPRC), housed at and curated by GNS Science, comprises >120,000 rock, mineral and soil samples that are available for research purposes. Most samples are from on- and off-shore New Zealand, but also included are approximately 9000 Antarctic rock samples (Ross Sea region) and smaller numbers from all other continents. Thus, the NPRC provides access to samples from localities that are difficult, expensive, or practically impossible to visit. Access to previously analysed samples also affords the opportunity to reproduce results and reevaluate interpretations — a fundamental principle of science.

PETLAB is New Zealand’s national geological material and geoanalytical digital database (https://pet.gns.cri.nz/(external link)). It is operated, maintained, and developed by GNS Science, with GNS Science and New Zealand universities all contributing data. PETLAB is essentially the digital sample information catalogue for the NPRC, as well as similar rock collections held by New Zealand universities. Additionally, PETLAB stores analytical data related to the physical samples. Information and data are sourced from published journal articles, unpublished student theses, and open file reports. At the time of writing, PETLAB contains >200,000 sample records of which >60,000 have analytical data.

As in other years, hundreds of samples and their associated analytical data were added to the NPRC and PETLAB. Similar numbers of existing database records were improved for accuracy and consistency. The NPRC and PETLAB database are predominately used by CRI research scientists, New Zealand and international university research staff and post-graduate students, and mineral exploration companies.

During the past year, NPRC samples and PETLAB analytical data were used in 11 publications. Two examples are the first national maps of crustal rock thermal properties (Kirkby et al. 2023; https://doi.org/10.1080/00288306.2024.2362769(external link)), and a geological map for the approximately 3,500,000 km2 submerged northern part of the Te Riu-a-Māui Zealandia continent (Mortimer et al. 2023; https://doi.org/10.1029/2023TC007961(external link)) – both of which have implications for natural resources and hazards. In addition, the PETLAB database attracted an annual total of >11,000 searches/downloads.

Key achievements for the National Forestry Herbarium for this reporting year included exceeding our planned expectations in terms of new accessions to the collection as well the planned number of specimens (historical and new) imaged for the year. A major improvement to the database has been implementing new workflows incorporating GIS applications to record the rohe for all historical and new specimens collected in New Zealand in preparation for implementing BioCultural Labels and Notices.

Our historical data continues to be in high demand globally, thanks to international data aggregators. There has been a decline in identification enquiries from external parties, attributable to improved AI plant recognition software applications like iNaturalist. The herbarium continues to play a fundamental science support role in housing voucher specimens for inhouse research projects at Scion.

Adélies are an iconic Antarctic penguin species, that inhabit coastal waters for much of the year, and come ashore in the summer to breed. Because Adélies are intricately connected to marine and terrestrial habitats they are important indicators of the health of the Antarctic environment, and monitoring their population provides valuable information for environmental management in Antarctica. Understanding change in Antarctic marine and terrestrial environments is critically important at a time when the continent and its surrounding oceans are experiencing dramatic impacts from changing climate conditions. New Zealand researchers have been monitoring Adélie penguin populations in the Ross Sea region since the early 1980s. Each year census data are provided to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to inform evidence-based decisions on marine management in the Southern Ocean. Two particular focus areas for CCAMLR are identifying conservation outcomes of the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area (MPA), and sustainable management of the Southern Ocean Antarctic Toothfish fishery. The Antarctica New Zealand / Bioeconony Science Institute Ross Sea region Adélie penguin census was successfully completed in 2024, capturing colony images as well as linked geospatial data. The census covered three colonies on Ross Island - Capes Bird, Royds and Crozier. Photographs were taken from a helicopter flying above the colonies, and images were subsequently processed in New Zealand, using semi-automated software to determine the number of occupied nests at each site. Combining results from previous Ross Island surveys as well as more extensive Victoria Land surveys provides a regional perspective of Ross Sea Adélie penguin population status. Counts from 2024 will be compared with previous seasons to determine the direction of Ross Sea region penguin population trends, however preliminary Ross Island colony counts (over 200,000 occupied nests) indicate that the region may not yet be experiencing the dramatic declines evident for Antarctic Peninsula colonies.

Adélies are an iconic Antarctic penguin species, that inhabit coastal waters for much of the year, and come ashore in the summer to breed. Because Adélies are intricately connected to marine and terrestrial habitats they are important indicators of the health of the Antarctic environment, and monitoring their population provides important information for environmental management in Antarctica. New Zealand researchers have been monitoring Adélie penguin populations in the Ross Sea region since the early 1980s. Each year census data are provided to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to inform evidence-based decisions on marine management in the Southern Ocean. Two particular focus areas for CCAMLR are identifying conservation outcomes of the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area (MPA), and sustainable management of the Southern Ocean Antarctic Toothfish fishery.

The Antarctica New Zealand / Manaaki Whenua Ross Sea region Adélie penguin census was successfully completed in 2023, capturing colony images as well as linked geospatial data. The census included three colonies on Ross Island, as well as 14 colonies along the Victoria Land coast. Photographs were taken from a helicopter flying above the colonies, and images were subsequently processed in New Zealand, using semi-automated software to determine the number of occupied nests at each site. Combining results from the Ross Island and Victoria Land surveys provides a regional perspective of Ross Sea Adélie penguin population status. Counts from 2023 will be compared with previous seasons to determine the direction of Ross Sea region population trends, however preliminary Ross Island colony counts (over 200,000 occupied nests) indicate that the region may not yet be experiencing the dramatic declines evident for Antarctic Peninsula colonies. A Ross Island census was also successfully completed in November 2024, and this will help to confirm how the populations are trending once numbers are counted.

The Cawthron Institute Culture Collection of Microalgae (CICCM) The internationally recognized Cawthron Institute Culture Collection of Microalgae (CICCM) maintains >750 isolates of marine and freshwater microalgae, including tropical, temperate and polar species. The CICCM supports the sustainable management of our valuable freshwaters through cyanobacterial research on toxin-producing species and the risk they pose. Advice is provided to Regional Councils, drinking water suppliers and government agencies. The CICCM continues to be critical to the success of Cawthron’s long-standing Seafood Safety Platform, supported by MBIE’s Strategic Science Investment Fund, by supplying microalgae for biotoxin production and toxicity studies, and molecular characterisation. This research helps protect human health and wellbeing and, through Aotearoa New Zealand’s seafood industry monitoring programmes, underpins the safety of our shellfish exports. The Ministry for Primary Industries’ shellfish monitoring programmes for recreational harvests further protect human health within Aotearoa. The CICCM provides cultures for training staff monitoring harmful microalgae for the seafood industry. Research carried out by post-graduate students is of great value to the collection and Aotearoa. Students not only use isolates from the collection but also contribute to it through their work. For example, Leslie Sampollo (University of Auckland) continues with her studies using non-toxic isolates from the CICCM to find new species of microalgae that are nutritionally suitable for commercial GreenshellTM mussel rearing. Microalgae in the genus Prorocentrum can cause serious diarrhetic shellfish poisoning and to underpin further internationally leading research into this group the collection now holds 62 isolates representing 18 species. Isolates are from Aotearoa, including Rangitāhua Kermadec Islands, as well as from across Oceania. This research will contribute to the protection of recreational shellfish harvesters from illness, and the seafood industry from recalled products from international markets and, as many species are benthic, confirms the need for benthic monitoring to be carried out as well as the current water column monitoring. With warming seas there is a likelihood that microalgal species new to Aotearoa New Zealand will establish in our coastal waters. Consequently, the CICCM houses many tropical species from across the Pacific to support research into the likely risks for Aotearoa. For example, the microalga Gambierdiscus polynesiensis produces ciguatoxins which if taken up by reef fish may cause the serious illness ciguatera when the contaminated fish are eaten. Gambierdiscus was considered a tropical species but has recently been recorded in Aotearoa.

Visit the website:

Cawthron Institute Culture Collection of Microalgae(external link) — Cawthron Institute

The Cawthron Institute Culture Collection of Microalgae (CICCM) maintains >750 isolates of marine and freshwater microalgae. The CICCM continues to support sustainable management of our freshwaters through cyanobacterial research based on toxin-producing species and the risk they pose.

Advice is provided to Regional Councils and government agencies as required. The CICCM has also been critical to the success of the MBIE Strategic Science Investment Fund supported Seafood Safety Platform for many years. The collection helps protect human health and wellbeing by supplying microalgae for biotoxin production and toxicity studies, underpinning the Ministry for Primary Industries’ shellfish monitoring programmes for recreational harvests. It also provides cultures for ongoing training to those carrying out monitoring programmes for harmful microalgae impacting the seafood industry, either through courses held at Cawthron (e.g., bespoke courses were held at Cawthron in 2023) or provision of reference cultures directly.

Research carried out by post-graduate students is always of great value to the collection. Students not only use isolates from the collection but contribute to it through their work. For example, Jacqui Stuart (Victoria University of Wellington and Cawthron Institute) has carried out research in the Antarctic (summer of 2022-23), bringing back samples from the ice to extract live microalgae. Her research gives insights into the marine food web in Antarctica, given warming seas and melting ice. Jacqui received her PhD degree in October 2024. The cryopreservation of microalgae in the CICCM has been enhanced by the work of Joseph Kihika, recently graduated PhD from Victoria University of Wellington (May 2024). His research on the cryopreservation of Symbiodiniaceae species in the CICCM will underpin research into climate change impacts on coral reefs. Ciguatera poisoning is an illness which causes harm, and occasionally fatalities, to those in the tropical Pacific region consuming contaminated fish. The dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus polynesiensis produces ciguatoxins and the microalgal cells may be consumed by herbivorous fish feeding on seaweeds on which the dinoflagellate live. Humans may then unknowingly consume toxic fish.

This year, Cawthron research has established that with warming seas, it is probable that G. polynesiensis will be found in Aotearoa New Zealand and so research continues into the dinoflagellate and its toxins. Cawthron continues this research with collaborators throughout the Pacific region including Ngāti Kuri in the far north.

To contact the curators of the CICCM visit the website:

Cawthron Institute Culture Collection of Microalgae(external link) — Cawthron Institute

The NIWA Invertebrate Collection (NIC) is a repository for marine invertebrates from almost all phyla found in the New Zealand region, acquired from decades of research, as well as the Southwest Pacific and Ross Sea. It comprises physical specimens of authoritatively identified material and its associated database. It underpins the nationally critical marine taxonomy programme, provides baseline information that supports MPI’s identification of invasive species, and supports the identification of by-catch organisms.

A wide range of research programmes depend on the data housed within NIC (e.g., for environmental surveys and ecological analyses). There are now over 172,000 specimens from over 50,000 localities in the collection. This year, 115 transactions were made, involving 79 researchers from 50 institutions in 20 countries. We hosted 34 research users from 24 institutions (national and international) and provided 23 public tours of the collection.

The NIC, including specimens, data and deposited types, were used in the publication of at least 29 outputs in a variety of forms (reports, identification guides, workshops, books, conference presentations, journal articles, workshops, and public talks and displays). This included 13 papers in leading journals such as Zoologica, Zoological Letters, the New Zealand Journal of Zoology, and Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution.

The National Climate Database (NCD) involves the collection, storage and dissemination of data from national climate monitoring networks, including parameters such as snow depth, air temperature, barometric pressure, wind direction, rainfall and soil moisture. It is continuously supplied with quality assured climate data, and archives the publicly funded weather observations made by the New Zealand Meteorological Service. A delivery service (CliFlo) makes data fully accessible. The NCD is a basis for improved knowledge on New Zealand's climate and its impacts on society, and is used by a very wide spectrum of users for operational and decision-making purposes (e.g., pasture growth forecasting, irrigation management, drought forecasting, long-term planning etc.).

Use of the climate database is very high. As of 2023/24, there are over 62,000 registered users of CliFlo and 963 million rows of data were downloaded in 2.8 million transactions. Also, major data streams were provided to key end users, and there are other ways data is accessed — the use of the database is much more than through CliFlo alone. We support connectivity provision from the database to forecast models, which has high impact because it links the data directly with its predictive power.

The New Zealand Freshwater Fish Database (NZFFD) records the occurrence of fish in fresh waters of New Zealand, including major offshore islands. Data are contributed voluntarily by NIWA, Fish and Game councils, the Department of Conservation, regional councils, environment consultants, universities and interested individuals. The data are used for research purposes as well as for water management (e.g., in evidence for resource consents), conservation purposes and State of the Environment reporting. The NZFFD is used by over 200 users each month, with data being freely accessible to stakeholders and user groups online.

In 2023/24, the NZFFD had nearly 2,900 users who accessed the database in 4,300 sessions. On any given day, there were typically 3–30 active users. In 2023/24, 92% of users were from New Zealand, 3% from Australia, and 2% from the USA. Despite its specialisation, the database continues to attract a significant number of users, including researchers, interested individuals, and staff from regional councils and central government agencies, particularly the Department of Conservation.

The Water Resources Archive (WRA) involves the collection, storage and dissemination of data from national water quantity monitoring networks, including water levels and river flows. A delivery service makes data fully accessible. The WRA data comprise reference datasets that provide a national picture of the status of water resources of New Zealand, their regional differences and long-term trends. It forms a basis for improved knowledge on New Zealand’s water resources and their impacts on society (floods, droughts, water availability for hydro generation, water supply, etc.).

Key users receive automated site data updates from the National Hydrometric Database (part of the WRA) at the rate of about one site update every 1.5 seconds, which on an annual basis corresponds to over 19 million site updates provided to users. WebPortal use is increasing, with about 14 (non automated) logons a day and 6,500 data downloads (mostly automated).

Fruit Crop Germplasm

The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited (PFR) holds the following Fruit Crop Germplasm: apple, pear, hop, kiwifruit, pipfruit, berryfruit, summerfruit and citrus, as part of the Nationally Significant Collection (NSC).

Key Achievements

As a strategy for backing up the collections, we are developing laboratory-based technologies for their long-term conservation. This aims to reduce field maintenance costs of the collections, to increase the reliability of our conservation protocols, and to improve the quality (health status) of the plant material held. The technologies include low temperature in vitro (tissue culture) storage and cryopreservation, and we have tested protocols for apple, pear, kiwifruit and hops.

Improvement of the collection

The kiwifruit NSC collection is established in the field at three PFR sites (Kerikeri, Te Puke and Motueka) together with PFR kiwifruit germplasm. The kiwifruit collection is routinely pruned, trained and Psa-monitored following best industry practice at all sites. In the Te Puke orchard, fruit assessments started in April 2024 on germplasm planted in the field during 2020–2023. This will be ongoing for the next 4–5 years. In the Kerikeri orchard, the collection is being re-invigorated into a refreshed block with mounded soil and new drainage to protect it into the future from the increasingly wet Kerikeri environment.

Notable scientific achievements

New scientific knowledge was created on kiwifruit seed dormancy that provides greater understandings of the germination requirements for different species. In addition to supporting efforts in seed conservation, this new knowledge will support resilience of the New Zealand kiwifruit breeding programs. More information is available at Variations in Seed Dormancy Occurrence and Their Classifications in Thirteen Actinidia Species(external link).

This funding facilitated an international collaboration with the Spanish Research Council and enabled a short-term scientific visit by Dr Nieves Vidal to Plant and Food Research to work on hop cryopreservation.

Arable and vegetable crop germplasm held by the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited (PFR) includes wheat, barley, oat, pea, onion, Brassica species, essential oils and potato.

Key Achievements

During the 2023/2024 growing season at Lincoln, a total of 213 accessions of different beans including navy, kidney, and runner beans were sown for regeneration of seed. The plots were hand-harvested and hand-threshed, and the beans were sorted and matched with genotype description data in preparation for long-term storage in the seed bank. Following storage, viability will be re-assessed every 10 years and replenishment repeated as the viability falls below the required standard. This will be an ongoing standard practice for all our seed based NSC where each year the crop to be replenished will be selected based on priority and resource availability.

Improvement of the collection

To date, 280 potato genotypes from Plant and Food’s library collection have been backed up in a cryopreservation. These genotypes were phenotyped and genotyped to confirm their trueness to type prior to cryopreservation and tested for a minimum regeneration percentage of 40% before storage. Between 10-20 genotypes are planned to be added to this cryopreservation collection annually.

Notable scientific achievements

The research on the New Zealand taonga species (Swamp maire) was funded through the New Zealand’s Biological Heritage National Science Challenge Ngā Rākau Taketake (Challenge), authorised under the Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research Concession Number CA-31615-OTH. This work facilitated relationship building with Māori partners (Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui, Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa and Te Korowai o Ngaruahine Iwi Authorities) for access to their takiwā for seed collection, bilateral learning between Māori knowledge and western science, fostered ongoing engagement and gave exposure to the cryopreservation facility capability to Māori partners for conservation of taonga species.

Capability building, knowledge and technology transfer were achieved through student supervision and publication of scientific papers and technical guidelines:

• Frontiers | Advances in cryopreservation of Syzygium maire (swamp maire, maire tawake) zygotic embryos, a critically endangered tree species endemic to New Zealand(external link)
• Seed Desiccation Sensitivity Varies with Geographic Distribution in Two New Zealand Native Pittosporum Species(external link)
• Comparative seed cryopreservation of Indonesian and New Zealand epiphytic and terrestrial orchids - PubMed(external link)
• Nadarajan J. 2023. Unlocking the secrets of seed dormancy. Plant Production Science, New Zealand Plant Producers. ISSN 2744–7367. Issue 4
• Nadarajan J. 2023. Assessing seed excellence: Viability, germination, and vigour. Plant Production Science, New Zealand Plant Producers. ISSN 2744–7367. Issue 4.

The Margot Forde Genebank (MFG) is a leading facility dedicated to the conservation and advancement of plant genetic resources in New Zealand, with a particular focus on forage species. As a global leader in this field, MFG holds the largest collection of forage accessions in the world, supporting crucial research and development for resilient forages.

Key Achievements

Expanding the number and diversity of seeds in our collection: Over the past year, MFG added 4,101 new packets of seeds to its collection, enhancing our already extensive collection. This growth underscores our commitment to preserving diverse plant genetic diversity.

International collaboration

We are collaborating with institutions worldwide, including a major project with the US and Australian Forage Genebank on 40 clover species. This project highlights our role in advancing global forage research.

Scientific contributions

MFG co-authored a significant paper on clover research and has led authorship of a paper focusing on efforts in phenomics, a technology transforming genebank management. The latter work, soon to be published, reflects our ongoing innovation in plant genetic resource management.

Strategic seed increase

MFG has strategically increased 160 seed lines from key forage species, ensuring the continued availability of vital resources for researchers and farmers. Visit our website (https://www.agresearch.co.nz/partnering-with-us/products-and-services/margot-forde-genebank/(external link)) to learn more about our projects, collaborations, and how you can support the Margot Forde Genebank in preserving the future of plant genetic resources.

As key national infrastructure the NSCDs provide many benefits to New Zealand. They underpin domestic and international research, enable key government functions and support Māori, industry and a range of other end-users.

The use level of the NSCDs remained high over 2023/24. For example, the Land Resource Information System experienced over 95,000 visitors, while over 4.5 million searches were logged on the Systematics Collection Data portal.

MPI stopped a shipment of barley from Germany at the border because of the presence of a fungal contaminant and required that the shipment be reshipped or destroyed. The fungus was reported as present in New Zealand on BiotaNZ but without reference to a physical specimen. We scrutinised the records and determined that this name was attributed to an isolate and that the fungus has been present in NZ since at least 1973. On this basis MPI conducted a re-assessment and determined the seed shipment did not pose a risk to New Zealand biosecurity and released the shipment. This small piece of work had significant economic impact for this importer, saving the shipment of seed from destruction. This fungus will be added to the added to the Official NZ Pest Register (ONZPR) as a non-regulated species, helping future importers.

A new website, the Land Resources Portal, was released to enable access to a wide range of information on the Land Use Capability (LUC) system. The LUC underpins the National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land. LUC is also widely used by regional councils and farmers for catchment and farm planning, as well as soil conversation planning. Prior to the Land Resources Portal being developed there was no readily available means by which to access the extensive set of documents and data associated with the LUC system.

The endemic pimelea looper (Notoreas perornata) is a beautiful day-flying moth. It occurs in discrete, scattered populations in montane shrubland and on the coast, and the coastal populations are mostly small and threatened; some are feared extinct. Because size and wing pattern vary extensively across the wide range of the moth, it was suspected that multiple unnamed subspecies or species were involved. We used morphology and DNA sequences to show that there is only a single recognisable species, though this may be in an active state of evolutionary divergence. We proposed conservation at the population level to retain evolutionary potential and recognise 10 populations or groups of populations as conservation units.

We continued to host many visitors to Te Kohinga Harakeke o Aotearoa highlighting its importance as a tool for bringing together interested Māori Trusts and incorporations to discuss the priorities and aspirations kaitiaki have for the land.

The question “Is it in New Zealand” is one that the NSCDs are often asked to solve. ICMP’s strategy is to hold, for comparative purposes, cultures of all the world’s bacteria derived from plants. This allowed us to determine whether the bacterium Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus was present in New Zealand soils. This bacterium is of interest to agriculture as it is a nitrogen fixing mutualistic microbe that supports plant growth, so reducing the need for additional fertilizer. An issue with the use of these technologies is persistence of the beneficial organism in the field. In overseas studies, selected strains of G.diazotrophicus have been shown to be persistent within the roots of host plants and such strains are of interest for introduction into New Zealand. This bacterium is known to be widespread globally, and although there was no record of it in New Zealand, it might occur here naturally but have gone undetected. We surveyed plants known to be good hosts for G.diazotrophicus elsewhere in the world, but did not detect it. This result means that if products containing G.diazotrophicus will require approval under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act and the Biosecurity Act.

In global research, data from the New Zealand Arthropod Collection was used in the development of a global model to understand the decline in insects brought about climate change. While data from the New Zealand Fungarium was used in a novel method for sampling and characterizing biodiversity that holds great promise for re-evaluating patterns of life across the planet.

It takes a lot to run NSCDs. SSIF means this key national infrastructure continues to generate benefits through ensuring the NSCDs are well curated, provide reliable information and are contained in secure facilities. SSIF also ensures that the information the NSCDs contains is readily accessible and provided in a user-friendly format, and that researchers, biosecurity and biodiversity experts, and primary industry have access to the highly specialised support and advice they need.

The NSCDs are of special significance to Māori. 2023/24 saw a focus on whakawhanaungatanga (establishing external relationships between iwi, hapū, and whānau) in relation to the biological collections and databases held in our care. Acknowledging tikanga Māori, applying culturally specific approaches when working with taonga, was a priority, a key activity was the development of Tikanga Guidelines for the collections.

Another key priority is to ensure our collections and databases are accessible in ways that meet user needs is digitisation. The NSCDs received and digitised 20–30,000 new objects a year using previous processing methods. However, these methods were inadequate for processing the historical backlog of over 2.5m objects we hold, making it difficult for users to access this information. We are increasing the processing rate and this year over 66,000 specimen records were digitised across all collections.