Wildlife Ecology and Epidemiology
Introduction
The Wildlife Ecology & Epidemiology Team comprises 25 staff with expertise in animal pest ecology, modelling, epidemiology, and control strategies. Our work on pests and diseases include, marsupials (possums and wallabies), mustelids (stoats and ferrets), rodents (rats and mice), ungulates (deer, pigs and thar), birds (starlings and mynas), lagomorphs (rabbits and hares), and diseases as problems (bovine tuberculosis and avian malaria) and as biocontrols (rabbit haemorrhagic disease).
Work focuses on protecting native ecosystems and primary industry through improved understanding of pest responses to management, and the role of pests as disease carriers. This understanding is then used to develop better pest management regimes.
Research has been undertaken for central government (e.g. Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, Department of Conservation), local government (e.g. Southland Regional Council, Environment Canterbury), national agencies (e.g. Animal Health Board, Foundation for Arable Research), international agencies (e.g. United Nations Development Programme, British Ecological Society, The Nature Conservancy), government agencies (Chile, Argentina, New Caledonia, Mauritius), and private companies and conservation initiatives.
Research themes
- Ecology of multiple interacting mammal pests
Primary contact: Wendy Ruscoe
Protection of native wildlife is limited by incomplete knowledge of interactions among suites of mammal pests; our research aims to develop an understanding of key interactions among multiple pests threatening flora and fauna, and provide a system that supports the application of this knowledge to conservation management. - International pest management
Primary contact: John Parkes
Our wildlife management science has an excellent reputation both in New Zealand and overseas. Our team is known for its breadth and depth of expertise in ecology, pest control, risk management, and policy support across single and multiple species. We advise on the feasibility of eradication, audit of pest programmes, pest management strategies and policy development to governments and agencies around the world. - Spatial Ecology
Primary contact: Andrea Byrom
Our research aims to develop new and generic approaches to population mapping and spatial modelling that may be applied across a range of mammal pests to dramatically increase the effectiveness of control. Newsletter now available (August 2008). - Wildlife diseases and disease threats to humans
Primary contact: Daniel Tompkins
Animal pests and associated diseases threaten New Zealand’s native and productive environments: our research aims to develop a greater understanding of the transmission and behaviour of these diseases in their hosts so that we provide improved control or eradication strategies. - Wildlife in production landscapes
Primary contact: Catriona MacLeod
Our research programme aims to inform sustainable land management and biodiversity conservation strategies in New Zealand’s agricultural landscape through better understanding of the status and ecology of wildlife populations, primarily birds, in farmland areas.
Tools & Services
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Animal distribution maps
Animal distributions provides you with a view of the national distribution of 7 species of deer, 5 species of wallaby, thar, chamois, goat and pig. -
Animal facility
An accredited animal facility, operating under strict ethical guidelines, for captive breeding, observation, and the assessment of pest control tools. -
Animal pest monitoring & control
A comprehensive service providing advice on, and assessment of, the design and implementation of animal pest monitoring and control programmes. -
Animal population modelling
Landcare Research has internationally recognised expertise in providing spatial and population modelling for a range of species at a range of scales. -
Baits and toxins
A comprehensive service providing advice on new and improved baits and toxins, and testing. -
DENSITY
Mark–recapture estimation of population density, implementing methods for estimating absolute population density from closed–population samples. -
Mark–Recapture interface for programs CAPTURE and JOLLY
Allows the user to run data stored in an input file for the program MARK through programs CAPTURE and JOLLY. -
PestCalc
The pest control calculator – developed to make analysis of pest control monitoring data simpler and more accurate. -
Reproductive biology and immunology of mammalian wildlife
Expertise in captive and artificial breeding techniques for pest species, wildlife vaccine development and testing, skills in non–invasive monitoring of reproduction as well as assessment of reproductive performance of non–target species (mammals and birds). -
Toxicology laboratory
An accredited laboratory providing vertebrate pesticide bait and residue analysis. -
Trap design and testing
Trap design and testing -
Wildlife population ecology
Advice on the design and implementation of large–scale ecological experiments, and statistical modelling of the resultant data.
Science leader
 | Andrea Byrom Email  |
Landcare Research | |
Phone: 03 321 9999 |