Thomas P. Moore

Despite decades of recognition, gendered pay disparities have remained remarkably persistent in most organisations. In Aotearoa-New Zealand, Public Services such as Crown Research Institutes are required to report the summary statistics of gender and racial pay gaps. However, effectively addressing these pay gaps requires a more detailed understanding of the interplay between the factors underpinning them such as organisational role, tenure and gender. We propose a new methodology to disentangle the factors underlying organisational gender pay gaps using approaches from causal inference and Bayesian statistics. The method is designed to accommodate anonymised data collected at the salary band level. We demonstrate the technique using datasets simulated from a hierarchical organisation and reproduce pay gaps between gendered groups within a complex causal structure. We also model the effectiveness of specific interventions to quantify the degree of change required to reduce gender pay gaps. Although our approach cannot address the structural factors underlying pay gaps, it does provide a method to better understand pay gaps and possible solutions, as a crucial next step in achieving pay parity.

No tillage (NT) has been proposed as a practice to reduce the adverse effects of tillage on contaminant (e.g., sediment and nutrient) losses to waterways. Nonetheless, previous reports on impacts of NT on nitrate () leaching are inconsistent. A global meta‐analysis was conducted to test the hypothesis that the response of leaching under NT, relative to tillage, is associated with tillage type (inversion vs non‐inversion tillage), soil properties (e.g., soil organic carbon [SOC]), climate factors (i.e., water input), and management practices (e.g., NT duration and nitrogen fertilizer inputs). Overall, compared with all forms of tillage combined, NT had 4% and 14% greater area‐scaled and yield‐scaled leaching losses, respectively. The leaching under NT tended to be 7% greater than that of inversion tillage but comparable to non‐inversion tillage. Greater leaching under NT, compared with inversion tillage, was most evident under short‐duration NT (−1), in medium texture and low SOC (200 kg ha⁻¹) and lower (0–100 kg ha⁻¹) rates of nitrogen addition. Of these, SOC was the most important factor affecting the risk of NO₃⁻ leaching under NT compared with inversion tillage. Globally, on average, the greater amount of NO₃⁻ leached under NT, compared with inversion tillage, was mainly attributed to corresponding increases in drainage. The percentage of global cropping land with lower risk of NO₃⁻ leaching under NT, relative to inversion tillage, increased with NT duration from 3 years (31%) to 15 years (54%). This study highlighted that the benefits of NT adoption for mitigating leaching are most likely in long‐term NT cropping systems on high‐SOC soils.

Making high quality but affordable Pinot noir (PN) wine is challenging in most terroirs and New Zealand (NZ)’s situation is no exception. To increase the probability of making highly typical PN wines, producers choose to grow grapes in cool climates on lower fertility soils while adopting labour intensive practices. Stringent yield targets and higher input costs necessarily mean that PN wine cost is high, and profitability lower, in affordable varietal wine ranges.To understand if higher-yielding vines produce wines of lower quality we have undertaken an extensive study of PN in NZ. Since 2018, we established a network of twelve trial sites in three NZ regions to find individual vines that produced acceptable commercial yields (above 2.0 kg per metre of row) and wines of composition comparable to “Icon” labels. Approximately 20 % of 660 grape lots (N = 135) were selected within a narrow juice Total Soluble Solids (TSS) range of 22.0 ± 1.0 °Brix and made into single-vine wines under controlled conditions.Multiple Factor Analysis of the vine, berry, juice and wine parameters from three vintages found grape Berry Weight to be the most effective clustering variable. As the Berry Weight category decreased, there was a systematic increase in the probability of higher berry red colour and total phenolics with a parallel increase in wine phenolics and decreased juice amino acids. The influence of berry weight on wine composition would appear stronger than the individual effects of Vintage, Region, Vineyard or vine Yield. Our observations support the hypothesis that it is possible to produce PN wines that fall within an “Icon” benchmark composition range at yields above 2.5 kg per vine, provided that the Leaf Area:Fruit Weight ratio is above 11 cm2 per g, mean berry weight is below 1.2 g and juice TSS is above 22 °Brix.

Globally-threatened freshwater mussels belonging to the order Unionida (Bivalvia) may be adversely affected by dense beds of submerged macrophytes that modify habitat at the sediment-water interface. Such effects can be particularly pronounced in modified lentic ecosystems such as reservoirs which are subject to hydrological regimes (e.g., hydropeaking) that can exacerbate macrophyte-mediated impacts, including anoxic or hypoxic conditions, the related release of toxic ions (e.g., ammonia), and silt accumulation that inhibits filter-feeding. Accordingly, we compared how population size-structure and biomass of the New Zealand mussel Echyridella menziesii varied inside and outside of dense beds of invasive macrophytes known to have similar impacts on water chemistry (e.g., anoxia) in two northern New Zealand hydroreservoir locations with contrasting hydrology (lacustrine location dominated by Ceratophyllum demersum ; and riverine location dominated by Egeria densa ). We found adverse sediment-water interface conditions were not always associated with dense submerged macrophyte beds in littoral zones. Nonetheless, where they occurred, adverse sediment-water interface conditions were primary drivers in reduced mussel density and adult skewed size-structure, inferring reduced recruitment. Disentangling direct and indirect effects with structural equation modelling indicated that increased pore-water ammonia did not impact these primarily adult populations of freshwater mussels. Increased sediment organic matter, silt, and previously recorded hypoxia and anoxia were exacerbated in the lacustrine section where variable flows promoting water mixing were not present to reduce their effects. High densities of mussels less than 40 mm in length were associated with favourable sediment-water interface conditions of low silt and sediment organic matter, suggesting that enhanced water exchange in and around macrophyte beds may increase juvenile mussel survival in littoral zones of the riverine lake section. Our findings highlight a potential role for hydropeaking management in mitigating the development of adverse physicochemical conditions, and underscore the context-specific effects that dense non-native macrophyte beds can have on mussel populations.

Dense macrophyte beds are known to produce extreme diurnal oxygen and temperature conditions in shallow lakes. However their influences in managed hydropeaking reservoirs has received limited attention. We measured dissolved oxygen, pH and water temperature in the Lake Karāpiro hydroreservoir, northern New Zealand, across a gradient of proportional water‐column height occupied by the invasive macrophytes Egeria densa and Ceratophyllum demersum, which dominated in the upper‐riverine (variable water inflow) and lower‐lacustrine (variable water level) sections, respectively. Hypoxia and anoxia events that occurred inside invasive macrophyte beds during their summer peak biomass accumulation period were more pronounced for C. demersum than for E. densa, and within the bottom 20% of the water column. In contrast, pH and temperature changed little in relation to proportional macrophyte height. Macrophyte species differences in the production of hypoxia and anoxia events increased when site‐specific hydropeaking management covariates (depth, inflows, water level) were accounted for. This association with hydropeaking likely resulted from contrasting hydrodynamics in the lower‐lacustrine and upper‐riverine lake sections, where oxygen can decrease with higher water levels and lower water inflow rates, respectively. During the course of our study, some macrophyte beds were treated with herbicide, enabling us to document prolonged and sustained hypoxic/anoxic conditions near the bottom following spraying. These results underscore the adverse effects of invasive macrophytes on water physicochemical attributes that sustain aquatic biota, and highlight the context‐dependent nature of these effects moderated by reservoir management for hydropeaking and macrophyte control.

Understanding the multiple agents of decline is important for the conservation of globally threatened Unionida (Class Bivalvia), but threats from non‐native species have received limited attention. To address this gap, a global meta‐analysis was conducted aimed at identifying known interactions and mechanisms of impact and informing potential effect pathways for the New Zealand unionid fauna. The main non‐native groups identified as interacting with unionids were fish (38% of published studies), macrophytes (33%), and vertebrate predators (30%), with ~70% of interactions leading to adverse impacts on mussels. Most studies used field surveys (~50%) and were conducted in rivers (~50%). Impacts occurred across the unionid life cycle (adult, glochidia, host, and juvenile), and primarily affected processes that determine the transitions between life‐cycle stages (fertilization, infestation, settlement, and maturation). The impacts of non‐native macrophytes and fish were predicted to be greater for transitional stages than the impact of vertebrate predators, which mostly affected adult mussels. New Zealand Unionida are most likely to be affected by interactions with non‐native species in lowland lakes and waterways, where connectivity for diadromous native fish hosts and high bioinvasion potential intersect.

We describe a pilot project on the Romeo Malette Forest in northeastern Ontario that used a spatially explicit strategic model as an element of the hierarchical modelling process used in forest management planning. We integrated 2 different and slightly overlapping modelling tools, the traditional aspatial Strategic Forest Management Model (SFMM) and the newer spatial Patchworks model, to form a comprehensive decision support system for planning. Results from the conventional modelling approach using only SFMM served as comparison. The pilot project’s goals included satisfying Ontario’s rigorous planning and public consultation requirements, addressing technical issues associated with using 2 separate models, and engaging planning team members in the decision-making process. Implementation of a new technology (spatial modelling) into a highly regulated organizational process presented the planning team with a series of challenges. For example, the higher resolution of the data used for the Patchworks model and changes in conventional concepts and procedures required that the planning team adjust and adapt its approach. One clear advantage of the combined approach was that the long-term effects of spatial and operational adjustments, such as landscape-level policies or harvest block deferrals, were evaluated comprehensively and immediately, leading to greater confidence that the forecast outcomes are sustainable. The hierarchical-spatial modelling process used in this pilot provides a significant improvement to forest management planning and results in improved confidence in the overall sustainability of the long-term management direction. The lessons learned have provided a base for future planning teams to take advantage of the many benefits of a decision support system that includes spatial modelling. Key words: forest management planning, spatial modelling, decision support, Patchworks