 |
  |
| UC Home | Courses | Departments | Library | Teaching | Research | Students | Contacts | Search | |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
||
Moa research ruffling feathersPublished by the Communications and Development Department
18 November 2004
University of Canterbury scientists are shedding new light on the demise of New Zealand’s most famous extinct birds, the moa.
A recently published research paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, by UC’s Neil Gemmell and Bruce Robertson (Biological Sciences) and Michael Schwartz from the US Forestry Service in Montana suggests that the giant flightless bird was once common and may have already begun to decline before the arrival of humans.
Mitochrondrial DNA sequence data from the bone samples of 58 Dinornis, the largest of the 10 moa species, was put into the public GenBank database last year and Dr Gemmell says he and his colleagues recognised an opportunity “to do something clever with it”.
In a scientific first the trio used new genetic analyses to estimate the population size of an extinct species.
Their calculations, estimate that as little as 1000 years ago New Zealand’s standing moa population was between three and 12 million.
This estimate is much larger than the previously accepted population estimate of around 159,000 for moa at the time of the arrival of humans.
While the latest findings in no way let humans off the hook for the moa’s eventual demise it does suggest that other factors may have led to the dramatic population decline in moa numbers prior to pre-human contact – disease or habitat loss due to volcanic eruptions.
Dr Gemmell says the research is “rarking up” a lot of interest as the moa is part of our “cultural and biological mythology”. He is also aware the new calculations are ruffling a few feathers in the scientific community.
However, he hopes that the research will stimulate an “informed debate” and lead to improved ways of estimating population size, providing solutions for contemporary conservation strategies.
“If our new estimates of moa numbers are correct then we need to think about the factors that might have influenced these populations prior to the arrival of humans, perhaps gaining greater insight into modern conservation problems from the lessons of the past.”
|
