The success of research in integrated environmental and natural resource management relies on the participation and involvement of different disciplines and stakeholders. This can be difficult to achieve in practice because many initiatives fail to address the underlying social processes required for successful engagement and social learning. We used an action research approach to support a research-based group with a range of disciplinary and stakeholder expertise to critically reflect on their engagement practice and identify lessons around how to collaborate more effectively. This approach is provided here as a guide that can be used to support reflective research practice for engagement in other integration-based initiatives. This paper is set in the context of an integrated wildlife management research case study in New Zealand. We illustrate how multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches can provide a framework for considering the different conversations that need to occur in an integrated research program. We then outline rubrics that list the criteria required in inter- and trans-disciplinary collaborations, along with examples of effective engagement processes that directly support integration through such efforts. Finally, we discuss the implications of these experiences for other researchers and managers seeking to improve engagement and collaboration in integrated science, management and policy initiatives. Our experiences reaffirm the need for those involved in integrative initiatives to attend to the processes of engagement in both formal and informal settings, to provide opportunities for critical reflective practice, and to look for measures of success that acknowledge the importance of effective social process.

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Omnivory is common among arthropods, but little is known about how availability of plant resources and prey affects interactions between species operating at the third and fourth trophic level. We used laboratory and field cage experiments to investigate how the provision of flowers affects an omnivorous lacewing, Micromus tasmaniae (Hemerobiidae) and its parasitoid Anacharis zealandica (Figitidae). The adult lacewing is a true omnivore that feeds on both floral resources and aphids, whereas the parasitoid is a life-history omnivore, feeding on lacewing larvae in the larval stage and floral nectar as an adult. We showed that the effect of floral resources (buckwheat) on lacewing oviposition depends on prey (aphid) density, having a positive effect only at low prey density and that buckwheat substantially increases the longevity of the adult parasitoid. In field cages, we tested how provision of flowering buckwheat affects the dynamics of a four trophic level system, comprising parasitoids, lacewings, pea aphids and alfalfa. We found that provision of buckwheat decreased the density of lacewings in the first phase of the experiment when the density of aphids was high. This effect was probably caused by increased rate of parasitism by the parasitoid, which benefits from the presence of buckwheat. Towards the end of the experiment when the aphid populations had declined to low levels, the effect of buckwheat on lacewing density became positive, probably because lacewings were starving in the nobuckwheat treatment. Although presence of buckwheat flowers did not affect aphid populations in the field cages, these findings highlight the need to consider multitrophic interactions when proposing provision of floral resources as a technique for sustainable pest management.

A new low-concentration formulation of Feracol † paste containing 0.4% concentration cholecalciferol was tested for efficacy against possums in cage trials, and against possums and rodents in a single unreplicated field trial. A new low-concentration 0.4% cholecalciferol cereal pellet was also tested in the field against possums and rodents. 20 wild-caught possums, held in individual cages, were presented with 15 g of 0.4% cholecalciferol paste. Possum body weight, amount of paste eaten and days until death were recorded. The field trial occurred on Banks Peninsula, Canterbury, from September to November 2009, using a treatment site of c. 100 ha and a non-treatment site of c. 200 ha. The treatment site was divided into two even blocks, one for paste and one for pellets. Pre-and post-monitoring were carried out using leg-hold traps for possums, and tracking tunnels for rodents. Of the 20 caged possums, a kill rate of 89.5% with an average time to death of 7.0 days90.41 SEM was achieved, similar to earlier work on cholecalciferol using a higher concentration. In the field trial pellet treatment block, possum numbers were reduced by 94911%, mice numbers by 10090% and rat numbers by 89912%. In the paste treatment block, possum numbers were reduced by 93916%, mice numbers by 75929% and rat numbers by 10090%. Under the current study conditions, the effectiveness of the new Feracol † paste and pellets containing 0.4% concentration cholecalciferol was comparable to the currently registered 0.8% concentration cholecalciferol Feracol † paste formula, and was effective in controlling multiple pest species while reducing the poisoning risk to non-target species. Replication of this field trial using the new bait matrices is necessary to increase confidence under similar and differing conditions, to ensure that the efficacy seen here is not arbitrary.

He nui nga mātauranga a te Māori (Ngai Tūhoe) e pā ana ki nga momo hua tāokeoke (Toxins) e taea ana te whakarite hei rauemi tāwai i ngā riha kīrearea, pērā anō ki nga whiu takarangi o te tāoke 1080. I whakamātauhia e matou i nga ira tāoke o roto o te hua Tutu, ki rō taiwhanga pūtaiao. Mā te wero atu ki tētahi kiore (Norway Rat) i hua mai ngā mohiotanga o te nui me te momo o ngā tāokeoke kei roto i tēnei miro Māori, me te āhua o tēnei tāoke kia mau-rohā tonu tōna tuku whakahemo (Humaneness). Kei tua o te 55 mg kg −1 neke atu, te ine i tūtuki pai ai nga tāhawahawatanga o te miro Tutu, ā, e mau-roha tonu ana te kōhurutanga o te riha. Ko te whakatau kia kawea atu tēnei kaupapa ki nga ahurewa rangahau e taea ai te waihanga i tētahi mōunu tāokeoke, kia whakamātauria ki rō ngāhere. Hei tāpiritanga ki tēnei, he roa rawa te wā e pakari ai te whanaketanga mai o tētahi tākoe e rerekē ana ki te 1080, anō nei, mā ngā kawenga o te mātauranga Māori ki tēnei take e whanake tika ai te kaupapa nei.