Dr Barbara Anderson was (until last Monday) a Research Scientist at Otago Museum. She completed her doctorate at Otago University and post-doctoral studies at the university of York, specialising in measuring micro-climates to assess the effects of changes on flora and fauna. She is also a member of the West Harbour Community Board and is Chair of the Otago Branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Barbara spoke primarily about her work measuring microclimates in the Mt Cardrona area, finding information about temperatures, soil moisture, bacterial activity, rates of decomposition, nitrogen content etc, using “fancy” electronic equipment and tea bags (red and green) as well. This data will provide information about what will happen in ecosystems as a result of global warming. There is a dearth of information about ecosystems in New Zealand, so the modelling of the effects of climate change is based on what has been observed over many years in other countries, particularly Britain.
Barbara showed us lots of graphs to demonstrate that a rise of temperature of just 1 degree will force a retreat of 200 metres in elevation of the flora and fauna, significantly reducing the amount of area in which they will thrive (at least I think that was what she was showing us?). She also showed us some very nice pictures of mountain scenery as a break from the statistics.
Barbara’s passion is moths. There are over 2000 species of moth in New Zealand, and more than 86% of these are only found in this country (ie they are endemic). She has studied moths all over the place, including Enderby Island (which is not a very hospitable place for humans, but moths seem to survive the conditions!). Moths have a very important role in the food chain (lots of other life forms think they are very tasty!) and also as carriers of pollen. One species of moth that Barbara discovered is named after her – the ‘Ichneutica Barbara’, which is a moth with a fluffy yellow bottom!