Some of the stories covered by Our Changing World during 2022 Photo: RNZ/Supplied
Got a summer roadie planned? While you're cruising through New Zealand's stunning scenery this holiday season, transport your mind to the most wondrous corners of Aotearoa's natural world with a playlist some of this year's best Our Changing World episodes.
We'll take you down south to meet kākāpō and rare beetles, even further south to Antarctica, and deep underground to earthquake fault lines. Along the way, we'll meet the fascinating people exploring our changing world.
Here's a top ten of 2022 Our Changing World nature stories. (Got a favourite? Tweet it at us!)
1) Fascinating fungi and pesky pathogens
Thousands of weird and wonderful dried fungi specimens are stacked in rows and rows of shelves in a room in the Manaaki Whenua building in Auckland. What can researchers learn from this fungal treasure trove?
2) For the love of seabirds
Edin Whitehead inherited a love of birds from her father and became captivated by the majesty of seabirds on a trip to the subantarctic islands. Now a PhD student at the University of Auckland, she is pouring her love - and research efforts - into the spectacular seabirds of the Hauraki Gulf.
Rako (Buller's shearwaters) on a mossy rock. Seabirds are the most threatened group of birds in the world, researcher Edin Whitehead says. Photo: Supplied
3) The Living Laboratories project
What's the recipe for efficiently growing native forest as cheaply as possible? And what values do these forests give us as they grow? In an era of offsetting, carbon credits, and biodiversity loss, one team of researchers are answering these questions using a living (and growing) laboratory.
4) Secrets of Antarctic microbes
Antarctica is an extreme place, and its most extreme nooks and crannies give rise to the toughest and weirdest types of life. From creatures thriving where methane gas bubbles out of the Earth's crust into the ocean, to bacteria inhabiting the Dry Valleys, in this episode we explore some microbial weirdness.
5) Helping seabirds return to Karioi
A community group has rallied around the grey-faced petrel, or ōi, as the ultimate symbol of connection between the land and the ocean. But can they protect these seabirds from the myriad of predators in the areas where they come to nest?
Project manager Kristel van Houte sits by an ōi burrow Photo: RNZ
6) Digging in to the past of sleeping giant faults
The Nevis Fault is a sleeping giant, one that awakens only every 10,000 years or so. A team of geologists wants to uncover this fault line's secrets. To do this, they have to start by digging a trench...
7) Multi-talented macroalgae
Cleaning up fresh water, helping people with metabolic disorders, reducing methane emissions from cows, providing nutritious and delicious snacks... there seems to be no end for the potential of macroalgae (seaweeds). Claire Concannon visits the team and facilities dedicated to exploring what algae can do.
8) The battling beetle
With their antler-like mandibles, Helm's stag beetles often get stuck into one another. But they are fighting bigger battles too - against predators and habitat loss. Luckily, they have passionate researchers like PhD student Luna Thomas in their corner.
Taking stag beetle measurements. Photo: Luna Thomas
9) Naturally rare and threatened
Across Aotearoa there are more than 70 naturally rare ecosystems. They make up a tiny sliver of our country but hold incredible amounts of biodiversity. Claire Concannon visits the limestone ecosystem of North Otago Naturally rare and threatened to learn about some of the native species that call it home.
10) 2022 a boomer year for kākāpō
The summer of 2021/2022 was another big one for the world's heaviest, longest living parrot. After a break of two years, the rimu mast (providing an abundance of fruit) meant it was breeding time for the kākāpō. Alison Ballance travelled to Pukenui Anchor Island to find out whether breeding was booming for kākāpō.
Remember, the best way to stay up to date and never miss an episode is to follow Our Changing World on your favourite podcast app, or select it as a favourite in your RNZ app.
Have a wonderful summer of podcast listening!
