Research

New Zealand's Kaikoura Canyon is a 'biodiversity hotspot', containing far more life than seen before at such depths.

Building a publicly-available database from the results of a marine mapping survey of the Bay of Islands provides us with a stocktake of the local aquatic resource, in turn giving us valuable information on what areas we can better manage for the future.

NIWA is working on a ministry-funded project to produce a model, validated by 40 years of historic data, to project future wave and storm surges off the coast for two climate change scenarios.

NIWA has produced revised safe levels of dissolved oxygen for fish, which will help inform future environmental planning and resource consents and help to keep New Zealand rivers full of healthy fish.

Streams play a key role in the ecosystems of New Zealand’s unique landscape. They feed and link together freshwater sources, maintain good water quality and support habitats that sustain our biodiversity.

Changes to the local environment and over harvesting have damaged shellfish populations in many estuaries. These projects examine the most effective way to restore these habitats and allow healthy populations of shellfish to return.

NIWA worked with the community on the island of Totoya, in the Yasayasa Moala Island group in south-east Fiji to assess their energy security and energy related socio-economic opportunities.

The giant kōkopu is a native whitebait species considered rare and vulnerable. NIWA is working with Mahurangi Technical Institute and environmental consultancy Boffa Miskell to test the feasibility of reintroducing giant kōkopu to Nukumea Stream, north of Auckland.

Seagrass beds form an important undersea habitat for small fish, seahorses and shellfish in New Zealand.

This unique project is the first systematic attempt to quantify and map environmental values of New Zealand's coastal marine ecosystem.

NIWA has developed an Urban Stormwater Contaminant (USC) model to enable urban planners to predict sedimentation and heavy metal accumulation in estuaries and identify problem areas in order to target mitigation measures.

Our oceans are expected to become more acidic as carbon dioxide concentrations rise. This will likely have impacts on the plankton, which play a major role in ocean ecosystems and processes.