SCION NEWSLETTER ▪ ISSUE  ▪ SEPTEMBER 

Andrea Stocchero (Scion) and Hinerangi Goodman (Chair Matekuare Whānau Trust) featured on TV news, talking about their work and the trust’s aspirations to live sustainably on their whenua.

Sustainable papakāinga CONTENTS

The village of Te Whaiti lies some  partners have worked to assemble the Sustainable papakāinga kilometres south east of Rotorua. Situated above concepts into a house design that among the imposing Ikawhenua and meets the needs of the community, and We need , but what type? Huiarau Ranges of Te Urewera, this isolated then to test the designs to show they can  land is home to the Matekuare whānau, a serve the people's needs. community striving to improve their housing Combatting erosion with conditions. strategic afforestation The Matekuare Whānau Trust (a hapū of Holistic study  Ngāti Whare) has a long-held vision of Closing the gap on building a papakāinga (whānau housing) Heathy homes come from a combination productivity on their land. And not just any houses, of performance, design and construction  houses that support healthy people and and the best management of indoor connection to the land. Their papakāinga moisture and temperature. Buildings can Forest genetics and tissue culture would fill the needs of their community, with be designed and built to ensure healthy programmes accelerate change tikanga Māori, affordability, , indoor living conditions are achieved and  and hauora (health and wellbeing) at its maintained in an energy-efficient, Scion’s new innovation hub is heart. affordable way. Such high-performing taking shape Designing such a home is the task of a buildings are healthier, cheaper to run  holistic and collaborative research project and have a lower impact on the natural Seaweed science led by Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, environment.  with assistance from Unitec Institute of This project focussed on two areas of Technology, Tallwood (an Auckland-based research to ensure that home designs design and prefabricated-construction company) and Scion. Together, the research (Continued on page )

PROSPERITY FROM MAI I TE NGAHERE ORANGA We need forests, but what type?

However, there is more to New Zealand If we look at new planting on agricultural forests than simply seeing exotic land there are options that may not have for timber and fibre production too much effect on farm production. For versus indigenous forests managed for example, we calculated the carbon stocks conservation values. There was an excellent for running a  metre strip of radiata pine for this dichotomy - exotic forests trees up both sides of all waterways in all were planted to take pressure off our farmland and came up with ~, rapidly shrinking natural forests. It’s time hectares and  million cubic metres of we moved from this blanket view. new forest at age , which equates to All our forests are affected by human ~ million tonnes of carbon sequestered, activity. Increased atmospheric CO levels while only decreasing agricultural land area and expected increasing storm impacts by ~. to . per cent. New shelterbelts, will not spare any of our forests, and we spaced trees planted on less intensively must think more broadly in the conversation farmed pockets are all additional places about the future of our forests. where carbon may be captured without Forests are a highly multi-functional too much impact on farm production. land use fulfilling a primary purpose while Recent work³ has shown that existing giving many secondary benefits. They forests are not growing as fast Our strategy “Right , right place, provide many products, like timber, fibre, as they could, so another approach to right purpose” is all about making sound energy, chemicals, food, medicines plus increasing carbon stocks is to intensify decisions. One person’s right tree in the services such as carbon storage, erosion management across the existing . million right place for the right purpose is not control, clean water, recreation, human hectares of planted forests. Current necessarily everyone’s so we must consider wellbeing, biodiversity conservation, climate thinking is that it may be possible to double society’s different when regulation and aesthetics. productivity, and hence carbon stored, working out where best to plant trees and A key challenge confronting us now is through a combination of high performing change a land use. Our rural landscapes climate change. New Zealand committed genotypes, and tree crop and soil are familiar scenes, and fears about these to Paris Climate Agreement targets to management. landscapes changing from pasture to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by These are just a handful of options but plantation are understandable.  per cent below  levels by . can help to expand our thinking. Discussion Yet land use facts should help allay those Planting forests to store carbon from the and of perceptions and concerns. Planted forestry’s share is small – atmosphere is part of the solution. The One understanding what we want from our only  per cent – compared with land used Billion Trees Programme will contribute forests and trees is important to good for pasture, crops and ¹. to this target over the next decade and is decision making by landowners, supported being promoted strongly, with payments by a sound and commonly used scientific to landowners to encourage planting. evidence base. The question is what type of forest? From We need to plant new right trees in the a purely carbon perspective, fast growing right place for the right purpose, but we also exotic plantations are often the best and need to make the most of the opportunities most effective approach. However, other presented by our existing forests to Percentage perspectives and concerns, and other integrate all forests into our national thinking of land by land cover benefits sought from trees, must be and create new integrated landscapes for considered when deciding on the ‘right tree’. future generations to enjoy and use. If we want to increase the carbon stored in trees there are many ways to do this across various forest types from untouched primary natural forest to trees outside forests. Urban 0.4% Grassland 51% For instance, if primary forests are Cropland 1% Horticulture 0.4% affected by animal browsing, pest control Exotic forest 8% Natural forest 30% could enhance tree growth and hence Dr Julian Elder Grass & scrub 5% Other 4% the amount of stored carbon; recovering Chief Executive natural forests could be fertilised to accelerate growth rates; and agricultural “… it is hard to see what all the fuss is lands offer many options. A recent study² on about when land use is already so heavily sheep and beef farms has identified large FOR FURTHER skewed to pastoral farming,” said Pattrick areas of natural forests that could be actively contact Dr Julian Elder at Smellie in the NZ Herald recently. I agree. managed to enhance carbon stocks. [email protected]

¹ https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/-analysis-of-drivers-and-barriers-to-land-use-change ² https://beeflambnz.com/sites/default/files/FINAL%Norton%Vegetation%occurence%sheep%beef%farms.pdf ³ Moore and Clinton . Enhancing the productivity of radiata pine forestry within environmental limits, NZJF. : pp-

SCION CONNECTIONS ISSUE  SEPTEMBER  An example of East Coast land showing mixed forest growing on a hillside beside a section of highly erodible land. Combatting erosion with strategic afforestation

Strategic afforestation is a precise are perfect to plant woody vegetation to (FIF) model takes a wide range of factors undertaking. The factors that influence reduce erosion, but each site has unique into account to provide landowners with where, why and what kind of forest is environmental conditions to take into more information. FIF combines information planted involve detailed information on consideration. on forest productivity, infrastructure environmental conditions, forest genetics The biophysical considerations include networks, planting and harvesting costs, and economics. Scion, in collaboration rainfall, altitude, slope angle, aspect, soil the economic values of ecosystem services with PF Olsen, is working with the type, erodibility, fertility and sediment loss. such as timber, carbon capture, erosion Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to identify These factors, along with genetics and reduction, leaching reduction and habitats where forests could fit into the regional , will largely determine which for native species. This, and other sources landscape. species will perform best on the site (which of information, are integrated in FIF to This project is a ‘real life’ application of will vary according to the purpose or calculate outputs for the areas of interest. Scion’s strategy ‘Right tree, right place, desired outcome from planting). However, The next step is to apply a social analysis right purpose’ promoting an approach the species most likely to thrive might not to risk matrix. This will include interviewing that would see landowners consider a necessarily serve the purpose for planting. farm on their experiences with range of factors before planting. This For example, native species may be forestry and more about the project aims to help landowners make preferred for permanent forests and erosion financial drivers for farm foresters. informed decisions about planting, control, or fast-growing exotic species including which tree species is best for might be favoured for carbon. which purpose (e.g. planting for erosion, After identifying sites for potential Conclusion timber, carbon or products such as mānuka afforestation across erodible landscapes honey), the environmental site conditions of the Hawke’s Bay for commercial The project will help reduce the need for (e.g. slope, rainfall, temperature) and social plantations and permanent forests, the landowners to do extensive research on considerations for nearby landowners and next step was spatial mapping of tree their own and aid them to make informed the wider catchment. species site suitability – for radiata pine, decisions with long-term environmental coastal redwoods, Cupressus lusitanica, and social consequences in . Eucalyptus species, tōtara and mānuka Projects like this could go on to help Why plant a forest? (for honey production). inform Te Uru Rākau policies on afforestation around New Zealand, The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council wants ensuring, as always, that the right tree is to know how forestry can help to reduce Incorporating the economics planted in the right place for the right erosion in the region. With this clear purpose. purpose in mind, the project team has Forestry is a long-term investment and produced a map of the most erodible land landowners need as much information as across the region, identifying sites that possible to de-risk their investment FOR FURTHER INFORMATION lose more than , tonnes per km² of decisions. on this project contact Professor Tim Payn surface material annually. These sites Scion’s Forest Investment Framework at [email protected]

PROSPERITY FROM TREES MAI I TE NGAHERE ORANGA researchers could calculate canopy height and total recoverable volume of , accurately predicting forestry inventory attributes for radiata pine forests on rugged terrain. However, at least one lidar capture to create a digital terrain model is still required to generate canopy height models using satellite data. Many regions will have this terrain information freely available when Land Information New Zealand coordinates several upcoming regional scanning campaigns. Satellite data is also less expensive than aerial lidar data and includes additional information such as spectral data. The information in this spectral data can be used to identify and map harvested areas, or monitor stress caused by disease, drought or soil deficiencies. Overall, researchers have found that the level of detail possible with lidar means it can be an effective tool for carrying out inventories at a wide range of scales. Satellite data is likely to be most useful for forested areas where it is not cost-effective to capture lidar, such as when the resource is in an isolated region or occurs in scattered forests over a large area.

Climate as a limiting factor

Altering the climate is not an option for increasing productivity but choosing the Closing the gap on forest right genetic stock for your conditions could make a difference. Work in the Kaingaroa Forest combining remote sensing, seedlot and climate found that the seedlot and productivity spring and summer temperatures were the most important factors determining productivity, showing the importance of matching seedlot to site. Genetics, environment and forest silviculture. Identifying the current limiting This can be taken further by identifying management, or silviculture, all affect factor allows forest managers to take individual trees with desirable forest productivity and wood quality. steps to close the gap between actual and characteristics growing in specific Understanding the effect and interactions potential productivity. The first step is to microclimates such as south-facing slopes. of these will help us close the gap between work out what is going on in your forest From these trees, it is possible to identify actual and potential productivity to create through and monitoring. the genes responsible for favourable highly productive and profitable future characteristics and to breed new material forests. to capture these traits. The research programme Growing Remote sensing provides new insights Confidence in Forestry’s Future (GCFF) is into forest structure and condition wrapping up this year after six years of Improving soil fertility research activity. One of the goals in this Scion’s Forest Team has programme was to understand what drives developed lidar scanning techniques for Optimising nutrition over a rotation by forest productivity to meet New Zealand forest inventory. While lidar is very precise, ensuring adequate nitrogen, phosphorus, forest growers’ vision to double the the cost has often been off-putting for carbon and other essential nutrients will production of planted forests. small-to-medium forest owners. However, enable trees to grow to their full potential costs are decreasing all the time and the on a particular site. Tools such as the technology is, therefore, becoming more Nutrient Balance Model (NuBalM) Is there a productivity gap? widely accessible. developed by Scion can calculate these Use of satellite data for forest inventory demands and show when fertiliser addition The main factors that affect forest has several advantages. Using stereo-pair could be used to increase productivity. productivity are climate, soil, genetics and images taken of the forest canopy, Fertiliser addition affects more than just

SCION CONNECTIONS ISSUE  SEPTEMBER  tree growth, it also affects the microbes material is estimated to be of the order with the spatial variation in site productivity present in the environment and the way of . billion, or just under , per to predict the optimum post- these interact with the trees. Nitrogen hectare. stand density (stocking) for a given regime fertiliser has been shown to have a Improving the genetics of radiata pine on a given site. For example, the average long-lasting effect on the make-up of the will continue to be a powerful lever to lift optimum stocking level for growing S soil microbial community. Altering the productivity in the long-term as other structural saw logs was predicted to be microbial community can also have factors that affect productivity, such as around  stems/hectare. This result is positive impacts such as enhancing a stand density and nutrition, are optimised. confirmed by end-of-rotation assessments tree’s tolerance to drought. from long-term research trials containing Many forests in New Zealand are now a wide range of stocking levels. Given that into to their fourth rotation. As a result, the current average stand density for maintaining nutrients between rotations, unpruned sawlog regimes is around  especially on low nutrient sites is stems/hectare, there is definite scope to becoming more important. Research has increase forest productivity and future demonstrated the forest floor contains log supply through changes in thinning most of the nutrients. practice. To protect the soil, it is better to use harvesting practices that disturb the forest floor as little as possible and leave as A productive future much slash as possible on site to help maintain soil fertility for the next rotation. The GCFF programme has focused on how we can increase forest productivity, produce a consistent supply of quality Genetic improvement delivers wood and remain a sustainable industry. Over the next five to ten years the New Selective breeding is a very powerful tool Zealand forestry industry can look forward for improving growth rate, form, wood to greater productivity, increased planting quality etc. of radiata pine. The results and increasing investment in processing. from five decades of large-scale trials Productive forests, with the right spanning New Zealand make it possible genotypes, on the right site, growing for to predict the magnitude of gain for key the right purpose will benefit regional traits when genetically improved trees Maximising the potential of a site economies, the country and contribute are used. through good silviculture the raw materials to build a sustainable Relative to unimproved tree stocks, the future. moderate levels of genetic improvement Fully occupying a site with trees is perhaps across the national radiata pine forest the simplest way to improve productivity. estate are estimated to have increased its However, forest growers need to find the present value by . billion, or , per right balance between understocking a FOR FURTHER INFORMATION hectare. If the current estate comprised site and overstocking it. on the GCFF programme contact highly improved material, the total Scion researchers have combined Dr Peter Clinton at increase in present value over unimproved information from growth and yield models [email protected]

PROSPERITY FROM TREES MAI I TE NGAHERE ORANGA and in accelerating and improving breeding/conservation programmes to mitigate climate change. This role brings together and applies all of Gancho’s expertise. He says, “Radiata pine is a fascinating species, and there is potential for genomics to make big improvements in the forestry industry. The genomic prediction approaches that I’ll be working on could also be applied to accelerate breeding and conservation programmes for other exotic, and hopefully some indigenous, tree species”.

Tissue culture plant propagation

When it comes to introducing genetic improvements into forestry stock, tissue New research leader Dr Gancho Slavov is a great addition to Dr Heidi Dungey’s Forest culture could be a speedier option. Genetics Team. Tissue culture is the growing of plants in a nutritious medium in the laboratory. Tissue culture has many advantages such as producing multiple plants from a single, Forest genetics and tissue culture immature seed. This process could be improved to increase the quality and programmes accelerate change multiplication of individual varieties of tree. Scion is working closely with Forest Growers Research on their new tissue culture propagation partnership ‘Tissue There is a huge potential for improvements understanding the relationship between Culture for the st Century’. The seven-year in radiata pine genetics and breeding a large number of DNA markers and tree programme supported by the Forest technologies to create benefits for the characteristics. By learning more about Growers Levy Trust and MBIE, aims to entire forestry industry. these marker relationships, we can predict produce a reliable and cost-effective tissue Our vision is to enable high-quality plants the best trees to accelerate breeding, culture process by using bioreactors to to be delivered to the forest faster. This will prevent the negative consequences of quickly produce small rooted plantlets. Their mean achieving the best genetic gains inbreeding, and inform forest conservation work will make dramatic improvements possible in the forest and disrupting the programmes. Genomics is also expected in the delivery of genetic gain and future standard process of growing trees from seed to cut the breeding cycle time by up to biotechnology developments into tree stock. to significantly increase forest productivity.  per cent, substantially reducing or With these aims in mind, our forest perhaps even eliminating field testing. genetics and tissue culture scientists have RPBC supplies genetic material to the Transformative change formed a new partnership with the Radiata majority of forest growers in New Zealand, Pine Breeding Company (RPBC) and as well as up to  per cent of Australia’s Scion’s Science Leader for Forest Genetics, embarked on a new research programme radiata pine-growing industry. By working Dr Heidi Dungey, says her team’s overall with Forest Growers Research. Scion has in partnership with the RPBC, the effects strategy is to be able to identify and breed also appointed a new research leader to of increased tree quality and decreased trees with any desired trait. For example, help bring about this transformational breeding time will be realised quickly and tools can be developed and used for change. on a wide scale. selecting trees that accentuate to aid the mitigation of climate change and to establish a more Tree improvement moves into a new phase Introducing Gancho Slavov sustainable biobased economy. Once selected, we need to be able to mass Scion and RPBC have forged a new Dr Gancho Slavov will be one of the produce them as required and deploy into relationship to work together to deliver scientists helping to make this research the forest as fast as possible Heidi says. improved tree genetics for radiata pine happen. Gancho joined Scion in May  “We want to create resilient forests that growers. Optimisation and integration of as a Research Leader for Quantitative and become a ‘supermarket’ for an array of genomics technologies into the breeding Molecular Genetics. different biobased products.” programme will be the key focus of this His experience is in population and stronger relationship. quantitative genetics and genomics of Genomics involves understanding the species including mugo pine, Douglas-fir, FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ancestral relationships, or family poplar, willow and miscanthus. Gancho’s on our Forest Genetics programme contact relationships among trees, likened to key interests are in developing predictive Dr Heidi Dungey at ancestry.com for trees. It also involves genomic models from phenotyping data, [email protected]

SCION CONNECTIONS ISSUE  SEPTEMBER  tested at Scion. An apex portion was subjected to  tonnes of downward pressure then pulled upward by a . tonne force. A node section, where diagrid components are integrated with a horizontal member, was subjected to  tonnes of compression in an attempt to twist the horizontal component. Doug Gaunt, Science Leader for Wood and Fibre at Scion, says all the pieces tested passed with flying colours. “Both the Progress is quick on Scion’s Innovation Hub. Photo taken on  August. elements tested comfortably performed even at the maximum design loads the engineers had calculated.” The , m² facility consists of diagrid Scion’s new innovation hub is LVL wall frames, LVL floor/roof beams, cross laminated timber (CLT) floor and lift shaft panels, Glulam (glued laminated timber) and taking shape CLT entry canopies as well as structural steel to support the glazing systems integrated throughout the engineered timber. The new three-storey building under Diagrid components arrived on site ready Irving Smith Architects, RTA Studio and construction on our Rotorua campus has to assemble in July  and were erected Dunning Thornton Consultants have been described as an ambitiously designed by a specialist team. This process is collaborated in the design of the building, structure. It showcases the latest in further sped up because most of the which features a three-storey timber diagrid engineered timber products and building happens offsite, making onsite with central atrium and wrap-around techniques within its unique construction quicker and quieter compared diagonal curtainwall cladding. The ground and challenging structural form, while to many other construction styles. floor will be open to the public and using products that meet our preferences Scion’s diagrid is unusual as it is nearly showcase not only the innovative structure, for sustainability and environmental entirely made of timber. The diagrid wall but also Scion’s research across the forest performance. The predominant feature is frames and floor/roof beams have been and value chains. the timber components constructed with manufactured by TimberLab from Construction is expected to be completed painstaking precision and assembled into precision-cut laminated veneer by mid . diagonal grids. (LVL). The diamond and triangle diagrid Diagonal grids (diagrids) are an efficient sections were prefabricated and delivered way to provide strength and stiffness complete with fittings to the site. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION and require less material than traditional To make sure the diagrid was up to the on our new Innovation Hub contact structures. job, the strength of the components was Rob Trass at [email protected]

The modelling results supported This research project presents a housing Sustainable papakāinga developing a design that improves thermal model that emphasises the use of (Continued from page ) performance and moisture management sustainable materials, energy efficiency, within the structure. This design includes low maintenance, simple construction and using an additional mineral wool rigid small size. The project has delivered a address the health and wellbeing of whānau insulation in the exterior of the structure and model for houses that are healthy and members and their environmental (living) more insulation in the cavity. It also includes affordable over their lifetime. These houses conditions (work undertaken by Toi Ohomai a weathertight and moisture control will deliver healthy and comfortable living and Unitec); and the design of optimised membrane and an interior airtight membrane environments and lower environmental prefabricated, modular housing (undertaken with vapour control. The simulations also impact. by Tallwood, Toi Ohomai and Scion). assessed risk for mould growth on indoor While this study was undertaken for a surfaces and within the structure. specific Māori community housing project, The results fed into designs that were the results provide valuable insights for Modelling heat and moisture flows tested for buildability by Toi Ohomai to any housing project in New Zealand. overcome construction challenges and This project was funded by the Building Scion’s research modelled the heat and create solutions for the final design. Better Homes, Towns and Cities National moisture flows on the wall, floor and ceiling Science Challenge. structure options for a design created by Tallwood. This hygrothermal modelling Results simulates the movement of heat and FOR FURTHER INFORMATION moisture within a building to look at how An efficient thermal envelope helps create about Scion’s role in this project contact temperature, and moisture (humidity) can a healthy and comfortable home and Andrea Stocchero at vary under different designs. reduces costs over a building’s lifetime. [email protected]

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Ecklonia radiata. up! Get a free subscription to Seaweed science Scion Connections delivered every three months.

Seaweeds have an impressively wide range With samples in hand, Scion staff of uses. Different species are used as key mechanically pulped the seaweed with ingredients for food, cosmetics and equipment traditionally used in wood fibre fertilisers, to name a few. Seaweeds have processing. With seaweed reduced to unique properties, and Scion is one year fibres, a chemical treatment was then used into a new project to investigate if cellulose to extract seaweed cellulose nanocrystals. from seaweed could make your smartphone Stefan and the team from Scion, along battery perform better, for example. with Ashleigh Browne from AgriSea, then www.scionresearch.com/subscribe took the samples to the Australian Synchrotron for x-ray diffraction tests. The ISSN  -  (print) Wide and long cellulose synchrotron generates high energy ISSN  -  (online) electron beams that are shot at the sample. Cellulose is a structural component in the By looking at the way the beams are Copyright  New Zealand Forest primary and secondary cell walls of plants scattered when they hit the sample, it is Research Institute Limited, trading and algae. Seaweed cellulose is unique, it possible to work out its structure and as Scion. forms long and wide cellulose chains. Land- crystal size. based plants have a chain width up to five Initial results are still undergoing analysis nanometres. In contrast, the cellulose but have revealed some interesting trends chains in seaweeds can be  nanometres to explore further. or more across (the exact number of chains and their width varies between species). The width of cellulose chains is known Far reaching impact to affect heat transfer. Scion scientist Dr Stefan Hill is leading a project to learn Stefan and his team hypothesize that more about this relationship. seaweed cellulose crystals have a heat The project is looking to extract cellulose transfer rate that is at least twice as fast as from seaweed, physically characterise it, currently reported celluloses. If they are and test its thermal conductivity. The proven right, seaweed cellulose could have seaweed cellulose will then be incorporated a variety of uses in electronic applications  Sala Street, into paper and plastic composites to in technology like smart phones where fast Private Bag , Rotorua , evaluate their thermal properties. and effective heat transfer is essential for New Zealand passively cooling batteries to extend their Telephone: +    life (and stop them catching fire). www.scionresearch.com Making headway The project received funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and As the first year of a three-year project draws Employment’s Endeavour Fund, as a Smart to a close, a lot of progress has been made. Idea. Selected species for testing included Undaria, Ecklonia, and one other. The third seaweed will be one of  samples FOR FURTHER INFORMATION harvested by project partner AgriSea and on seaweed cellulose chains contact will be selected based on its properties Dr Stefan Hill at and availability to harvest sustainably. [email protected]

SCION CONNECTIONS ISSUE  SEPTEMBER  PROSPERITY FROM TREES MAI I TE NGAHERE ORANGA