Under The Microscope

SCIENCE AND THE NEW ZEALAND ENVIRONMENT, edited by M J Taylor, J E Hay and S J de Mora; Dunmore Press 1992; 150 pages; $32.95

This book would have had a greater chance of achieving its aim of producing a better informed community had it begun with a solid grounding in scientific method and risk assessment. Even a section on funding problems and political implications relating to environmental issues would help inform readers about the influential social context in which such science takes place.

Editor John Hay began well, with a look at the "ten Ms" of environmental problem-solving, such as methodology, mechanisms, modelling, monitoring and so forth. More of this would have been useful to act as a basis on which to judge the extended case studies which followed.

It would also be valuable to point out that scientific views are not necessarily consensual. Tom Clarkson, in his otherwise excellent chapter on global climate change, did not mention that the concept and its implications are still under debate. In this context, the review question asking "do you accept that the Earth is warming up" has only one possible answer, as the reader is presented with no other possibility.

These niggles aside, Science and the New Zealand Environment does provide a valuable resource for information and thought-provoking debate on a variety of issues. Lead levels, earthquake and volcanic hazards, transport fuels and nature conservation are among the topics addressed by experts in the various fields. We don't often have access to information of this calibre, clearly presented, well referenced, and with a New Zealand focus.

Vicki Hyde, NZSM

A LIVING NEW ZEALAND FOREST, by Robert Brockie; David Bateman 1992; 172 pages; $79.95

Now this is a book about ecology.

In brief, Brockie provides a fascinating and readable account of some of the things that have been learnt in the DSIR's 25-year study of the Orongorongo Valley, near Wellington.

From the underlying geography, to what grows where and who eats whom, this book provides a wealth of detail about the ecosystem of "one of the most intensively studied forest communities anywhere in the world".

What the book emphasises is that the forest is a community. It shows the interactions between climate, geography, flora and fauna that all go to make the forest what it is today. There's a lot of detail in scores of graphs and diagrams -- the movements and home ranges of mice, the popularity of different creepy-crawlies as bird food, the altitudinal limits of prominent plant species, even the amount of sea-salt deposited by storms.

One thing that comes through very strongly is the environmental terrorism of the possum population. By decimating their favoured food plants, they radically alter the composition of the forest plant community and they severely reduce the food available for many native bird species. If New Zealand has a Public Enemy Number One, it's probably this cute, furry, round-eyed marsupial.

The book's not perfect but quibbles are minor -- an uninterpretable graph concerning possum breeding, for example. On the whole, it seems fair to say that if you're interested in the New Zealand environment, you need this book. It not only looks great on the coffee table, it's a good example of well-indexed, well-referenced science for the lay person.

Phil Anderson, NZSM