Natural History

Across the Pass

Across the Pass includes writing from New Zealanders such as trampers Mark Pickering and Geoff Spearpoint, writers John Mulgan, David Hill and Elsie Locke, mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary, adventurer Graeme Dingle, journalist Elsie K Morton, and poets Blanche Baughan, Sam Hunt and Brian Turner.

Ants of New Zealand

This book is the outcome of a lifetime’s research by the author. He reveals that there are 37 established species of ants in New Zealand, 11 of which are considered to be endemic. This leaves 26 that are exotic or introduced, 2 of which are recent arrivals. Three of 4 additional recent arrivals pose serious threats to New Zealand’s invertebrate fauna and economy if they ever become established.

Archaeology of the Solomon Islands

Archaeology of the Solomon Islands presents the outcome of 20 years’ research in the Solomon Islands undertaken jointly by Richard Walter and Peter Sheppard, both leaders in the field of Pacific archaeology.

Arrowtown

A town born of gold, nestled at the foot of the mountains of western Otago, Arrowtown has retained much of its goldfields character, with historic buildings and goldmining sites. It is also a picturesque place and a popular holiday destination.

Beachcombing

Beachcombing looks at waves and tides, the connectivity of Southern Hemisphere coastlines, and the life cycles of marine plants and animals. It will help you understand the objects and organisms you find on beaches, and the intriguing reasons they have come to be there.

Bob Crowder: A New Zealand organics pioneer

Bob Crowder: A New Zealand organics pioneer tells the story of Bob Crowder, a leading horticulturist and early champion of regenerative agriculture in Aotearoa New Zealand. Crowder played a pivotal role in the birth of the organics movement in New Zealand, establishing the country’s only university-based organics research unit in the early 1960s and helping to build a sector now worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Butterflies of the South Pacific

It is easy to misjudge butterflies as fragile flying insects: their distribution across a wild and expansive Pacific Ocean proves otherwise. Long ago they colonised by flight isolated and tiny atolls and they continue to claim new territory. Others came by land bridges when sea levels were lower, to mark out their distribution and perhaps establish new species. This book surveys (and discovers) the butterfly inhabitants of the South Pacific.

Common Ground

Common Ground: Garden histories of Aotearoa takes a loving look at gardens and garden practices in Aotearoa New Zealand over time. From the arrival of the earliest Polynesian settlers carrying precious seeds and cuttings, through early settler gardens to ‘Dig for Victory’ efforts, Matt Morris traces the collapse and renewal of home gardening culture, through the emergence of community initiatives to the recent concept of food sovereignty.

Cook's Sites

In 1773, Captain James Cook visited Dusky Sound in the far south of New Zealand. The voyage artist, William Hodges, produced remarkable paintings of the spectacular antipodean environment, and of the Maori people who occupied it. The visit represents one of the beginnings of New Zealand's colonial history. How do we make sense of it today? The authors of this book have revisited the sites of contact between Cook's crews in Dusky Sound and Queen Charlotte Sound.

Dolphins Down Under

New Zealand dolphins, also known as Hector’s dolphins, are fascinating and beautiful animals. Found only in New Zealand waters, their numbers are now under constant threat – especially from human fishing activities. This book introduces the dolphin to readers of all ages. The authors have devoted the last 30 years – more than a dolphin lifespan – to intensive study of the dolphin’s distribution, behaviour, biology, reproduction and communication, using photography as their principal research tool. They have identified over 100 individuals and recorded their life events.

Dumont d’Urville

Explorer Jules-Sébastien-César Dumont d’Urville (1790–1842) is sometimes called France’s Captain Cook. Born less than a year after the beginning of the French Revolution, he lived through turbulent times. He was an erudite polymath: a maritime explorer fascinated by botany, entomology, ethnography and the diverse languages of the world.

Dunedin

Built on mid-Victorian gold and located in a wonderful natural environment, Dunedin is a gracious old lady with a spirit of adventure. Dunedin: History, Heritage and Ecotourism by historian Gavin McLean offers a guide to the city and its immediate environment. McLean gives a potted history and describes walks and trips that can be taken by visitors and residents alike.

Ecosanctuaries

Over the past 10 years many communities around the country have launched ambitious projects to bring New Zealand’s native ecologies back to the mainland. By building predatorproof fences around big areas of land the aim is to protect native flora and fauna from introduced predators such as possums, mice, rats and stoats. These projects have faced a difficult balancing act as they try to build and sustain the social and economic support needed.

Flu Hunter

When a new influenza virus emerges that is able to be transmitted between humans, it spreads globally as a pandemic, often with high mortality. \nGripping account of tenacious scientific detective work. Clear explanation of the science behind the headlines. Insights from a long and celebrated career.

Fossil Treasures of Foulden Maar

In Fossil Treasures of Foulden Maar, authors Daphne Lee, Uwe Kaulfuss and John Conran share their passion and knowledge for Foulden Maar in Otago, New Zealand, a paleontological site of international significance and home to countless rare, well-preserved fossils. This beautifully illustrated book reveals the unique paleontological discoveries that have been made to-date, taking a snapshot of changing life and ecosystems at the beginning of the Miocene and paying tribute to the scientific researchers who have helped bring Foulden Maar’s scientific marvels to the surface.

Heart Stood Still

Heart Stood Still is an eco-memoir and a lyrical portrait of Manawatū, Aotearoa. In early 2020, Miriam Sharland was nearing the end of a 17-year adventure in Aotearoa and was set to return to her family and friends in England when Covid put an end to her travel plans. Facing isolation, Sharland turned to the natural beauty of Manawatū to find healing and a sense of belonging in a time of uncertainty.

Invasive Predators in New Zealand

The story of invasive species in New Zealand is unlike any other in the world. By the mid-thirteenth century, the main islands of the country were the last large landmasses on Earth to remain uninhabited by humans, or any other land mammals. Carolyn M. King brings together the necessary historical analysis and recent ecological research to understand this long, slow tragedy.

Kiwi

In this book, the author describes the kiwi from every point of view, from wild bird to national emblem. What is this biological oddity called the kiwi? Exactly how many species of kiwi are there? Where do they live? What do they eat? How are people helping them to survive? Why does this bird have such a major place in the Kiwi nation's life?

Making a New Land

Making a New Land presents an interdisciplinary perspective on one of the most rapid and extensive transformations in human history: that which followed Maori and then European colonisation of New Zealand's temperate islands. This is a new edition of Environmental Histories of New Zealand, first published in 2002, brimming with new content and fresh insights into the causes and nature of this transformation, and the new landscapes and places that it produced.

Queenstown

Queenstown is unlike anywhere else in New Zealand. It is the country's tourism mecca, for lots of good reasons: mountains, rivers, lakes, climate, snow sports, tramping, fishing, bungy jumping, whitewater-rafting - the list goes on and on.

Restoring Kapiti

Modern Kapiti Island is best known as a sanctuary for wildlife. It is one of New Zealand's longest and most exciting conservation stories, beginning in 1897. Projects here to eradicate possums and rats, and to increase or establish populations of endangered birds such as the little spotted kiwi, have put the country on the world map for conservation management and provided models to follow in other parts of the country. Animal pests are eradicated, weeds controlled, and the forests are returning.

Seabird Genius

The first biography of Lance Richdale, who achieved international fame as the father of Otago's albatross colony from 1936 and for his research on the behaviour of the Yellow-eyed Penguin – Time magazine dubbed him 'The Dr Kinsey of the penguin world' – and the sooty shearwater, or muttonbird. Richdale grew up in Wanganui, took a tertiary course in agriculture in New South Wales, and returned to New Zealand to teach mainly in rural schools in the North Island for several years, eventually taking up a position with the Otago Education Board in 1928 as an inspiring itinerant agricultural instructor and nature study teacher.

Seabirds beyond the Mountain Crest: The history, natural history and conservation of Hutton’s shearwater

Seabirds Beyond the Mountain Crest tells the fascinating story of New Zealand’s endemic Hutton’s shearwater, a species that breeds only at two remote locations, high in the Kaikoura Mountains.

Shifting Nature

Shifting Nature: Photographs by Wayne Barrar, with an essay by Geoff Park

Southern Lakes Tracks & Trails

Essential guide to the many tracks and trails of the beautiful inland regions of the lower half of the South Island, with an emphasis on foothills and forests.

Southern Land, Southern People

This book celebrates Otago Museum's major new Southern Land, Southern People gallery, opened at the end of August 2002. It offers a comprehensive insight into the character of the region - its astonishing landforms, lost fauna and flora, fossil record and boisterous climate - and the way people have explored this challenging landscape and utilised its natural resources.

Southern Seas

New Zealand sits in a very watery part of the world. The Pacific stretches out to the north and east, while to the south is continuous ocean. It has the fourth largest Exclusive Economic Zone, with a band 200 nautical miles wide around the country, including its offshore islands. Only a fraction of this vast area has been explored. From what is known already, it is clear that these seas harbour a fascinating diversity of marine life.

Spiders of New Zealand and their Worldwide Kin

Spiders colonised the Earth long before Gondwanaland began to drift into separate continents. New Zealand spiders have links with spiders worldwide. The authors of this book have pioneered discoveries that have been found to apply to spiders in other parts of Australasia, southern America and southern Africa.

Standing My Ground

For more than five decades, Alan Mark has been a voice for conservation in New Zealand. From his call in the 1960s for the establishment of tussock-grassland reserves in the South Island high country to his involvement in the 2011–13 campaign to save the Denniston Plateau from mining, he has been a passionate and effective advocate for the preservation of areas of ecological importance. In 'Standing My Ground', Alan describes the challenges and achievements, the frustrations and successes that have made up his remarkable life, now in its ninth decade. As well as providing an important record of New Zealand’s conservation battles and documenting the life of an outstanding New Zealander, 'Standing My Ground' is an inspiring reminder of the power of individuals to make a difference.

Stewart Island

Stewart Island is an increasingly popular holiday destination for eco-tourism and outdoor recreation, with many bush walks and a wealth of natural features to enjoy. Neville Peat introduces the attractions of the island – what to see and do, its walks and tramps, its national park, wildlife, history and magnificent scenery.

The Catlins and the Southern Scenic Route

An out-of-the-way corner in the south-east of the South Island, The Catlins is now gaining the recognition it deserves as a beautiful, relatively unspoilt area with many natural attractions, including that rare thing on the east coast, native forest. Neville Peat introduces the history, geology and attractions of the region – its flora, wildlife, bush walks, caves and waterfalls – before tracing the journey along the stunning Southern Scenic Route linking Otago, Southland and Fiordland.

The Catlins and the Southern Scenic Route

Neville Peat introduces the Catlins region – its flora, wildlife, bush walks, caves and waterfalls – before tracing the journey along the stunning Southern Scenic Route linking Otago, Southland and Fiordland.

The Face of Nature: An environmental history of the Otago Peninsula

An important new book by Jonathan West, The Face of Nature: An environmental history of the Otago Peninsula, explores what people and place made of one another from the arrival of the first Polynesians until the end of the nineteenth century.

The Handbook of New Zealand Mammals

The Handbook of New Zealand Mammals is the only definitive reference on all the land-breeding mammals recorded in the New Zealand region (including the New Zealand sector of Antarctica).

The Mosses of New Zealand

The Mosses of New Zealand describes in detail the life and structure of these fascinating plants, enabling both the enthusiastic amateur and the professional botanist to identify their many and diverse forms.

The Natural History of Southern New Zealand

Bringing together this environment and the scientists who study it, The Natural History of Southern New Zealand is a major new book published by Otago University Press in association with the Otago Museum. Fifty-three authors, most from scientific disciplines and leaders in their specialist fields, combine hundreds of years of collective expertise and research to describe the nature of the region in thirteen chapters.

The Takahe

Polynesian settlement of the islands of New Zealand about 1000 years ago and large-scale European colonisation in the 19th century caused massive environmental changes for indigenous animals. Fifty-five species of endemic birds, or 41 per cent of land and freshwater species, were lost. In response to these extinctions and the marked population decline of many extant species, national government agencies supported conservation initiatives throughout the 20th century.

Thomas Potts of Canterbury

Thomas Potts of Canterbury will appeal to anyone interested in the early history of Canterbury, in environmental change, and in early efforts in New Zealand towards conservation. It is a story of conflicting goals, magnificently exemplified in the life and writings of a man who strove, 150 years ago, to be both colonist and conservationist.

Vastly Ingenious

Reflecting in 1769 on the manners and customs of the South Sea islands, Joseph Banks remarked that ‘in every expedient for taking fish they are vastly ingenious.’ Hence the title of this book on Pacific material culture, past and present, with broad themes of origins, the movement of peoples and the development of their technologies.

Wai Pasifika

In this beautifully written and stunningly illustrated book, David Young focuses on the increasingly endangered resource of freshwater, and what so-called developed societies can\nlearn from the Indigenous voices of the Pacific.

Wild Central

For the people who know it, 'Central' Otago conjures up images of a diverse landscape - snow-clad peaks, rocky outcrops in a parched terrain, the mighty Clutha River carving its way through the land to the sea, and the wide, windswept Maniototo. Goldrush history, high country farms, Roxburgh apricots, skiing and bungy-jumping and the burgeoning wine industry all combine to give the region a unique flavour. While the region provides many attractions, its natural history has often taken a back seat.

Wild Dunedin

Dunedin city and its environs are home to an amazing range of habitats and landscapes, of plants, animals, birds, insects and geological features. From the ocean, with its albatrosses and penguins, to the high alpine zone of inland ranges, this book introduces a magnificent natural environment.

Wild Dunedin

Dunedin city and its environs are home to an amazing range of habitats and landscapes, of plants, animals, birds, insects and geological features. From the ocean, with its albatrosses and penguins, to the high alpine zone of inland ranges, this book introduces a magnificent natural environment.

Wild Fiordland (Out of print)

This is a paperback edition of this book, which was shortlisted for the Montana NZ Book Awards in 1997. It is a major work of regional natural history introducing a New Zealand World Heritage Area, Fiordland National Park.

Wild Heart

Images of pristine forests, mountain ranges, untameable rivers and empty expanses of coastline are the key attraction in how we promote Aotearoa New Zealand internationally: '100% Pure' no less. Such wildness is at this nation's psychological and physical core.

Wild Rivers

The story of the ever-changing landscape of the area bounded by the Waitaki River in the south and the Rangitata in the north, stretching from the Alps to the east coast. This is the first book to describe in detail the natural history of this large region. A main focus is the braided rivers, which in world terms are rare and remarkable. They occur only in New Zealand, northern India, Tibet, Siberia and Argentina. Two things make these rivers remarkable: their ever-changing nature, and their nurturing of a diverse and unique community of plants, birds, fish, lizards and invertebrate life.