Transdisciplinary science and the importance of Indigenous knowledge.

As we move ever closer to the brink of global environmental collapse, it is vital that we work collaboratively and collectively as global, national, and local communities to design multiscale change. Protecting future generations and reversing (or substantively slowing) the current trends require rapid sustainable progress at the required scale. It is more urgent than ever that we understand and more fully realize the power of transdisciplinary (Td) research to support sustainable practice. A defining factor of Td is the focus on collaboration and codesign and the extent that participation and attention to local context is integral to the knowledge building. Specifically, there is greater ability for community knowledge, values, and aspirations to influence and shape research inquiries to effect meaningful change in real-world decision-making and outcomes. Business-as-usual (BAU) approaches that perpetuate unequal knowledge sharing and dismiss other forms of knowledge beyond traditional science no longer suffice. Transdisciplinary approaches seek to achieve and support sustainable change, but the extent of transformation required to meet ecological protection and regenerative sustainability requires very different operating models for knowing and doing science than the limited traditions of positivist science. However, these powerful defaults and operating paradigms are more deeply ingrained than we might realize, and so challenges persist. This article illustrates how Td science differs from typical research paradigms, particularly in terms of the underlying epistemology; the focus on knowledge and/or power; attention to boundaries and scope; and the degree to which local knowledge, context, and community participation underpin the research process. Active conversations are required to better identify and overcome fundamental challenges for science and Td research approaches to support the necessary transformational change. Importantly, we suggest that Indigenous partnerships, knowledge, and values are vital in achieving the potential of Td research to provide transformational interventions to address complex social and environmental issues such as pollution. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:805-816. © 2023 SETAC.

Towards Sustainable Environmental Quality: Priority Research Questions for the Australasian Region of Oceania.

Environmental challenges persist across the world, including the Australasian region of Oceania, where biodiversity hotspots and unique ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef are common. These systems are routinely affected by multiple stressors from anthropogenic activities, and increasingly influenced by global megatrends (e.g., the food-energy-water nexus, demographic transitions to cities) and climate change. Here we report priority research questions from the Global Horizon Scanning Project, which aimed to identify, prioritize, and advance environmental quality research needs from an Australasian perspective, within a global context. We employed a transparent and inclusive process of soliciting key questions from Australasian members of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Following submission of 78 questions, 20 priority research questions were identified during an expert workshop in Nelson, New Zealand. These research questions covered a range of issues of global relevance, including research needed to more closely integrate ecotoxicology and ecology for the protection of ecosystems, increase flexibility for prioritizing chemical substances currently in commerce, understand the impacts of complex mixtures and multiple stressors, and define environmental quality and ecosystem integrity of temporary waters. Some questions have specific relevance to Australasia, particularly the uncertainties associated with using toxicity data from exotic species to protect unique indigenous species. Several related priority questions deal with the theme of how widely international ecotoxicological data and databases can be applied to regional ecosystems. Other timely questions, which focus on improving predictive chemistry and toxicology tools and techniques, will be important to answer several of the priority questions identified here. Another important question raised was how to protect local cultural and social values and maintain indigenous engagement during problem formulation and identification of ecosystem protection goals. Addressing these questions will be challenging, but doing so promises to advance environmental sustainability in Oceania and globally.

Assessment of urban stream sediment pollutants entering estuaries using chemical analysis and multiple bioassays to characterise biological activities.

Stormwater contaminants are a major source of often neglected environmental stressors because of the emphasis placed on the management of municipal and industrial wastewaters. Stormwater-derived pollutants in sediments from two New Zealand estuaries was characterised by analytical chemistry and bioassays. Contaminants were extracted from sediment using accelerated solvent extraction (ASE), recovered and concentrated by solid phase extraction (SPE), and analysed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), selected metals, and musk fragrances. The concentrations of PAHs were below the ANZECC Interim Sediment Quality Guideline values while those of lead and zinc exceeded them in some samples. The sediment extracts containing organic contaminants exhibited acute toxicity in the zebrafish fish embryo toxicity (FET) and teratogenicity, induction of biotransformation (EROD activity), and genotoxicity (comet assay) in zebrafish. The potential of the extracts to interact with endocrine signalling processes was assessed by GeneBLAzer reporter gene bioassays and they exhibited estrogenic, androgenic, and anti-progestagenic activities.

Assessment of cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) induction in sediment extracts from New Zealand urban estuaries.

Sediments represent a major sink for contaminants resulting from industrial and agricultural activities - especially lipophilic substances. This study exclusively used in vitro methodologies to characterize specific toxicity effects of contaminants in sediment extracts from two urban New Zealand estuaries. Sediment extracts were prepared and tested for a range of biological endpoints. The micronucleus and comet assays in V79 cells were used to assess genotoxicity. Induction of 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase in piscine RTL-W1 cells was determined to estimate dioxin-like toxicity. Cytotoxic potentials were analyzed by neutral red uptake and MTT reduction. There was evidence of strong dioxin-like toxicity and moderate cytotoxicity. Genotoxicity was distinct in the micronucleus assay, but low in the comet assay. The results indicate the presence of chemicals in the sediments with the potential to pose a risk through multiple mechanisms of toxicity, the identities and amounts of which will be disclosed in a parallel study alongside with in vivo toxicity data.

Bridging disciplines, knowledge systems and cultures in pest management.

The success of research in integrated environmental and natural resource management relies on the participation and involvement of different disciplines and stakeholders. This can be difficult to achieve in practice because many initiatives fail to address the underlying social processes required for successful engagement and social learning. We used an action research approach to support a research-based group with a range of disciplinary and stakeholder expertise to critically reflect on their engagement practice and identify lessons around how to collaborate more effectively. This approach is provided here as a guide that can be used to support reflective research practice for engagement in other integration-based initiatives. This paper is set in the context of an integrated wildlife management research case study in New Zealand. We illustrate how multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches can provide a framework for considering the different conversations that need to occur in an integrated research program. We then outline rubrics that list the criteria required in inter- and trans-disciplinary collaborations, along with examples of effective engagement processes that directly support integration through such efforts. Finally, we discuss the implications of these experiences for other researchers and managers seeking to improve engagement and collaboration in integrated science, management and policy initiatives. Our experiences reaffirm the need for those involved in integrative initiatives to attend to the processes of engagement in both formal and informal settings, to provide opportunities for critical reflective practice, and to look for measures of success that acknowledge the importance of effective social process.

Community engagement in the management of biosolids: lessons from four New Zealand studies.

Biosolids management has been largely overlooked as an issue for environmental co-management, collaborative learning and public participation. This paper summarises four research projects on facilitating community involvement in biosolids management in New Zealand. The authors situate these studies both in relation to the New Zealand institutional and policy context for the management of biosolids and in relation to the themes of public participation and social learning in the literature on community involvement in environmental management. From the studies it can be concluded that: the incorporation of the knowledge and views of Maori is important from both public-participation and social-learning perspectives; both public-participation and social-learning approaches must consider the role of issue-definition in relation to willingness to participate; democratic accountability remains a challenge for both approaches; and locating biosolids management within an integrated water-and-wastewater or sustainable waste-management strategy may facilitate wider community participation as well as better-coordinated decision-making.

Vertebrate pesticide risk assessment by indigenous communities in New Zealand.

In New Zealand, the vertebrate pesticide sodium fluoroacetate (Compound 1080) is aerially applied in baits for control of the brush-tailed possum Trichosurus vulpecula (Kerr, 1792). Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, have raised concerns about 1080 impacts on culturally-important species. Here, we outline two steps taken to help Maori assess 1080 risk. First, field research was undertaken to determine if naturally-occurring plants utilized by a Maori community for food and medicine would take up 1080 from baits. Single baits were placed at the base of individual plants of two species, pikopiko (Asplenium bulbiferum) and karamuramu (Coprosma robusta). Plants were sampled at various times up to 56 days, and samples were analyzed for 1080 content. No 1080 was detected in any of the pikopiko samples, whereas 1080 was detected in karamuramu, at a maximum concentration of 5 ppb after seven days, and 2.5 ppb after 14 days. This concentration decreased to 0 at 28 days, indicating that 1080 was not persistent. The results of the present study suggest there is negligible risk of humans being poisoned by consuming plants that have taken up 1080 from baits. To allay community concerns that minute concentrations of 1080 might influence the medicinal properties of plants, it is suggested that a withholding period of 30 days after 1080 control operations could be adopted. Second, after further consultation we undertook a review of the scientific literature relating to 1080 impacts on additional non-target species of cultural importance to Maori. The information was presented on an interactive foodweb database that allowed the collection and presentation of a large volume of complex information about 1080 in a holistic and pictorial fashion. This database was presented to many Maori communities throughout New Zealand, and feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The database is likely to play a key role in informing these communities about 1080, and is seen as an important new tool to help these communities make their own risk assessments.

Hepatic and immune biological effect assays in C57BL/6 mice to measure polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon bioavailability under laboratory exposures with increasing environmental relevance.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring biological responses that are mediated via the aryl-hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in animals exposed to environmental contaminants can indicate both the presence of chemicals that act through this biochemical pathway and whether these chemicals are bioavailable. OBJECTIVES: The use of an ex-situ method that incorporated biological responsiveness monitoring in mice for determining the presence of 'biologically active' hydrocarbons in contaminated soils was investigated. METHODS: The use of C57BL/6 as a test organism was validated by determining hepatic and immune responsiveness to two polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): 3,4 benz[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and 1,2 benz (a)anthracene (BA) administered via intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection. The responsiveness of mice exposed to soils spiked with hydrocarbons or ex situ exposures to soil removed from two contaminated sites was also investigated. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Mice that were exposed to B[a]P via i.p. injections showed a 14-fold increase in liver microsomal ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity compared to the control group. In contrast EROD activity following BA exposure at the same level was not significantly enhanced. Mouse immune response was significantly inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by i.p. injections of B[a]P. No significant inhibition occurred with the same doses of BA. Following i.p. exposure, the retention of B[a]P in mouse carcasses was greater than BA. Mice exposed to clean soils spiked with environmentally relevant concentrations of B[a]P and BA failed to show any significantly different hepatic or immune responses. Carcass residue data indicated a limited uptake of PAH from the soil. In contrast, EROD activity in mice exposed (ex situ) to hydrocarbon-contaminated soils removed from a fuel-loading depot and decommissioned gas works was significantly enhanced (4- and 2-fold respectively). However, this increase in EROD activity did not appear to correlate with either soil or carcass PAH concentrations. CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK: These results support the assumption that B[a]P has a higher affinity for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) compared to BA. Soil parameters such as organic carbon content, structure and particle size distribution can modulate the bioavailability of contaminants to biological receptors. These factors are implicated in the lack of responsiveness demonstrated in the spiked soil experiments. However the responsiveness of EROD activity in mice exposed (ex situ) to soil contaminated with complex mixtures of hydrocarbon compounds confirms the potential usefulness of this model to determine the presence of 'biologically active' compounds in aged soils removed from contaminated sites.

Uptake and persistence of the vertebrate pesticide, sodium monofluoroacetate (compound 1080), in plants of cultural importance.

Field research was undertaken to determine if naturally occurring plants utilised by a Maori (the indigenous people of New Zealand) community for food and medicine would take up the toxin sodium monofluoroacetate (Compound 1080) from baits used to control the brush-tailed possum Trichosurus vulpecula. Single baits were placed at the base of individual plants of two species, pikopiko (Asplenium bulbiferum) and karamuramu (Coprosma robusta). Plants were sampled at various times up to 56 days, and samples analyzed for 1080 content. No 1080 was detected in any of the pikopiko samples, whereas 1080 was detected in karamuramu, at a maximum concentration of 5 ppb after 7 days, and 2.5 ppb after 14 days. This concentration decreased to zero at 28 days, indicating that while karamuramu was shown to take up 1080, it was not persistent. The results of this study suggest there is negligible risk of humans being poisoned by consuming plants that have taken up 1080 from baits. To allay community concerns that minute concentrations of 1080 might influence the medicinal properties of plants, it is suggested a withholding period of 30 days after 1080 control operations could be adopted.