Climate Change,Wildlife Movement and the Law: A Case Study from New Zealand

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change mandates parties to prepare for adaptation to climate change. This is of direct relevance to the management of wildlife. Climate change is likely to alter and/or expand the habitats of wildlife and may make the conditions within existing habitat ranges unsuitable for the continued existence of a species. Of necessity, efficacious adaptation must attempt to address this likelihood. Using New Zealand as a case study, this paper considers the range of present legal instruments that might be utilized within that nation to manage the movement of wildlife and identifies any lacunas that should be addressed. The conclusions will be of interest to any nation wishing to protect wildlife from the adverse effects of climate change.     

The distal humerus--a blind test of Rogers' sexing technique using a documented skeletal collection

Continuous monitoring of existing methods of skeletal diagnosis allows improving the reliability of personal identification in forensic and archaeological contexts. This study reports on a blind test re-evaluating the sexing technique proposed by Rogers (8) involving the distal humerus. A total of 351 humeri (184 male, 167 female specimens) from the documented skeletal assemblage of St. Bride's, London, was analyzed for the following traits: trochlear constriction, trochlear symmetry, olecranon fossa shape, and angle of the medial epicondyle. Individual traits showed substantial sex-discriminatory capacity, with "olecranon fossa shape" being most consistently accurate (84.6%) in predicting sex. The combination of all four traits provided an overall accuracy of 79.1%, including those individuals assessed as "probable" male and female. This renders the technique useful for forensic applications. The distal humerus can be recommended for sex assessment in addition to more established markers, especially since this part of the skeleton is frequently well preserved.