![]() ![]() Guidelines for seed collection, propagation and establishment. Aspects of the ecology of Desmochoenus spiralis (A. The return of pikao as the major dune plant appearing on our local beaches is far off, but the commitment to manage pikao appropriately exists and all that is required now is YOU!!! The future of New Zealand conservation lies with the community as government bodies and NGO's are unlikely to have the resources to support the growing number of conservation problems. This is largely due to the hard work and commitment of coast and dune care organisations as well as DOC, territorial authorities and other governmental organisations such as the New Zealand Forest Research Institute via the Coastal Dune Vegetation Network (CDVN). ![]() ![]() Pikao is slowly being re-established and maintained in small pockets around the country. The demise of pikao can be attributed to human activity fire, grazing and trampling by stock and rabbits, vehicle damage, the introduction of marram grass (a highly competitive sand binding grass 7) and the continues pressure and demand for coastal land 2,3,8,9,10. Pikao's conservation priority status is ranked M, being a species that is rare or localised and of cultural significance to Maori 6. ![]() Pikao has considerable cultural significance 5 and for this reason it is viewed as a good species to foster relations between iwi and the crown in order to meet the obligations under Section 4 of the Conservation Act (1987) "to give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi". Consequently much of our native coastal biodiversity depends largely on the presence of pikao 4 to form the coastal geomorphology (beach shape created by geological forces) to which those species are adapted. The coastal morphology that pikao created, provided a habitat within which other native coastal species were able to settle, adapt and flourish. The sand dunes that consequently form are (usually) low, undulating active dunes, allowing continuous sand movement around the plants, which pikao requires to survive 2,3. Pikao stabilise the sandy coast by trapping wind blown sand between its leaves and around the base of the plant and the long rope-like rhizomes it sends out 2,3. Pikao is found only in New Zealand and is one of our major native dune builders 2. Stunning Pikao stands would have once have been found on almost every sandy beach, from Northland to Rakiura (Stewart Island) and the Chatham's 1,2,3 but is now only found in a few remnant populations or where active replanting programmes have been established. Piao has built a collaborative and cohesive team that broadly addresses how early insults, such as maternal inflammation and hypoxic-ischemic injuries affect fetal and neonatal brain development.Pikao is a native sand-binding sedge, coloured a brilliant green and golden yellow or fiery orange. Piao was recruited from Harvard Medical School / Boston Children's Hospital to UCSF to direct the Newborn Brain Research Institute and assume the Benioff Professorship in Children’s Health. This basic science also provides foundational knowledge for drug discoveries in targeting aGPCRs, the second largest human GPCR family. Piao undertook a pioneering role in deorphanizing aGPCRs and revealing mechanisms underlying aGPCR-mediated cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. Piao’s research team has steadily uncovered a remarkable diversity of cell type- and ligand-specific functions of GPR56 during various stages of brain development and homeostasis, including cortical patterning, central nervous system myelin formation and repair, and synaptic refinement. Following the thread of GPR56 biology also led to a vigorous bench research program. Over time, this discovery transformed our understanding of polymicrogyria and yielded a molecular diagnostic. Together, they discovered that germline loss-of-function mutations in the adhesion G-protein-coupled receptor (aGPCR) GPR56, also called ADGRG1, cause BFPP. Her research began by characterizing an autosomal recessive human brain malformation that she and her mentor Chris Walsh termed bilateral frontoparietal polymicrogyria (BFPP). Piao’s career follows the bedside-to-bench-to-bedside paradigm. Working in neonatal intensive care unit and laboratory, Dr. She received her PhD with Alan Bernstein from University of Toronto, before completing her Pediatric residency at NYU and Neonatology fellowship as well as a post-doctoral fellowship with Chris Walsh at Harvard Medical School. Piao is a physician-scientist with a focus in both neonatology and developmental neuroscience. ![]()
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