Northland temperate kauri forests
Encyclopedia
The Northland temperate kauri forests ecoregion
, within the Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Biome
, is in northern New Zealand
.
. The landscape is flat when compared with most of New Zealand and includes the regions of Northland, Auckland
around the city of Auckland
and Waikato around the town of Hamilton
. Kauri trees are found north of 38°S. The region also includes a number of offshore islands and some of New Zealand's few remaining original wetland habitats such as the Firth of Thames
, and the Kopuatai Peat Dome
and the Whangamarino swamp in the Hauraki Plains
. The climate is warm and humid.
and Te Paki which have at times been cut off from the rest of the island by high sea levels. The ecoregion is named for its most notable endemic species, the impressive southern kauri
trees, which can grow to 55m high and 20m round and has no lower branches but a long trunk of up to 30m and a wide crown. There are few areas still thickly covered by the kauri forest that once dominated this whole area, but the trees are so huge that they are the most noticeable feature even in woodland where they are present in small numbers. Much of the kauri forest has been cleared for timber and the land converted to agriculture. This region is the southernmost habitat of the kauri and also mangrove
s. There are more endemic species on the offshore islands such as the Poor Knights Islands
and Three Kings Islands
, which are home to rare plants including the only species of Elingamita
and others such as Pennantia baylisiana
and Three Kings Vine
.
wattlebird, some species of kiwi
including North Island Brown Kiwi
and three endemic parrots Red-crowned Parakeet
, the New Zealand Kaka and the kakapo
, the last of which now only survives on the offshore Little Barrier Island. Inverterbrates found in the region include the large weta
s and cave wetas.
. The largest stands of kauri are found in Waipoua Forest
with another large area in Trounson Kauri Park south of Aranga
, both areas are on the west coast of Northland.
Wildlife in the region is vulnerable to introduced predators such as the Polynesian rat
, ferret
s and stoat
s to the extent that the strongest remaining populations of many plants, birds and reptiles are on offshore islands rather than North Island itself. Some North Island species have been introduced to the offshore as a preservation measure, while other species found there are indigenous to the small islands, including a number of lizards on the Mercury Islands
and the Falla's skink
on the Three Kings Islands.
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
, within the Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Mixed forests are a temperate and humid biome. The typical structure of these forests includes four layers. The uppermost layer is the canopy composed of tall mature trees ranging from 33 to 66 m high. Below the canopy is the three-layered, shade-tolerant understory that is roughly 9 to...
Biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
, is in northern New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Location and description
This ecoregion covers the northern end of North IslandNorth Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
. The landscape is flat when compared with most of New Zealand and includes the regions of Northland, Auckland
Auckland Region
The Auckland Region was one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, named for the city of Auckland, the country's largest urban area. With one third of the nation's residents, it was by far the biggest population and economy of any region of New Zealand, but the second-smallest land area.On 1...
around the city of Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
and Waikato around the town of Hamilton
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...
. Kauri trees are found north of 38°S. The region also includes a number of offshore islands and some of New Zealand's few remaining original wetland habitats such as the Firth of Thames
Firth of Thames
The Firth of Thames is a large bay located in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the firth of the rivers Waihou and Piako, the former of which was formerly named the Thames River, and the town of Thames lies on its southeastern coast....
, and the Kopuatai Peat Dome
Kopuatai Peat Dome
The Kopuatai Peat Dome is a wetland on the Hauraki Plains in New Zealand.The 10,201 ha wetland was listed under the Ramsar Convention in 1989 as a Wetland of International Importance...
and the Whangamarino swamp in the Hauraki Plains
Hauraki Plains
The Hauraki Plains are a geographical feature and non-administrative area located in the northern North Island of New Zealand, at the lower end of the Thames Valley...
. The climate is warm and humid.
Flora
This area is home to a number of endemic plants especially in regions of Northland such as Cape ReingaCape Reinga
Cape Reinga is the northwesternmost tip of the Aupouri Peninsula, at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand. Cape Reinga is located over 100 km north of the nearest small town of Kaitaia. State Highway 1 extends all the way to the Cape, but until 2010 was unsealed gravel road for the...
and Te Paki which have at times been cut off from the rest of the island by high sea levels. The ecoregion is named for its most notable endemic species, the impressive southern kauri
Agathis australis
Agathis australis, commonly known as the kauri, is a coniferous tree found north of 38°S in the northern districts of New Zealand's North Island. It is the largest but not tallest species of tree in New Zealand, standing up to 50 m tall in the emergent layer above the forest's main canopy. The...
trees, which can grow to 55m high and 20m round and has no lower branches but a long trunk of up to 30m and a wide crown. There are few areas still thickly covered by the kauri forest that once dominated this whole area, but the trees are so huge that they are the most noticeable feature even in woodland where they are present in small numbers. Much of the kauri forest has been cleared for timber and the land converted to agriculture. This region is the southernmost habitat of the kauri and also mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
s. There are more endemic species on the offshore islands such as the Poor Knights Islands
Poor Knights Islands
The Poor Knights Islands are a group of islands off the east coast of the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. They are located to the northeast of Whangarei, and lie offshore half way between Bream Head and Cape Brett. Uninhabited since the 1820s, they are a nature reserve and...
and Three Kings Islands
Three Kings Islands
The Three Kings Islands or Manawa Islands are a group of 13 islands about northwest of Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of the North Island of New Zealand, where the South Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea converge. They measure about 4.86 km² in area...
, which are home to rare plants including the only species of Elingamita
Elingamita
Elingamita is a genus in the Myrsinaceae family of plants. It consists of a single species, Elingamita johnsonii, a tree or shrub endemic to the Three Kings Islands approximately 55 km north of the North Island of New Zealand...
and others such as Pennantia baylisiana
Pennantia baylisiana
Pennantia baylisiana is a species of plant in the Pennantiaceae family . It is endemic to the Three Kings Islands, New Zealand, where only one plant is known to exist. It is threatened by habitat loss. Pennantia baylisiana was listed as one of the world's rarest plants by The Guinness Book of Records...
and Three Kings Vine
Tecomanthe speciosa
A solitary plant of Tecomanthe speciosa or the Three Kings Vine was first discovered on the Three Kings Islands, 55 km off the northern tip of New Zealand, during a scientific survey in 1945. No other specimens have ever been found in the wild. Tecomanthe is a tropical genus not otherwise...
.
Fauna
The forests are home to a number of rare birds including the endangered kokakoKokako
The Kōkako is a forest bird which is endemic to New Zealand. It is slate-grey with wattles and a black mask. It is one of three species of New Zealand Wattlebird, the other two being the endangered Tieke and the extinct Huia...
wattlebird, some species of kiwi
Kiwi
Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand, in the genus Apteryx and family Apterygidae.At around the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the smallest living ratites and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world...
including North Island Brown Kiwi
North Island Brown Kiwi
The North Island Brown Kiwi, Apteryx mantelli, Apteryx australis or Apteryx bulleri before 2000 , is a species of kiwi that is widespread in the northern two-thirds of the North Island of New Zealand and, with about 35000 remaining, is the most common kiwi.-Taxonomy:Until 2000, the Brown Kiwi was...
and three endemic parrots Red-crowned Parakeet
Red-crowned Parakeet
The Red-crowned Parakeet, Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae, is a small species of parrot from New Zealand. The species was once lumped with several other parrots from New Zealand's outlying islands, New Caledonia and Norfolk Island, but these have now been afforded full species status...
, the New Zealand Kaka and the kakapo
Kakapo
The Kakapo , Strigops habroptila , also called owl parrot, is a species of large, flightless nocturnal parrot endemic to New Zealand...
, the last of which now only survives on the offshore Little Barrier Island. Inverterbrates found in the region include the large weta
Weta
Weta is the name given to about 70 insect species endemic to New Zealand. There are many similar species around the world, though most are in the southern hemisphere. The name comes from the Māori word 'wētā' and is the same in the plural...
s and cave wetas.
Threats and preservation
This fertile area has long been the most populous part of New Zealand and the original kauri forest has mostly been removed. The logging and gum-tapping that caused this has stopped now and much of the remaining kauri forest is now protected in the Northland region and on the Coromandel PeninsulaCoromandel Peninsula
The Coromandel Peninsula lies in the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Waikato Region and Thames-Coromandel District and extends 85 kilometres north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier to protect the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west...
. The largest stands of kauri are found in Waipoua Forest
Waipoua Forest
Waipoua Forest preserves some of the best examples of kauri forest remaining in New Zealand. It is notable for having two of the largest living kauri trees, Tane Mahuta and Te Matua Ngahere.The forest was declared a sanctuary in 1952....
with another large area in Trounson Kauri Park south of Aranga
Aranga, New Zealand
Aranga is a locality in Northland, New Zealand. State Highway 12 passes through it. Omapere is 47 km north west, and Dargaville is 42 km south east. The Waipoua Forest is to the north...
, both areas are on the west coast of Northland.
Wildlife in the region is vulnerable to introduced predators such as the Polynesian rat
Polynesian Rat
The Polynesian Rat, or Pacific Rat , known to the Māori as kiore, is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the Brown Rat and Black Rat. The Polynesian Rat originates in Southeast Asia but, like its cousins, has become well travelled – infiltrating Fiji and most Polynesian...
, ferret
Ferret
The ferret is a domesticated mammal of the type Mustela putorius furo. Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females. They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur...
s and stoat
Stoat
The stoat , also known as the ermine or short-tailed weasel, is a species of Mustelid native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip...
s to the extent that the strongest remaining populations of many plants, birds and reptiles are on offshore islands rather than North Island itself. Some North Island species have been introduced to the offshore as a preservation measure, while other species found there are indigenous to the small islands, including a number of lizards on the Mercury Islands
Mercury Islands
The Mercury Islands lie off the northeast coast of New Zealand's North Island. They are located off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, and northeast of the town of Whitianga....
and the Falla's skink
Falla's Skink
Falla's skink, Oligosoma fallai, is a species of skink in the Scincidae family.It is endemic to the Three Kings Islands off the coast of New Zealand. It is found nowhere else in the world.-References:...
on the Three Kings Islands.