New Zealand Journal of Botany abstracts
The woody vegetation of Central Otago, New Zealand
Susan Walker
William G. Lee
Landcare Research
Private Bag 1930
Dunedin, New Zealand
Email: walkers@landcareresearch.co.nz
Geoffrey M. Rogers
Department of Conservation
P.O. Box 5244
Dunedin, New Zealand
Abstract The present native and exotic woody vegetation of the rainshadow region of Central Otago, in eastern South Island, New Zealand, is described. Fourteen present-day associations of woody species are related to a gradient in elevation and climate, and to the degree of disturbance by fire and mammalian grazing since human settlement. A few closed-canopy forest remnants remain only in the montane zone, while more modified forest relicts are scattered across a wider range of environments. Remaining woody plant associations have originated as secondary successions following fire, and range from exotic-species-invaded lowland associations on semi-arid basin floors to prostrate, native-species-dominated associations on mountain tops. Indigenous short-tussock grasslands and seral shrublands are being invaded by exotic trees and shrubs, especially in lowland environments. Dwarf and prostrate low shrub associations on the range tops may have replaced tussock grasslands since the commencement of pastoralism, where taller tussock-shrubland communities were destroyed by fires soon after human settlement. The region’s vegetation is not at equilibrium, and taller, woody communities tend to develop following removal of fire and grazing. Biodiversity restoration goals for deforested eastern South Island regions such as Central Otago should include long-term succession to indigenous woody communities in representative areas of all land environments.
Keywords vegetation pattern; species-environment relationships; forest remnant; relict; shrubland; woodland; Central Otago; fire and grazing history
B03034; Received 11 September 2003; accepted 4 February 2004; Online publication date 21 September 2004
New Zealand Journal of Botany, 2004, Vol. 42: 589-612
0028-825X/04/4204-0589 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2004
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