Nelson Coast temperate forests
Encyclopedia
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...
in 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
These forests are located on the flanks of the Paparoa Range and other mountains at the top of South IslandSouth Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
. The area is thickly forested and has high rainfall, especially on the west-facing slopes but less so on the sheltered eastern side, which has golden sand beaches. Natural features of the region include: the limestone Pancake Rocks near the town of Punakaiki
Punakaiki
Punakaiki is a small community on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, between Westport and Greymouth. The community lies on the edge of the Paparoa National Park....
on the edge of Paparoa National Park
Paparoa National Park
Paparoa National Park is on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand.It was established in 1987 and encompasses 306 km². The park ranges from on or near the coastline to the peak of the Paparoa Ranges. A separate section of the park is to the north and is centered at Ananui Creek.The...
; Farewell Spit
Farewell Spit
Farewell Spit is a narrow sand spit situated at , at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. Known to the Māori as Tuhuroa, it runs eastwards from Cape Farewell, the island's northernmost point...
at the north of the island, the longest sandspit
Spit (landform)
A spit or sandspit is a deposition landform found off coasts. At one end, spits connect to land, and extend into the sea. A spit is a type of bar or beach that develops where a re-entrant occurs, such as at cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift...
in New Zealand; the nearby Te Waikoropupu Springs
Te Waikoropupu Springs
The Te Waikoropupu Springs are located in Golden Bay, on New Zealand's South Island. The springs are known for the clarity of the water, and the volume of water discharged...
; and the karst
KARST
Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...
areas on the flanks of Mount Owen, New Zealand
Mount Owen, New Zealand
Mount Owen is in the Tasman district of the South Island of New Zealand. It stands at 1875 metres above sea level and is part of the Marino Mountains....
in Kahurangi National Park
Kahurangi National Park
Kahurangi National Park is a national park in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It was gazetted in 1996 and covers 4,520 km². It is the second largest of New Zealand's fourteen national parks...
.
Flora
There are small areas of northern rataMetrosideros robusta
Northern rātā , is a huge forest tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to 25 m or taller, and usually begins its life as a hemiepiphyte high in the branches of a mature forest tree; over centuries the young tree sends descending and girdling roots down and around the trunk of its host,...
(Metrosideros robusta), rimu
Dacrydium cupressinum
Dacrydium cupressinum, commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps. The former name "red pine" has fallen out of common use....
, and miro
Prumnopitys ferruginea
Prumnopitys ferruginea is an evergreen coniferous tree which is endemic to New Zealand. Before the genus Prumnopitys was distinguished, it was treated in the related genus Podocarpus as Podocarpus ferrugineus....
rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
hardwoods as well as karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) and the Nikau
Nikau
Nikau is a palm tree, the only palm endemic to New Zealand.-Etymology:Nīkau is a Māori word; in the closely related Eastern Polynesian languages of the tropical Pacific, it refers to the fronds or the midrib of the coconut palm.- Distribution:The Nikau palm is the only palm species endemic to...
palm (Rhopalostylis sapida) near the coast. However most of the area is covered in Southern beech
Nothofagus
Nothofagus, also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 35 species of trees and shrubs native to the temperate oceanic to tropical Southern Hemisphere in southern South America and Australasia...
forest containing of all four species of Southern beech; red beech
Nothofagus fusca
Nothofagus fusca is a species of Nothofagus, endemic to New Zealand, where it occurs on both the North Island and South Island. Generally it is found on lower hills and inland valley floors where soil is fertile and well drained.It is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to 35 m tall...
, silver beech
Nothofagus menziesii
Nothofagus menziesii or Silver beech is a tree of the Nothofagus or southern beech genus endemic to New Zealand. Its common name probably comes from the fact that its bark is whitish in colour, particularly in younger specimens. It is found from Thames southwards in the North Island , and...
and hard beech
Nothofagus truncata
Nothofagus truncata or Hard Beech is a species of tree endemic to New Zealand. Its common name derives from the fact that its wood has a high silica content, making it hard and difficult to saw. Hard Beech is a tree up to 30m tall occurring in lowland and lower montane forest from lat...
in the lowlands and mountain beech
Nothofagus solandri
Nothofagus solandri is a species of Nothofagus, endemic to New Zealand, where it occurs on both the North Island and the South Island. There are two varieties, var. solandri, the New Zealand Black Beech, which occurs at low altitudes up to the mountains, and var...
higher up. In the less fertile rocks areas there are yellow pine (Halocarpus biformis
Halocarpus biformis
Halocarpus biformis, known commonly as yellow pine or pink pine, is a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand. The tree can attain heights of 10m, but in open areas is usually a low spreading bush. It is found at higher elevations in the volcanic plateau of the North Island and at lower elevations...
) and Dracophyllum
Dracophyllum
Dracophyllum is a genus of plants belonging to the family Ericaceae, formerly Epacridaceae. There are some one hundred or so species in the genus, mostly shrubs but also cushion plants and trees, found in New Zealand, Australia and New Caledonia. The name, Dracophyllum or Dragon-leaf refers to...
s including the endemic D. townsonii and the mountain neinei (D. traversii). The alpine plants found here including Celmisia
Celmisia
Celmisia is a genus of perennial herbs or subshrubs, in the family Asteraceae. There are around 70 species; most are endemic to New Zealand, between four and 10 are endemic to Australia. The genus was first formally described by botanist Alexandre de Cassini in 1813.Species include:* Celmisia...
dallii occur as these peaks, along with Fiordland
Fiordland
Fiordland is a geographic region of New Zealand that is situated on the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western-most third of Southland. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the steep sides of the snow-capped Southern Alps, deep lakes and its ocean-flooded, steep western valleys...
at the southern end of the island, were a high-altitude refuge from the effects of the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
.
Fauna
The forests are home to a number of endemic species including two flightless birds that no longer survive in the lowland areas of the island, these are the western wekaWeka
The Weka or woodhen is a flightless bird species of the rail family. It is endemic to New Zealand, where four subspecies are recognized. Weka are sturdy brown birds, about the size of a chicken. As omnivores, they feed mainly on invertebrates and fruit...
and the largest kiwi, the Great Spotted Kiwi
Great Spotted Kiwi
The Great Spotted Kiwi, Great Gray Kiwi, or Roroa, Apteryx haastii, is a species of kiwi endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. The Great Spotted Kiwi, as a member of the Ratites, is flightless. It is the largest of the kiwi...
. The varied habitats in the region support a mixture of other birds found here include the kea
Kea
The Kea is a large species of parrot found in forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green with a brilliant orange under its wings and has a large narrow curved grey-brown upper beak. The Kea is the world's only alpine parrot...
, the New Zealand Kaka parrot (Nestor meridionalis), the New Zealand Pigeon or kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) and the Karearea
Karearea
The New Zealand Falcon or Kārearea, Falco novaeseelandiae, is New Zealand's only endemic falcon and the only remaining bird of prey endemic to New Zealand. Other common names for the bird are Bush Hawk and Sparrow Hawk...
or New Zealand Falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae). Farewell Spit in particular is an important site for wading birds and is on a migration route.
The ares is also rich in invertebrates including almost half of the know species of amber snails (Powelliphanta
Powelliphanta
Powelliphanta, common name amber snails, is a genus of large, carnivorous land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. As a group their survival status is endangered.- Taxonomy :...
).
Threats and preservation
The forests are threatened by logging and mining, although it is impossible to get permits for large-scale mining in the Kahurangi. The karstKARST
Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...
limestone is particularly fragile and even damaged by recreational caving
Caving
Caving—also occasionally known as spelunking in the United States and potholing in the United Kingdom—is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems...
. The wildlife is threatened by introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
but they are largely intact at higher elevations. Much of the ecoregion is protected within three national parks; the large Kahurangi National Park
Kahurangi National Park
Kahurangi National Park is a national park in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It was gazetted in 1996 and covers 4,520 km². It is the second largest of New Zealand's fourteen national parks...
and Paparoa National Park
Paparoa National Park
Paparoa National Park is on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand.It was established in 1987 and encompasses 306 km². The park ranges from on or near the coastline to the peak of the Paparoa Ranges. A separate section of the park is to the north and is centered at Ananui Creek.The...
s on the west coast, and Abel Tasman National Park
Abel Tasman National Park
Abel Tasman National Park is a national park located at the north end of the South Island of New Zealand. The park was founded in 1942, largely through the efforts of ornithologist and author Perrine Moncrieff to have land reserved for the purpose. With a coverage of only 225.3 square kilometres,...
on the north east coast. The coastline is unspoilt too and some of it, including Farewell Spit, is protected as nature reserves of national parks. Efforts are being made to control invasive introduced species, particularly possum
Possum
A possum is any of about 70 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi .Possums are quadrupedal diprotodont marsupials with long tails...
s although deer, chamois
Chamois
The chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra, is a goat-antelope species native to mountains in Europe, including the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, the European Alps, the Tatra Mountains, the Balkans, parts of Turkey, and the Caucasus. The chamois has also been introduced to the South Island of New Zealand...
, hares and goats are also targeted for control. Birds eggs and snails are vulnerable to rats, possums, stoats and wild pigs. Forest fires are always a threat.