Rapid ecological survey, inventory and implementation: A case study from Waikaia Ecological Region, New Zealand

Abstract

General biogeographic features of the two Ecological Districts -Umbrella c. 150 000 ha and Nokomai, c. 110 000 ha -of the Waikaia Ecological Region, south-central South Island, are described. Results of normal and inverse cluster analyses of plot samples of the full range of indigenous vegetation remaining in each District are presented. Up to 17 plant communities from each District are characterised in terms of physiognomy, flora, and physiography. These range from beech forests and lowland red tussock grassland through upland shrublands, shrub-tussocklands, tussocklands, sedgelands, and wetlands to high-alpine communities (snowbank, cushionfield, scree).The 649 indigenous and 97 adventive vascular plant taxa plus 21 hybrids are listed by District. Plant distributions, particularly altitudinal and geographic limits for many alpine and some threatened taxa, are described.Of the region's fauna, 61 birds, 268 Lepidoptera, 202 Coleoptera (some in both orders undescribed), and several other invertebrates including the rare land snail Powelliphanta spedeni spedeni are listed by District. Distributions of several rare and/ or local taxa are described both within and beyond the Region. Aquatic fauna of unmodified upland lakes and ponds of Umbrella District are recorded.Within the Region, 31 areas ranging from 25 ha to 2620 ha are recommended for protection, 20 (6260 ha or 2.4%) from the Umbrella District and 11 (11 615 ha or 9.5%) from the Nokomai District. These were selected so as to adequately represent the full range of remaining indigenous ecosystems and their associated landforms.Details of progress (to July 1997) with the implementation phase of the programme are outlined. Of the 31 Recommended Areas for Protection (RAPs) identified in the field surveys, seven now have some degree of protection over their full extent and nine are partly protected. These protected areas represent 44% (c. 7985 ha) of the total area of the 31 RAPs (18 060 ha) identified. Tenure review of pastoral leasehold land continues to be an important means of protecting conservation values in these two Districts, as in other parts of the South Island high country.Keywords: ecological survey, biological conservation, forest, shrubland, tussockland, wetland, alpine, vascular flora, indigenous fauna, avifauna, invertebrates, aquatic fauna INTRODUCTIONThe nationwide Protected Natural Areas (PNA) Programme was initiated in 1983 by the National Parks and Reserves Authority. Conceived in response to increasing concern over the rapid depletion of certain indigenous ecosystems through various forms of land development and other conflicting land uses, it seeks to uphold an important objective in the Reserves Act (1977 -S3 (1Kb) Journal of The Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 28, 1998 Fig. 1 The Umbrella (la) and Nokomai (lb, facing page) Ecological Districts. Shaded areas indicate Recommended Areas for Protection (RAPs) identified (see Table 1 for further details), a, A, Leithen Bush Scenic Reserve; B, Waikaia State Forest; C, Timber Creek Cons...

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