 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The
Hauraki Gulf
|
| Presentation |
| Origin & Geology |
| Waters & climate |
| Plant communities |
| Wildlife |
| Bibliography |
| THE HAURAKI GULF |
PLANT
COMMUNITIES
|
 |
|
"The waters surrounding the islands of the Park have their
own rich variety of plant and animal life, but this richness is
matched by the diversity of the plant and animal life on land."
|
 |
|
"Although the dominant type of habitat and vegetation varies
from island to island, some patterns are repeated on many of the
islands because each habitat has a set of more or less characteristic
plants. On the coastal slopes a number of special plants thrive
where others cannot grow, some specialised to the degree that they
cannot live successfully anywhere else except in this seemingli
inhospitable environment"
|
 |
|
"One tree which adapts well to the difficult conditions of the coastal rock cliffs and faces throughout the park area is the pohutukawa, probably the most prominent of the Park's tree species. The pohutukawa likes growing by the sea and its long trailing roots enable it to survive in the most difficult conditions".
|
 |
|
"In the early days the inner gulf islands had other forests too. But there is no certainty that forest was more extensive than the fragments known in the middle of last century. Here and there small groves of taraire or kohekohe remain with the occasional large puriri, karaka, tawapou, mangeao and totara. However, there is no record of kauri having grown on any of the inner islands included in the park except Kawau."
|
|
|
"Native plants have almost entirely disappeared
from some parts of the Park, giving way to plantations, shelter
belts, pastures, ornamental trees and gardens."
|
 |
| "Complementing these grassed islands
are those islands which have substantial native forest stands. Of
these, the two of most interest are Rangitoto
and Little
Barrier Islands." "Few habitats would seem at first more hostile to the establishment of plant life than the Rangitoto lava fields. Nowhere is there permanent water, nor is there soil in the usual sense of the word. Yet the seeming miracle is that on this wilderness of broken lava grow some 200 native species and at least another 200 introduced species." Little Barrier reflects the opposite end of the botanical development and is one of the world's most important scientific reserves. Little Barrier was occupied by the Maori and visited frequently by the European seekers of timber, but was largely unmodified over much of its area by this contact. More importantly, it has not had to suffer from the ravages of introduced browsing animals, such as the opossum and deer, which have done such damage on the mainland. So it remains the last true area of New Zealand's indigenous rainforest and offers as well a spread of habitat from coastline to subalpine." |
 |
|
All excerpts from The Story of Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park (pp 29-34), Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park Board, 1983. Photo credits (top to bottom): 1-3: NC; 4-5: Department of Conservation |