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Recent loss of indigenous cover in New Zealand
Abstract and Figures
Recently developed national spatial databases enable improved estimates of how much of the full range of New Zealand's terrestrial biodiversity pattern remains, its rates of change, and how much is legally protected. Analysis using a classification of land environments derived from soil and climate data layers (LENZ) as a surrogate for biodiversity pattern, and spatial databases of land cover and legal protection, shows extreme (>70%) loss of indigenous cover in 57% of land environments, and poor protection (
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... Like the rest of the world, there is evidence that biodiversity loss driven by development (e.g. infrastructure, resource extraction, urban expansion, intensification of farming) is occurring in Aotearoa/New Zealand (Walker et al. 2006;Myers et al. 2013; Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment 2015; Monks et al. 2019;MfE & Stats NZ 2021). Of the nearly 11 000 terrestrial species assessed under the Aotearoa/ New Zealand Threat Classification System 811 species (7%) are ranked as Threatened and 2416 species (22%) At Risk. ...
... Natural ecosystems in New Zealand occupy approximately 40% of the landmass [1], much of which is mountainous and steep and so not suitable for agriculture. Most of the remaining land is either in pastoral agriculture or production forestry. ...
Much land has been cleared of indigenous forest for pastoral agriculture worldwide. In New Zealand, the clearance of indigenous forest on hill country has resulted in high food production, but waterways have become turbid, with high nutrient and E. coli concentrations. A range of on-farm mitigations are available, but it is unclear how they should be applied catchment-wide. We have developed a catchment-scale model that integrates economics with ecosystem services to find a better balance between agriculture and nature. In the upper Wairua catchment, Northland, if three actions are prioritised—(1) keeping stock out of streams, (2) constructing flood retention bunds in first-order catchments, and (3) planting trees on highly erodible land—then sediment loads, E. coli levels, and flooding are significantly reduced. Implementing these actions would cost approximately 10% of catchment net revenue, so it is feasible with a combination of regulation and subsidy. Many catchments in New Zealand are primarily pastoral agriculture, as in other countries (in North and South America, Australasia, and the United Kingdom), and would benefit from the analysis presented here to guide development along sustainable pathways. While pastoral agriculture typically stresses waterways, with increased sedimentation and freshwater contaminants, much can be done to mitigate these effects with improved farm and riparian management.
... New Zealand is facing unprecedented rates of biodiversity decline (Walker et al. 2006;WWF 2012). Government strategies and initiatives, including the New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy (DOC & MfE 2000) and the National Science Challenges -New Zealand Biological Heritage theme (http://www.biologicalheritage.nz/), recognise the need for increased and improved assessment, monitoring and reporting of New Zealand's ecosystems in terms of their properties, functions and the biodiversity values that they support. ...
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or ‘drones’) may provide cost- and time-effective approaches for gathering information for use in ecosystem assessment and monitoring. In this scoping study focussed on the sand dune system at Kaitorete Spit, Canterbury, we assessed the ability to discriminate plant and non-plant cover type information in UAV-collected multispectral imagery, in comparison with cover types derived from field data collected using plant plot surveys. Results showed that supervised image classification generated accurate and reliable cover type information for most cover types across the study area relative to those identified from the plot surveys. A number of important species, such as pīngao (Ficinia spiralis), muehlenbeckia (pōhuehue, Muehlenbeckia complexa) and tree lupin (Lupinus arboreus) could be differentiated in the imagery; for other cover types, there was inadequate spectral differentiation among individual species, resulting in discrimination only among mixed vegetation complexes. Overall accuracies of discrimination were in the range of 85 to 95%. Further, at 59 field plot locations, the relative proportions of most dominant cover types derived from image classifications correlated well with those quantified from field surveys. These initial results lend confidence in the use of UAVs to effectively and rapidly collect spatially-explicit data on cover type distributions, as a complement to ground-based surveys and/or to provide regular ecosystem updates at broader scale than survey work allows. We recommend that further work be carried out to quantify the standards with which UAV aerial surveys and be used most effectively for ecological monitoring purposes and the ultimate cost-benefit tradeoffs.
... While species distribution models (SDMs) are probably the most common application of spatial analysis and prediction in ecology, other spatial patterns are also analysed and explored along a similar theme. Examples from New Zealand include investigations of species richness patterns (Lehmann et al. 2002), forest loss (Ewers et al. 2006;Walker et al. 2006;Perry et al. 2012), potential forest distributions (Leathwick 2001), species refugia (Buckley et al. 2010, McCarthy et al. 2021, ecosystem services (Ausseil et al. 2013), production forest productivity (Palmer et al. 2009), and forest carbon uptake (Whitehead et al. 2001). One common feature across these studies, however, is their reliance on high-quality, collated, and curated spatial data characterising the abiotic environment. ...
Environmental variation is a crucial driver of ecological pattern, and spatial layers representing this variation are key to understanding and predicting important ecosystem distributions and processes. A national, standardised collection of different environmental gradients has the potential to support a variety of large-scale research questions, but to date these data sets have been limited and difficult to obtain. Here we describe the New Zealand Environmental Data Stack (NZEnvDS), a comprehensive set of 72 environmental layers quantifying spatial patterns of climate, soil, topography and terrain, as well as geographical distance at 100 m resolution, covering New Zealand’s three main islands and surrounding inshore islands. NZEnvDS includes layers from the Land Environments of New Zealand (LENZ), additional layers generated for LENZ but never publicly released, and several additional layers generated more recently. We also include an analysis of correlation between variables. All final NZEnvDS layers, their original source layers, and the R-code used to generate them are available publicly for download at https://doi.org/10.7931/m6rm-vz40.
... Sediment(ation) pollution in Aotearoa intensified following European settlement and colonization, with most catchments suitable for pastoral farming cleared by the early 1900s. Drainage of up to 90% of pre-European wetlands and the removal of around 70% of pre-European forest radically reduced the habitat of many native species and hastened the extinction of some others (MfE 2018; Walker et al. 2006). Sediment settles and smothers filter-feeding species such as shellfish, sponges and marine plants, which causes degradation of aquatic ecosystems like seagrass, soft-bottom and benthic assemblages such as coral reefs and soft corals (Lowe 2013;McGinnis 2018;Morrison et al. 2009;Reid et al. 2011;Rowden et al. 2012;Thrush et al. 2004). ...
In settler-colonial nations such as Aotearoa, New Zealand, ecosystem degradation and restoration of coastal estuaries and their catchments are typically framed through a scientific lens and often privilege patriarchal beliefs and epistemologies. A consequence of colonization in Aotearoa is that sediment(ation) pollution is deemed undesirable, and science is needed to control and solve such ecosystem challenges. However, there remains a tendency to prioritize science over other ways of knowing. Therefore, ecosystem management strategies and restoration practices fail to attend to the dynamics of social differentiation within Indigenous groups concerning settler-colonial power. Indigenous peoples bring nuanced ways of knowing and being whereby relational ontologies and ethics are imperative starting points. Relational ontologies reshape knowledge production to ensure more ethical and just relationships with nature. We use an intersectional lens to highlight the gendered, ethnic, and natured dimensions of sediment(ation) pollution. We show how pollution manifests differently across intimate scales (body, local), demonstrating the far-reaching effects of settler-colonialism violence. This article presents Indigenist geo-creative narratives from four Māori women regarding their lived experiences and realities of sediment(ation) pollution. Using practices familiar to and chosen by them, narratives are richly nuanced, political and recalled in relational and affective terms. We intend to disrupt and bring forth a relational vision of sediment(ation) pollution as a socially just and equitable way of managing and restoring ecosystems.
Abstract Aotearoa New Zealand is the last major landmass settled by people, and therefore provides a recent record of ecological legacy effects in the coastal zone. Large‐scale land clearances of forests accelerated over the last century, affecting the concentration of suspended sediments, light environment, and nutrient composition on rocky reefs, and consequently the distribution, abundance, and composition of algal forests. The environmental effects were compounded in many places by overfishing and long‐term declines of large predatory species, often leading to proliferation and extensive grazing by sea urchins. In this study, we examine these processes in three biogeographic regions that have been differentially affected by ecological legacy effects. The study was based on the depth‐specific associations between sea urchins (Evechinus chloroticus) and the common kelp (Ecklonia radiata) from multiple sites within each region, some of which were sampled over two decades within no‐take marine reserves and in actively fished areas. Satellite‐derived estimates of water‐column properties were used as proxies for the relative effects of coastal sedimentation on kelp forest habitats. We then used an information‐theoretic framework to assess the relative factor weightings of marine reserve effects on urchin density, total suspended solids (TSS), and regional urchin density on the depth‐specific density of Ecklonia radiata. The fishing effects were significant within and outside of reserves in the northern and central regions, but the effect sizes were by far strongest in the northern region. In the central region characterized by extensive land clearance and forestry combined with high coastal retention of water, the concentration of TSS had a major influence on the depth distribution of kelp, confining it to shallow water (
Coastal Indigenous and Traditional communities are starting to see changes to their lives from climate change, whether this is from species range changes or displacement from land changes. For many of these communities, the ability to adequately adapt to these changes is limited by the governance structures they are required to live within, which differ from their customary practices and culture. In November 2019, a group of Indigenous and Traditional Peoples, attended the Future Seas 2030 workshop and discussed the consequences of climate change, the biggest barriers for their communities, and barriers for using traditional knowledge in order to contribute towards a more sustainable future that in the end will benefit all of earth’s people. The aim of this workshop was to highlight and give a voice to the various backgrounds and real-life situations impacting on some of the world’s Indigenous and Traditional communities whose connection with the oceans and coasts have been disrupted. This paper presents these issues of oppression, colonisation, language and agency, making it difficult for these groups to contribute to the current management of oceans and coasts, and asks scientists and practitioners in this space to be allies and enable the needed shift to earth’s guardians taking a leading role in nurturing her for our future.
Farm planning processes have long been based on land evaluation, and although this analysis conceptually includes other biotic and abiotic factors beyond just land, they have typically focused on soils and land-use capability. The need to broaden this scope to more explicitly include biodiversity, ecosystem service provision, and sustainability considerations has been internationally recognised. Indigenous terrestrial and aquatic features represent a considerable asset to the farm system yet, to date, farm planning processes in New Zealand have largely failed to account for this natural capital stock and its contribution to the current or future business. Substantial knowledge gaps and lack of empirical data across many biodiversity metrics, limited institutional capacity, and lack of investment and on-going costs, are all factors contributing to the lack of integration of biodiversity considerations in farm planning processes. The net effect is the on-going depletion and degradation of indigenous biodiversity on-farm. We do, however, have an existing mechanism, in the form of ‘whole farm plans’, that could be utilised to integrate biodiversity natural capital and its management into farm planning and we illustrate the feasibility of this approach using a case study from the Waikato Region.
There has been substantial loss of indigenous habitat in New Zealand's coastal, lowland and montane environments - and what does remain has little legal protection. We define five categories of environments that contain indigenous biodiversity most at risk of loss due to land clearance; risk was determined based on the level of legal protection and past habitat loss. Land clearance and loss of indigenous habitats continues across New Zealand, and highest rates of loss are occurring in the most threatened environments. Moreover, ecosystems in these most threatened areas support a disproportionate percentage of New Zealand's most threatened species and habitats. Thus, this pattern of clearance will exacerbate threats to biodiversity. We recommend that the Land Environments of New Zealand database (LENZ) be used to identify environments that are most threatened by land clearance. The Land Cover Database will need to be updated regularly to monitor progress in halting biodiversity declines.
Alien plants and animals are of major economic and conservation significance in New Zealand. Plant introductions have averaged 11 species per year since European settlement in /840, and distinctive landscapes are being increasingly altered by weeds. Many introduced animals act as disease vectors or threaten native biota. Recent studies of introduced wasps show adverse effects on honey-eating and insectivorous birds. Introduced possums are now known to prey on eggs and nestlings of native birds in addition to their impact on native forests and transmittal of bovine tuberculosis. Research is increasingly focused on finding effective methods of biocontrol.
The assessment of ecological significance is a key part of a territorial local authority’s (TLA) responsibility to provide for the protection of areas of significant indigenous vegetation and significant habitats of indigenous fauna as required under Section 6(c) of the Resource Management Act (RMA) 1991. While a number of methods have been used to achieve this, these have been largely unpublished and there is considerable variability in the approach taken by different TLAs. We propose four criteria (rarity and distinctiveness, representativeness, ecological context, and sustainability) for assessing significance of indigenous biodiversity in terms of RMA Section 6(c). These criteria could form the basis for a consistent national approach to significance assessment. These criteria have been developed from early assessment schemes such as the Protected Natural Areas Programme. While there is no one “right” system for conservation assessment, we hope this paper will stimulate discussion amongst the ecological community on the best ways to undertake significance assessment.
The realization of conservation goals requires strategies for managing
whole landscapes including areas allocated to both production and protection.
Reserves alone are not adequate for nature conservation but they are the cornerstone
on which regional strategies are built. Reserves have two main roles. They
should sample or represent the biodiversity of each region and they should
separate this biodiversity from processes that threaten its persistence. Existing
reserve systems throughout the world contain a biased sample of biodiversity,
usually that of remote places and other areas that are unsuitable for commercial
activities. A more systematic approach to locating and designing reserves
has been evolving and this approach will need to be implemented if a large
proportion of today's biodiversity is to exist in a future of increasing numbers
of people and their demands on natural resources.
Conservation planning has tended to focus more on pattern (representation) than process (persistence) and, for the former, has emphasized species and ecosystem or community diversity over genetic diversity. Here I consider how best to incorporate knowledge of evolutionary processes and the distribution of genetic diversity into conservation planning and priority setting for populations within species and for biogeographic areas within regions. Separation of genetic diversity into two dimensions, one concerned with adaptive variation and the other with neutral divergence caused by isolation, highlights different evolutionary processes and suggests alternative strategies for conservation. Planning for both species and areas should emphasize protection of historically isolated lineages (Evolutionarily Significant Units) because these cannot be recovered. By contrast, adaptive features may best be protected by maintaining the context for selection, heterogeneous landscapes, and viable populations, rather than protecting specific phenotypes. A useful strategy may be to (1) identify areas that are important to represent species and (vicariant) genetic diversity and (2) maximize within these areas the protection of contiguous environmental gradients across which selection and migration can interact to maintain population viability and (adaptive) genetic diversity. These concepts are illustrated with recent results from analysis of a rainforest fauna from northeast Australia.
The New Zealand biodiversity strategy. Department of Conservation (DOC)
- Doc Mfe
DOC & MfE 2000. The New Zealand biodiversity
strategy. Department of Conservation (DOC);