Botanical features of northeastern great barrier island, hauraki gulf, new zealand

Abstract

The main features of the vegetation and a vascular flora are given for an area of some 1,330 hectares in the north-eastern sector of Great Barrier Island. Only patches of original forest remain. The predominant vegetation is regenerating forest and scrub, with small areas of grassland along the coast and on the summit ridge. Vegetation succession and f10ristic composition have been extensively modified by pigs and goats. A small island free of these animals, adjacent to the study area, demonstrates the impact of pigs and goats on the vegetation of the main island. The recent accelerated erosion of the area is discussed. An annotated species list of vascular plants is presented. Of the 441 taxa recorded, 334 (76%) are native. Several taxa achieve the northern limit of their distribution in the study area, and the status of rare plants found is discussed. © 1985 Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand.